In a meeting with delegates of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Friday 20 March 2015, the EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Mr. Johannes Hahn, has called for more progress made on press freedom in the West Balkans and Turkey. Commissioner Hahn expressed his concerns about media freedom in West Balkans and Turkey and pointed out that it was not satisfactory to see these countries receiving the same critical comments every year. He confirmed that the Commission considers media freedom as a fundamental right and as a key element in the transformation of countries into democratic…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), today accused the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in Crimea of harassment and intimidation against independent media after journalist Natalya Kokorina (pictured on the left) was detained last Friday for six hours and denied access to legal assistance while her colleague Anna Andrievska (pictured on the right) is facing anti-state charges in relation to an article she wrote in 2014. The two journalists have worked at the news portal of the Crimean Centre for Investigative Journalism, in charge of providing journalistic training. After the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Russian affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), are deeply concerned by the new threats against the Mass Media Defence Centre (MMDC), which is the only Russian NGO specialising in media law, as well as providing legal assistance and protecting media rights on a daily basis. Over the past two years, an unprecedented number of laws have been adopted in Russia which dramatically restrict the activities of all independent non-governmental organisations (NGOs). According to a law passed in 2012, Russian NGOs that receive foreign funding must declare themselves as “foreign agents”. This law threatens…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today received an official complaint drafted by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) which draws the attention to alarming developments in Serbia. According to the network, the Serbian Prime Minister, some media that support his administration and other high-ranking government officials are conducting unprecedented attacks against critical voices. After a series of investigations on issues of public interest, the Serbian authorities and pro-governmental media organisations started a public campaign against BIRN journalists labelling them as “EU mercenaries, spies and liars” or people working against Serbian national interests. “We are alarmed and particularly concerned by what appears to…

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of Azerbaijani journalist Uzeyir Eldar oglu Jafarov who was subject to extreme violence and the authority failed to bring justice to his case. Jafarov was critical about the Azerbaijani government’s security, the defense policies and the activities of various senior military officers. On 20 April 2007, he wrote an article on an military officer, accusing him of corruption. His chief editor tried for defamation. Following the trial, two men punched him when he left the office. Jafarov stayed in hospital for seven days following the attack. He suffered from a cranial…

A number of members of the US Congress have signed a joint letter urging the Secretary of State John Kerry to press the Turkish government to stop intimidating journalists and media in the country. In a letter to Kerry (Signatures and Letter), 89 members of Congress said that the Turkish government poses a threat to democracy because it “intimidates, arrests and smothers voices opposed to the governments”. Stressing that Turkey is a strategic ally to the US in the Middle East and a key member of NATO, congress members expressed hope to see the Turkish government “abandon this course of intimidation and…

Deteriorating working conditions of journalists put press freedom in danger, according to a study published by the University of Fribourg and the Federal Office of Communications in Switzerland. The study participated by 1000 journalists who are members of the affiliate of the European Federation of Journalists, impressum, proves that the deteriorating working conditions have a negative impact on press freedom and quality of journalism. The results suggest that economic pressure from advertisers and the media owners are jeopardising the editorial freedom of media. Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary said: “The conclusions are clear: we fought hard to ensure that press…

Following the devastating attack on Charlie Hebdo, the global journalists community launched solidarity action and paid tribute to the journalists killed in the attack. Below is a picture gallery compiled by the journalists’ union (Syndicat National des Journalistes) in France.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the adoption of a new resolution by the European Parliament on freedom of expression in Turkey. The resolution adopted (551 votes in favour, 11 against and 31 abstentions) by members of the European Parliament (MEP) condemned the police raids on 14 December 2014 against Zaman newspaper and Samanyolu TV and the detention of a number of journalists and media representatives in Turkey. They recalled that a free and pluralistic press is the core of a democratic system and stressed that judicial independence was not respected in the country.”The government’s response to the allegations…

On Thursday, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) organised a media lunchtime debate with the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union and ENPA, the European Association of Newspaper Publishers. The theme of the meeting was: “#JESUISCHARLIE: Publish or not to publish, that is the question.” Jean-Paul Marthoz, European adviser for the CPJ, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and member of the EJN, Ethical Journalism Network, moderated the debate. He opened the discussions by recalling that “journalists are not irresponsible. Before each publication, there’s always a debate. (…) However, today we see a difference between the online media, like Buzzfeed and the…

There were more than a million of supporters last Sunday on the streets of Paris. Citizens of all backgrounds and beliefs came together to defend freedom of expression, following the terrorist attack that killed 17 people in France and  destroyed the whole team of the satirical weekly “Charlie Hebdo” on Wednesday 7 January. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), and their French affiliates, SNJ, SNJ-CGT and CFDT-Journalists were leading the march behind a banner, alongside with EFJ affiliates from United Kingdom and Ireland (NUJ), Italy (FNSI), Spain (FAPE and FeSP), Belgium (AJP), the Netherlands…

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), an EFJ affiliate in the United Kingdom, has staged a protest today outside the Downing Street in London calling for press freedom in Turkey. Barry White, NUJ representative to the European Federation of Journalists  said “The government  must not remain silent to these abuses. Last year saw a drop in the number of journalists in prison, a welcome move, but this latest attack by the authorities shows that they have come back for more. We will continue to campaign for freedom of expression and the right to report by standing in solidarity with our…

LATEST UPDATE Please join our solidarity action and send your support letter to the Azerbaijani authorities in your country. Here’s the list of the Azerbaijani embassies around the world. The EFJ affiliate, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, responded to the EFJ call and sent a letter to the Norwegian Embassy of Azerbaijan calling on the authorities to release immediately investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova. The EFJ affiliate, SDP, the Polish Journalists Association, joined the protest and sent a letter to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Grzegorz Schetyna , in which they appeal for public disapproval of the proceeding by the Azerbaijani authorities. EFJ also…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Polish Journalists Association (SDP) have welcomed the acquittal of two journalists, Jan Pawlicki and Tomasz Gzell who were arrested on 20 November during the coverage of a post-election demonstration in Warsaw. According to the EFJ affiliate, SDP, the police arrested TV reporter for TV Republika, Jan Pawlicki and the press photographer Tomasz Gzell of Polish Press Agency, in a demonstration where a group of activists entered and occupied the State Electoral Commission on 20 November. During the arrest, the journalists showed their press cards proving that they were not among the occupiers…

(04.12.2014) English / Français en dessous – Freedom of expression must gain ground in Spain. This is the overall conclusion drawn by the International mission which is about to end in Madrid. For the first time, a consortium formed by the International Press Institute (IPI), Access Info Europe, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the World Association of Newspaper Publishers (WAN-IFRA ), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) conducted a four-day mission, from 1 to 4 December, in Madrid and Barcelona, to evaluate the state of freedom of expression in…

(1.12.2014) Affiliée de la FEJ, la Fédération espagnole des syndicats de journalistes (FeSP) a demandé, ce lundi, la démission du ministre espagnol de l’Intérieur, Jorge Fernández Díaz (Parti populaire). En cause: le maintien du projet de loi “Mordaza” sur la sécurité citoyenne, qui limite le droit des journalistes et des photographes à rendre compte des protestations publiques et des manifestations citoyennes. La FEJ, au même titre que de nombreuses autres organisations non gouvernementales (Amnesty International, Greenpeace, RSF…), a dénoncé la portée liberticide de ce projet de loi. Le Comité directeur fédéral de la FeSP, réuni dimanche à Madrid, a décidé…