The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban to abandon his “anti-democratic plan” to tax internet use and to start listening to his people and understand the reality of the developments in the media. “It is very unwise and unrealistic of Orban’s government to think that the internet tax is of any relevance in today’s digital age,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerrregård, EFJ President. “This is evident from the tens of thousands protesters who showed up on Tuesday night’s protest.” According to the organiser of the protest, following the first rally on Sunday 26 October, the…

It is essential that international organizations not only have press freedom as key issues, but also pursues effectively the abuses that are taking place and put pressure on the authorities to correct those attacks on press freedom, writes Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, President of the Danish Union of Journalists and EFJ President. By Mogens Blicher Bjerrregård I’m just back from Macedonia where I had the opportunity to visit a journalist whose life is in ruins because he does not want to disclose his sources. The European Federation of Journalists sent a letter to the Macedonian Ambassador to the European Union. Similar…

The EFJ has been invited to contribute to the last South-east Europe Media Forum (SEEMF) 2014 held on 16-18 October 2014 in Skopje. The event was organized by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), the Media Program South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the Central European Initiative (CEI) in partnership with UNESCO, the European Commission, International Academy – International Media Center (IA-IMC) and South East and Central Europe PR Organisation (SECEPRO) and in cooperation with the South East European Network for the Professionalization of Media (SEENPM), Macedonian Institute for Media, Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM/ZNM), the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA) has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the travel ban imposed on investigative journalist, Khadija Ismayilova and cease all legal proceedings against her. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented crackdown on civil society, Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest on criminal defamation charges seems imminent and would confirm the authorities’ intent to silence all critical voices in the country. The EFJ, as part of the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA),  including APC, ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, Freedom House,  Freedom Now, the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) urges Slovenian prosecutors to immediately drop the criminal charges against Anuška Delić, an investigative reporter for Delo, a leading Slovenian daily. She is accused of publishing classified state intelligence. She faces up to three years in prison just for having done her job. The trial against her is expected to begin on Wednesday 15 October, in Slovenia. In 2011, Anuška Delić wrote a series of articles, just before the Slovenian parliamentary elections, in which she uncovered alleged connections between the Slovenian neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour and members of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).…

Journalists unions from across the former Soviet Union and South East Europe gathered to debate the status of journalism, union organising and violations and safety of journalists rights across the region. The meeting was the third joint IFJ / EFJ meeting in the region to build greater collaboration and support for journalists unions across Europe. Discussions focused on labour rights, new forms of organising and recruitment, union campaigning, legal defense and new digital tools. The meeting started by recalling the many hundreds of journalists that have suffered violence and persecution for their work since the 2013 conference in Kiev and…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called for authorities in Macedonia to drop all charges against the journalist Tomislav Kezarovski – who has now been held under house arrest for over a year. In 2013, Kezarovski was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison by a tribunal in Skopje for writing investigative articles for the magazine Reporter 92. He is currently under house arrest, unemployed and living in very difficult conditions. The EFJ has sent a letter to Andrej Lepavcov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union, calling for Macedonian authorities to bring an end to all…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have joined their affiliate, the National Union of Journalists, UK and Ireland (NUJ), to welcome a call by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media for a re-opening of the investigation into the murder of Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan in September 2001. On Friday Dunja Mijatović called on the UK authorities to re-launch a criminal investigation into the murder which happened 13 years ago. “It is unacceptable that all this time has passed and not one person has been held responsible for what was a public execution,”…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Swiss professional association of journalists Impressum, Amnesty International, the University of Fribourg, Reporters Without Borders and Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) adopted a joint resolution at the end of the third Forum on the journalism this Sept. 24 in Lausanne. The resolution calls: Publishers to provide sufficient human and material resources to journalists to ensure the freedom of the press; Governments to ensure the protection of journalists‘ sources; The Swiss government to launch the necessary consultations with the international community to develop an international mechanism for the protection of journalists in conflict zones (including…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have joined calls for a thorough and immediate investigation to be carried out into an attack on a BBC news team in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan. According to the BBC, the team was in the city to investigate reports of Russian servicemen being killed near the border with Ukraine. They were in their car when they were approached by a number of aggressive individuals who confronted them, violently grabbed the team’s camera and smashed it on the road, and then escaped with it in a…

(26-27.04.2014) The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliate in Turkey, the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS for Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi), organised the first workshop for a two-year project called “Press Freedom and Empowering the Journalists Trade Union Movement in Turkey”. The project is funded by the EIDHR (European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights) of the European Commission. The workshop covered the issues on union capacity-building, recruitment strategies, legal assistance and the TGS-EFJ campaign for the freedom of imprisoned journalists. The workshop also discussed the preparation of a major international conference for 2016. Renate Schroeder (EFJ Director) and Mehmet Koksal…