The undersigned organisations, including members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), express deep concerns about the physical attacks targeting Melita Vrsaljko, a journalist working for the Croatian fact-checking website Faktograf.hr and the Climate Portal. Vrsaljko was assaulted twice in the same week, in the street and at her home in Nadin due to her journalistic work. We urge the Croatian authorities not to let these unprecedented attacks go unpunished. On 15 July 2024, journalist Melita Vrsaljko and a freelance camera operator were working on a documentary co-produced by the Climate Portal, which focused on climate change and waste. While…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Russian affiliate JMWU firmly condemn the decision of Russia’s Sverdlovsk Oblast court to sentence US reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a high-security prison on charges of alleged espionage. Russian authorities did not produce evidence to support the accusations against him. The EFJ considers this trial behind closed doors and this sentence to be an act of pure political repression. We demand Evan Gershkovich’s release, as well as that of the 139 journalists imprisoned in Europe. Gershkovich has reported from Russia for many years and has repeatedly received official accreditation from…

Following Ursula von der Leyen’s re-appointment as President of the European Commission, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with media, press and journalists organisations, sent a letter to the newly elected President. The letter aims at addressing crucial topics regarding press freedom, safety of journalists and EU mechanisms such as the European Media Freedom Act or the Digital Services Act, which the coalition wants to see among the political priorities of the Commission’s next term.    

At least thirty Ukrainian journalists, -6 women and 24 men-, and media workers remain illegally detained in Russia, according to data from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), an affiliate of the International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ). The IFJ and the EFJ have joined their affiliate’s campaign in urging the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all unfairly imprisoned Ukrainian journalists.  Nearly two and a half years after the start of the war in Ukraine, in February 2022, there is no sign that the violence will end, and the list of Ukrainian journalists in…

Cyprus is proposing an amendment to its criminal code that will introduce prison sentences of up to one year (*) for anyone caught spreading “fake news” or writing “offensive” comments. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their Cypriot affiliate, the Union of Cyprus Journalists (UCJ-ESK), in denouncing this criminalisation of fake news and its chilling effect on press freedom. A legislative amendment concerning the criminalisation of the dissemination of false news, threats, insults and the dissemination of obscene photos and images on the Internet will be presented to the plenary session of the Cypriot Parliament in September.…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners strongly condemn the cyber disinformation campaign against the press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The attacks have been orchestrated by the Paris-based communications agency “Progressif Media”, whose minor stakeholder is the Vivendi Group, a French mass-media holding company controlled by media tycoon Vincent Bolloré. The MFRR stands in full solidarity with RSF and urges a swift and thorough investigation into the disinformation campaign. On 4 July, RSF revealed a two-month investigation, which included information from an internal Progressif Media document entitled “Vivendi Report”. This document detailed attacks aimed at portraying the press…