Today, the Government of Kosovo announced that it will offer shelter to five journalists fleeing persecution in Afghanistan. The journalists will receive housing, a monthly stipend, health insurance and a return ticket, for when circumstances on the ground allow them to go back home. The project will be integrated into ECPMF’s Journalist-in-Residence programme in Kosovo, in collaboration with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). The organisations are teaming up with the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) as implementing partner. Following the announcement, ECPMF’s senior legal advisor Flutura Kusari said: “We welcome this decision by the Government of Kosovo, who are again offering their support…

Football supporter Andrea Serrani, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended for five years, and ordered to pay 10,000 euros for groping television journalist Greta Beccaglia as she reported live after a football match in 2021. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) join their affiliate, the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), in welcoming the court’s decision and warning against any further attempt of sexual assault against media professionals. On 27 November 2021, Toscana TV journalist, Greta Beccaglia, was groped by Serrani while reporting live from the Empoli vs Fiorentina game in Empoli. Beccaglia…

Italian freelance journalist Claudio Locatelli was injured by Russian fire on December 19 in the southern city of Kherson, while driving a car marked clearly as press, together with photojournalist Niccolò Celesti and their interpreter, Daniel. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliate, the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI), in condemning the deliberate attack and recalling that Ukraine is the deadliest country for journalists and media workers in 2022 with 12 killed. On Wednesday, at the request of the Italian embassy, the Ukrainian authorities opened an investigation into a possible war crime. On December…

Award-winning journalist Matilde Kimer, who has been working at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) since 2014 and covering Russia and Ukraine since the annexation of Crimea, has been banned from Ukraine by the authorities. Her press credential in the country have been removed after she was labelled “pro-russian”. She has shared, on her Facebook page, links to some of her reports, including reports on pro-russian demonstrations. The Ukrainian authorities have said her credentials would be restored if she shared information that they would supply directly. Kimer announced that she refused, as an independent journalist, to write stories using materials produced…

Founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange is jailed in the UK awaiting extradition to the US to face charges of espionage. If found guilty, he faces a jail term of up to 175 years. Together with EU lawmakers, Assange’s wife Stella and organisations defending press freedom and human rights, the International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) have co-signed an open letter to US President Joe Biden asking him to pardon Assange. Theletter has been released in the week that Stella Assange will represent her husband, a nominee for the Sakharov Prize 2022 for Freedom of Thought, at the plenary of…

The Spanish affiliates of the International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) have reached a landmark agreement with the government to regulate professional secrecy and protect the identity of journalistic sources. The IFJ and EFJ have joined their affiliates in welcoming the bill, a reminder that the protection of journalistic sources is a cornerstone of press freedom. After a year of negotiations between the IFJ-EFJ Spanish affiliates, – the Federation of Spanish Journalists’ Associations (FAPE), the Journalists’ Associations of CCOO and UGT and the Federation of Journalists’ Trade Unions (FeSP) – and the parliamentary groups, the right to professional secrecy…