UPDATE: After 19 days of hunger strike, Pavlović interrupted the protest after meeting with the President of Serbia, who promised to contact the relevant institutions in the next ten days to resolve the problems of the independent regional TV Kanal 9, in accordance with the law.   Maja Pavlović, the owner of the independent regional TV Kanal 9 in Serbia, has been on hunger strike for 14 days to protest against the economic pressure the station facing the broadcaster. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their Serbian affiliates UNS, NUNS, SINOS, in backing Maja Pavlović’s demands. With…

UPDATE: The journalists Ahmet Kanbal, Mehmet Şah Oruç, Rojda Aydın, Nurcan Yalçın and Halime Parlak were released on August 26. Tunahan Turhan, a reporter for the Etkin news agency (ETHA), was detained while he was preparing to cover a demonstration in protest of the government-appointed trustees. Tunahan Turhan and Taylan Özgür Öztaş were released on August 23 under judicial control measures.   At least seven journalists were taken in custody on Tuesday 20 August after reporting on protests taking place in three southeast Turkish cities, Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van, as well as in Istanbul. The European and International Federations of…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and a coalition of seven media freedom and journalists’ organisations are calling on Russian authorities to immediately stop the harassment of journalists who have been covering the recent protests in Moscow. Since the electoral authorities rejected several opposition candidates for September’s city council elections, protesters have taken to the streets of Moscow on four consecutive Saturdays. Russian authorities have responded with threats, violence, and detentions. Journalists who have been reporting on the protests have consistently been targeted. On 27 July 2019, two journalists suffered broken noses after being struck by police, one received injuries to…

Bulgaria will elect a new Prosecutor General this autumn and a series of statements made by public officials against the press have raised journalists’ concerns about the process. The IFJ/EFJ join its affiliate the Union of Bulgarian Journalist (UBJ) in calling for better protection of the rights of journalists and the media. A new Attorney General will be elected in Bulgaria on 24th October. The only person nominated as a candidate for the position is the current Deputy Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev who has expressed his opposition to the separation of powers in Bulgaria. UBJ reports that Geshev has repeatedly been the focus of public and media…

Guardian journalist Owen Jones has been physically assaulted in London while celebrating his 35th birthday with friends in the early hours of Saturday morning. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemned the outrageous attack on Owen Jones and called on the British authorities to investigate the case and bring the perpetrators to justice. After leaving a bar near King’s Cross in London on the night of Saturday 17 August, at about 3am, a group of men approached Owen Jones and his friends and began hitting him in the head from behind. According to reports, Jones fell to the ground after…

On August 7, the Azerbaijani Supreme Court decided to uphold its charges against investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who was accused of tax evasion. After she has been living under a probation sentence for three and a half years, the former correspondent of RadioFreeEurope / Radio Liberty seeked for an early termination of her probation. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the court’s decision and demands Azerbaijani authorities to stop her repressions. Since 2010, Ismayilova had been writing on cases of corruption linked to the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s family, until she was imprisoned in 2014 after a government-driven smear…