Evrensel journalists Hasan Akbaş, Fırat Topal and Serpil Berk, as well as Reuters’ correspondent Sertaç Kayar have been recounting “the torture and threats” they faced after being arrested as the crackdown on media continues across Turkey. The European and International Federation of Journalists (FEJ/FIJ) has joined their affiliate DISK Basin-Is in demanding an end to the crackdown and respect for the rights of professional media workers. The four journalists were among the first on the scene following a bomb attack on 10 August in the Southeast Anatolian province of Diyarbakir. Deemed suspicious by the police for being in the vicinity of…

Media freedom in Croatia is facing turbulent times with excessive political influence, concluded by an international mission in a report published on 9 August.  The report published by the International Press Institute (IPI) highlighted that the political crisis in the country has put journalists and media freedom at risk resulting in the lack of independence of public media, increase in legal restrictions and physical attacks on journalists. The report listed a series of findings from the international mission back in June 21 – 23 carried out by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO). The mission included representatives from the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is shocked by the decision of the public prosecutor on 2 August  to open a counter-appeal against Antoine Deltour, Raphaël Halet and Edouard Perrin, the two whistleblowers and the journalist involved in the so-called ‘‘LuxLeaks scandal’’. The EFJ and its French affiliates the Syndicat National des Journalistes (SNJ) and the SNJ-CGT believe the appeal is targeting at the investigative journalist Edouard Perrin who was set free by the court in June. Mogens Blicher Bjerregard, the EFJ President said, ‘‘it is unbelievable that the government is determined to use more public resources in order to pursue Perrin who was acted in the public…

The European Federation of Journalists is strongly opposed to restrictions on foreign broadcasters in Moldova. The amendments to the Audio-visual Code under consideration by the Parliament in Moldova run counter to international standards on media freedom. On 7 July, the Parliament adopted, in the first reading, amendments to the Audio-visual Code of the Republic of Moldova. The amendments proposed by the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party, members of the ruling coalition, aim to limit broadcasts in foreign languages or those originating from abroad. Ricardo Gutiérrez, the EFJ general secretary, participated to a public debate organised by the chairman of the Parliament…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined an international alliance of human-rights organisations, journalists’ associations and media, to protect foreign journalists from surveillance by the German Federal Intelligence Agency (Bundesnachrichtendienst –BND). The campaign, launched on 4 August by Reporters without Borders, aims to include in the revised BND law a clause protecting journalists. The signatories of the appeal consider the global mass surveillance by the BND to be a violation of human rights and they regard the surveillance of foreign journalists in particular as a serious encroachment on press freedom worldwide. A multi-lingual online petition is available for signature.…

Violence against journalists in Europe increased in the second quarter of 2016, reports submitted to Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom platform show, as a government crackdown in Turkey intensified and protests turned violent in countries from France to Finland. Between 1 April and 30 June 2016, Mapping Media Freedom’s network of 18 correspondents and other journalists submitted a total of 341 verified reports of violations of press freedom to the database, a 13% rise over the first quarter of 2016. The platform — a joint undertaking with the European Federation of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, partially funded by the European Commission…