The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today has told Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiation that media censorship is a reality in Serbia following his controversial remark made on 15 February in a media briefing prior to his visit to Skopje this week. According to journalists attended the media briefing, Commissioner Hahn told journalists that “I have heard this several times [concerns about media freedom] and I am asking always about proof. I am willing to follow up such reproaches, but I need evidence and not only rumours.” When journalists further questioned…

Two French journalists, Jean-Louis Perez and Pierre Chautard, working for France Télévisions were arrested by the Moroccan authorities on 15 February while they were making a documentary in Rabat. Perez and Chautard were arrested in the premises of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) when they were interviewing the President of the AMDH, Mr. Ahmed El-Haij about the human rights situation in the country. The police also seized their equipment and told them to leave the country immediately. Following the arrest, the French journalists’ unions (SNJ, SNJ-CGT and CFDT-Journalistes) denounced the arrest. “The arrest is not acceptable and the…

(updated 15/02/2015) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemn the deadly shootings which took place Saturday and early Sunday in Copenhagen. One civilian has been killed and three police officers injured after armed men opened fire on Krudttønden meeting place, on Saturday. The title of the meeting was: “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression”. In the second attack, early Sunday, outside the city’s main synagogue, a man was shot in the head and later died, and two officers were wounded. The Saturday meeting was attended by Lars Vilks, the controversial Swedish artist who has…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have welcomed the announcement by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to reopening Greek public broadcaster ERT, which was closed down by the previous government in June 2013. On Monday 9 February Nikos Pappas, the State Minister responsible for public service broadcasting, said that the government will prepare a draft law in a month’s time in order to allow the re-opening of ERT. The PSB went off air in June 2013 and 2700 staff were laid off as part of austerity measures adopted by the government of former Prime…

Update (13/06/2015): Emin Huseynov flew out of Azerbaijan on the plane of Switzerland’s top diplomat Didier Burkhalter, who attended the Euro Games ceremony in Baku late on Friday (12/06/2015). Emin Huseynov who had been sheltering for 10 months at the Swiss embassy in Baku, is now in Bern. Julian Assange’s Courage Foundation helped him escape Azerbaijan and fly to Switzerland.   Reportage broadcasted this week by the Swiss national television shows the case of Azeri journalist and human rights defender Emin Huseynov, secretly hidden in the Swiss Embassy in Baku (Azerbaijan) since last August due to a wave of repression…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) represented by President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, told EU policy-makers to address the unfair contractual practices in the media and creative sectors in a meeting organised by the European Parliament working group on intellectual property rights and copyright reform in Strasburg. Addressing members of the working group, Blicher Bjerregård says, “The biggest challenge facing journalists today is the unfair contractual practices that deprived the right of journalists from receiving fair payment for their work. “The imbalance in negotiation power between media organisations and individual journalists allows this to happen.” You can read the full speech…