On 27 February 2017, the European Federation of Journalists submitted the following alert to the Council of Europe platform for the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists: On 20 February 2017, two journalists were harassed by far-right wing protesters while reporting live in Thessaloniki, Greece. Maria Travlou, who works for the public broadcaster ERT3, and Eleni Latrou, for the private station Skai TV, were insulted and stopped from doing their job by some men and women part of the so-called “Patriots’ Organisation” demonstrating outside a school. They were preventing refugee children from attending classes. The protesters covered the…

UPDATE (28.02.2017): Deniz Yücel was jailed pending trial on terrorism related charges on Monday 27 February 2017. German daily Die Welt correspondent in Turkey Deniz Yücel was taken into custody on 14 February following reports on Turkish Minister of Energy Albayrak’s hacked emails. Mr Yücel, who holds both Turkish and German citizenship, is accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation, spreading propaganda and misusing information, charges refuted by the defendant as well as media organisations. Since the end of December, six other journalists working for Turkish news outlets have been arrested supposedly in connection to the RedHack leaks.…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) backs its Croatian affiliate, the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA), in denouncing the attack against freedom of speech and the rights of ethnic minorities in Croatia. On February 13, the nongovernmental organisation “In the Name of the Family” (U ime obitelji) held a press conference asking for disqualifying the weekly magazine Novosti published by the Serb National Council. On the same day, it sent to the government a document titled “Report on the Abuse of State Budget Funds for the Serbian National Minority”, in which it calls for the criminal prosecution of Novosti’s journalists, editors…

“In each company we need to first deal with the staff workers, and find out about their main challenges at work. We need to map the company, the sector and then also map the situation of staff , freelances, agency and all workers “, said Erkan Ersoy, Director of Organizing  in UNI SCORE (Strategic Campaigns, Organising, Research + Education) who was invited to the Freelance Expert Group meeting to discuss how to apply the UNI organising strategy at company level to freelance journalists. Other tips include: Choose the most ethical media company to start with; Map: find out about pay…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the campaign launched by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) advocating for a pay rise for workers throughout Europe. On 14th and 15th February, European trade unionists have been discussing the need for pay rises with employers and government at a conference in Brussels. Today, wealth and wage inequality is on the rise and workers’ rights such as collective bargaining should be encouraged and promoted by all. That is why the European trade union movement has banded together in this campaign to make sure workers get their pay rise. “Europe needs to talk…

The Trade Union of RTK has been actively discussing the rights of workers during the meetings with Caucus Groups in Kosovo Assembly and Speaker of the Assembly due to the RTK law being in the process of amending. The process that has been criticised by the EU office in Kosovo for not being transparent enough. However, General Director of RTK Mentor Shala wasn’t pleased with the Trade Union’s activity, in his recent Facebook post (08.02.2017) he called the Union “political ‘bacteria’ within RTK”. Furthermore Mentor Shala insulted workers and members of the Trade Union by saying that “if it wasn’t…

The Representative on Freedom of the Media, an independent OSCE Institution, has a unique mandate to protect and promote media freedom in all 57 OSCE participating States. The current mandate holder, Dunja Mijatović of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is due to leave the Office on 10th March 2017. To date, there has been no announcement of her successor. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ), together with a wide coalition of freedom of expression organisations (including AEJ, Article 19, CPJ, Index on Censorship, IPI and RSF/RWB), sent today a letter to OSCE Participating states, urging them to press…

“There is an urgent need to restore freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey. The closure of more than 150 media organisations since the coup attempt and the continuous detention of around 150 journalists had the huge chilling effect on the state of fundamental rights in Turkey”, said Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks who published today (15/02/2017) a detailed Memorandum on freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey based on the findings of two visits to the country in April and September 2016. In a interview with the EFJ, the Commissioner insisted that the…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) back their British affiliate, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), in its concerns over the proposals to update the Official Secrets Act in the United Kingdom. Due to the new way of defining espionage, including “obtaining sensitive information”, as well as “passing it on”, journalists, whom are simply working on their stories, can potentially face up to 14 years in prison by receiving some secret information. These proposals completely ignore the right of journalists to disclose information in the public interest and would also punish severely whistleblowers,…

The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) have condemned the arson attack by unidentified assailants on the car of journalist Sergey Goos yesterday morning in the central Ukrainian city of Kamianske (Dneprodzerzhinsk). This is the latest case in a worrying and growing number of attacks against independent journalists in the country and was immediately condemned by IFJ affiliates the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU). The attack took place in the courtyard of an apartment building where Goos lives and the unions claimed was a result of recent reporting…

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, is encouraging Kosovo authorities to safeguard media freedom in the country following his four-day mission to Kosovo. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Journalist’s Association of Kosovo (AGK) welcome the preliminary conclusions. In his report, the Commissioner recommends to strengthen Kosovo public service media, urging “the authorities to establish a sustainable, appropriate and transparent funding of the public service broadcasting organisation and to secure its editorial independence and institutional autonomy.” The Law on the Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK), the public service broadcaster, is currently being amended by the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has today backed its affiliate Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) in condemning new restrictions imposed on broadcasters by governmental decrees number 680 published on 06/02/2017. The Executive Board of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) announced that the restrictions imposed on broadcasting by Radio and Television Authority (RTUK) officials represents a direct intervention to the profession of journalism and aims at making censorship as a permanent institution. “The legislative decree has made amendments to the law that regulates Radio and television broadcasts in Turkey. According to these amendments, the broadcasts of any radio or television outlet…

Malta Independent columnist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia is having her bank accounts frozen with a precautionary warrant for 47,460€ after a court upheld yesterday (08.02.2017) a request by Maltese Economy Minister Chris Cardona and his consultant Joe Gerada to issue garnishee orders alongside four libel suits they have filed against her. The journalist is sued for publishing on her blog an article reporting that both men visited a brothel in Velbert, in Germany, while on government business. Cardona has denied the allegation. According to media reports, the effect of the precautionary warrants on her assets means her bank accounts…

UPDATE (07.03.2017): The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) alert submitted on the detention of Alexander Lapshin to Council of Europe platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists. He is currently located at the Detention Center of the Baku Investigative Prison Nr 1. ——————- Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin, who also holds Ukrainian and Israeli citizenships, was extradited to Azerbaijan, after the Supreme Court in Belarus decided to send him to Baku despite the objections from Moscow. The blogger, who is famous for writing about traveling, was arrested in Minsk in December…

Association of Journalists of Macedonia (ZNM, EFJ-IFJ affiliate) welcomed the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Selmani and others against the Republic of Macedonia related to the events of December 24, 2012 when journalists were forcibly expelled from the gallery of the Macedonian Parliament where they were reporting on a parliamentary debate about approval of the State budget for 2013. During the debate a group of opposition MPs had started creating a disturbance in the parliamentary chamber, and had been ejected by security officers. The applicants, accredited journalists, had refused to leave the gallery, a…

The EFJ Authors’ rights expert group convened in Brussels on 6 February. The main issue on the agenda included the new EU directive proposal on copyright in the digital single market and its implication for authors. Following a proposal from the European commission, the draft directive is being discussed in the European Parliament and within national member states. It needs a concrete response from journalists’ unions on several points. One of the most positive move in the draft text is the introduction of reporting obligations for those who have been licensed or transferred journalistic works, ie media employers. While the…