The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have today backed their affiliates, the Hungarian Press Union (HPU) and the Association of Hungarian Journalists (AHJ), which slammed a TV camerawoman who was filmed kicking refugees as they fled from police last Tuesday in Hungary. In a video footage widely shared in media reports on the attack which took place on 8 September, Petra Laszlo, who worked for N1TV, is seen kicking several refugees, including children, as they ran from a police lines during disturbances at Roszke, southern Hungary. The footage, which was filmed by another journalist…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) are jointly calling the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to immediately lift all the bans against news organisation, protect press freedom (including journalists’ work places) and release all journalists being detained. According to media reports, the Turkish Telecommunications Authority (TIB) has geographically blocked access to the website of Dicle News Agency (DIHA), dedicated to the coverage of the Kurdish issue. “This is the eleventh times that free access to the Dicle News Agency’s online version is being blocked based on a request coming from the Prime minister office. DIHA continue to…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its European organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), denounce the beating of a Serbian journalist on 27 august and support their affiliates in Serbia, the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), the Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS) and the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) in their call for the attacks’ perpetrators to be tracked down and brought to justice. Investigative journalist Ivan Ninic, 27, was beaten on August 27 in front of his home as he was locking his car in the parking lot. Two young men attacked him brutally using metal…

Banning the promoters of online hate speech and preventing broadcast thereof are not simply acts of civic responsibility. For journalists, this is the fulfilment of a basic duty: giving readers, viewers and listeners real facts. This is why today the Italian organisation Associazione Carta di Roma, with the support of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Articolo 21, the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI), the Italian Order of Journalists and the Journalists’ Union RAI (USIGRai), has launched the #nohatespeech campaign.   OUR ONLINE PETITION ASKS: JOURNALISTS – Don’t be passive in front of hate speech cases. Since they are based on…

UPDATE (09/09/2015) : Dutch journalist likely to be deported from Turkey The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on Turkish authorities to immediately release Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink. She was arrested early Sunday, at around 2 am, near the city of Yüksekova (Hakkari province, southeastern Turkey), while covering an activists group of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), a Kurdish opposition organisation. Geerdink was following a “human shield group” of 32 people when she was detained, with all the members of the group. The police told them they were in a restricted area. The arrest comes just a week after two journalists for Vice News,…

The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz has met with a delegation of creators’ organisations including the EFJ President, Mogens Blicher Bjerregård and presidents of the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ESCA), Euroepan Writers Council and the Federation of Europeam Film Directors (FERA) and the European Federation of Screenwriters (FSE) to discuss the upcoming Digital Single Market Strategy being prepared by the European Commission. The delegation highlighted the importance of strong authors’ rights protection in the current intellectual property rights debate, the role of creators in European economy and the need to foster cultural diversity. During the meeting, Blicher…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) back their Ukrainian affiliates the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU) in deploring the injury of five journalists following riots in front of the Parliament in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, on August 31. Violent clashes took place in front of the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, as deputies approved in first reading a bill amending the Ukrainian Constitution to grant greater autonomy to Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Fighting erupted between activists led by the populist Radical Party and the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have today condemned the sentencing of Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova to 7.5 years in jail in the capital, Baku, in a case said to be retaliation for exposing state corruption. On 1 September, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes convicted Ismayilova, the award-winning investigative journalist at a closed trial on charges of libel, tax evasion, illegal business activity and abuse of power. Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence the reporter to nine years. “We strongly condemn the outrageous sentence handed down to Khadija Ismayilova,” said IFJ…

Update (03/09/2015): the Vice News journalists arrested earlier this week in Turkey’s south-east on charges of having links to a terrorist organisation have been released today. But the journalists’ fixer, Mohammed Ismael Rasool, a journalist and translator who has worked extensively across the Middle East with VICE News, Associated Press, and Al Jazeera, has had his appeal of release rejected.  The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined Vice News today to call on the Turkish authorities for a swift end to this unjust detainment and to grant his immediate release. ———– The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists…

A hundred refugees spent the night outside in a park in front of the Refugees Office in Brussels, the “capital of Europe”, on Wednesday. Commenting on these events, many media talked about a “massive influx of refugees in Belgium.” Some simply mentioned a “flood of refugees”. Others stuck to comment on “the problem of hosting refugees.” The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), an active member of the Ethical Journalism Network, reminds journalists “shall be aware of the danger of discrimination being furthered by the media, and shall do the utmost to avoid facilitating such discrimination based on, among other things,…

“For the first time in my life I saw my colleagues – photographers and journalists – crying because of the situation”. Macedonian photographer Georgi Licovski, member of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM-ZNM), an EFJ affiliate, told TIME magazine he was moved, after spending the day taking pictures at the border from Greece to Macedonia, on Friday 21 August. He added that it was also the first time he has cried while working. Hundreds of refugees trying to cross the border clashed with police lines, just a day after Macedonia closed the border. Georgi Licovski said to TIME magazine there were…

Two Italian journalists and support staff have received death threats for reporting on mafia boss Vittorio Casamonica’s funeral, which took place in Rome, on 21 August. Alessio Viscardi, an investigative reporter for the online newspaper Fanpage.it was threatened on 22 August by four people in Terzigno (40 km south of Naples), when he was looking for the airfield where the helicopter had taken off to throw rose petals on the funeral procession. The attackers took photographs of his documents and threatened to kill him. The second attack occurred on 23 August, in Rome: a team from public TV channel RAI…

Update (01/09/2015): Khadija Ismayilova has been sentenced today by Baku Court to 7,5 years in prison. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its European organisation, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with ARTICLE 19 and the Association of European Journalists (AEJ), have urged the Azerbaijani authorities to reject the Prosecutor’s request made today against the investigative journalist Khadija Ismaylova and to immediately free her. Ismayilova’s trial began in capital Baku on 7th August and has been adjourned until Wednesday 26th August, when the verdict is likely to be delivered. Following the request, the four media organisations have together submitted…

Article 19, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) today reported to the Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of journalism the new wave of censorship targeting certain media outlets’ websites in Turkey (read our submission here). On 25 July 2015, the Ankara Gölbaşı Penal Court of Peace ruled to block 96 Kurdish websites in Turkey, many of which were news websites, after receiving a complaint from the Turkish Communications Authority that the websites were spreading terrorist propaganda. Among the blocked news websites were ANF (Ajansa Nûçeyan a…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have today called on the Serbian authorities to investigate the recent attack on journalist Predrag Blagojevic who was repeatedly beaten by a policeman on Saturday 15 August. The affiliates of IFJ and EFJ – the Independent Journalists’ Association (NUNS), the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) and the Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS, in Serbian) have also condemned the attack and urged the authorities to investigate the case immediately. Blagojevic is the editor for the news portal, Juzne Vesti. He previously received threats while on a journalistic assignment.…

Update (20.08.2015) The European Federation of Journalists sent today a letter to Politico CEO Jim VandeHei expressing its concern about news reports suggesting that Mike Elk, Labor reporter at Politico and co-author of the Louisville Statement, has been fired. Politico confirmed, on Thursday, Mike Elk’s departure, saying it has “nothing to do with his union activities”. Supported by his union, Mike Elk replied that he is on vacation until September 1st: he considers he is still an employee of Politico. ———- Over 12,000 jobs have disappeared from the US media industry, over the last decade. But according to Pew Research Center’s count, 5,000 full-time…