Over 1,300 people, including 18 journalists, were detained across Russia on Wednesday as rallies against a military mobilization declared by President Vladimir Putin for the war in Ukraine took place in 42 cities across the country. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) demands the release of these citizens who were demonstrating peacefully as well as the journalists who were covering the demonstrations. According to the independent OVD-Info police monitor, at least 1,328 people, including 18 journalists identified by the independent Journalists and Media Workers Union (JMWU), have been detained nationwide so far. A majority of those detained were women. Most…

The right of citizens to be informed about matters of public interest and of journalists to write freely about them cannot and must not be hindered by SLAPPs. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined civil society’s appeal to the future parliament to promote measures to contrast strategic lawsuits. SLAPPs (Strategic lawsuits against public participation) aim at silencing journalists, activists, whistleblowers, and anyone who sheds light on matters of public interest. SLAPPs are a true violation of the right of citizens to be informed and freedom of expression. SLAPPs also pose serious restrictions on democratic participation as they deprive the…

On 16 September 2000, investigative journalist Georgy Gongadze, founder of the online daily Ukrainska Pravda, was kidnapped and murdered. 22 years after the murder, the person who ordered the killing is still at large. The journalist disappeared on 16 September 2000. His beheaded body was found six weeks later, about 100 km from Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Georgiy Gongadze had been investigating corruption within the Government and in the Presidency of the then President Leonid Kuchma. In the months leading to his death, Gongadze reported that he was under surveillance and had been receiving threats. After years of investigations, four former…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joins the undersigned journalists’, media freedom, and human rights organisations in welcoming the European Commission’s initiative to strengthen the free and pluralistic media system and the commitment to protect journalists and editorial independence within the European Union. The EFJ and media freedom groups also stress need for improvements. These values directly link to fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, the right to access to information, the formation of opinion, and making informed choices in elections, as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Matters relating to the media have traditionally been the…

Amidst the unprecedented attack on democratic freedoms in Ukraine, serious violations of media freedom have continued to take place all over Europe in the first six months of 2022, according to a report published today by the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR). The report was compiled by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Press Institute (IPI) and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF). The MFRR monitoring report – available to download – documents violations and attacks on media freedom across European Union Member States and Candidate Countries between January and June 2022. It illustrates the increasing…

Eleven journalists and representatives from regional journalists’ unions in Germany took part in a training workshop on the health and safety of journalists in Bonn on September 14-15 2022. This workshop is the first in a series of training sessions organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as part of the  Safety4Journalists project. The workshop was organised by EFJ and its member the German Federation of Journalists (DJV). It focused on specific safety needs for journalists in Germany, including covering protests safely, online harassment and trolling.   It responds to the increasing attacks facing journalists in Germany with the aim…

Is there a story in your local town, somewhere in Europe, that you think is worth sharing with the rest of the world? If the answer is yes, but you lack resources, we may have the solution for you: a grant to support local investigative journalists and/or local news media outlets from several European countries who want to do investigative reporting at the local level in resonance with the European level.  Why local? In every nook and cranny of the world, there are many stories waiting to be told. This grant programme aims to tackle the shortage of local journalists…

The Moscow City Court dissolved today the Journalists and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU), the independent representative organisation of journalists and media workers in Russia. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemn this illegitimate political trial, based on false accusations. The IFJ and EFJ will continue to support their affiliate JMWU. Not surprisingly, the Moscow City Court on Wednesday followed the request of the prosecutor’s office to liquidate the independent journalists’ union JMWU, affiliated to the EFJ and IFJ. The prosecutor claimed that the trade union’s members did not pay membership fees and that its…

Committed to a better treatment of the climate crisis, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a co-signatory of the Charter for upgraded journalistic practices to tackle the ecological emergency, alongside many media, journalists, journalism schools and journalists’ unions in France. The Charter, published on 14 September 2022, with the support of the scientific community, contains 13 articles to improve media coverage of all issues related to climate, life and social justice. The EFJ encourages all journalists to promote this charter in their newsrooms, so that the media integrate the major ecological and social issues of the 21st century in…

The Grodno Regional Court sentenced, on Wednesday 14 September, the investigative journalist Denis Ivashin to 13 years and one month in prison. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their affiliate in Belarus, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in denouncing this travesty of justice and demanding his immediate release. The journalist’s trial began on August 15, 2022 and was held behind closed doors. Denis Ivashin was arrested on the evening of Friday 12 March 2021 in Grodno, in the west of the country. Five officers of the Belarusian intelligence service (KGB) searched his home and his parents’…

The Spanish football authorities have introduced new conditions for the broadcasting of its matches, including a ban on journalists asking uncomfortable questions to footballers and managers, under threat of being removed from their jobs. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and its Spanish affiliates have expressed their concern about the new criteria, which undermine media freedom and the public’s right to information. La Liga de Fútbol, the association that organises the first and second divisions of the men’s football competition in Spain, has introduced changes to the rules for broadcasting matches for the 2022-2023 season. In the specifications for the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the undersigned media freedom and freedom of expression organisations in expressing concerns about the defamation lawsuit filed against journalist Isa Myzyraj, who works for Ora News, by Elizabeta Imeraj. Formerly Tirana’s top prosecutor, Imeraj was fired in April 2022 as part of the justice reform process for causing a loss of trust in the justice system and inability to justify or explain her assets. On the occasion of yesterday’s hearing, we call for a fair trial with full respect for all due process rights and in which the importance of free speech, press…

Belarusian journalist Pavel Mazheyka was arrested in Hrodna on 30 August 2022, and remanded in custody on unknown charges. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls for his immediate release along with 26 other journalists and media workers currently imprisoned in Belarus. Pavel Mazheyka, 44, is a renowned journalist, who worked for one of the first independent newspapers Pahonia and for Belsat. He is the head of the cultural center “Center for Urban Life” and coordinator of the City Library publishing initiative, which specialised in publishing books about the city of Hrodna and written by Hrodna-based authors. Considered as one…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in expressing solidarity with the twenty journalists blacklisted by the Turkish General Directorate of Security (EGM) for their writing and joined Turkey’s Journalists Union (TGS) in denouncing an apparent attempt to intimidate independent journalists and trade unionists. On 5 September, the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) revealed that the General Directorate of Security (EGM) had blacklisted 20 journalists in relation to their writings for the online magazine Journalist Post, a periodical run by journalists living in exile. No legal proceedings have yet been initiated…

UPDATE (15.09.2022): The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has ordered a halt to the activities of the Novaya Gazeta website. The decision was taken following requests from Russia’s state-media watchdog Roskomnadzor, which said the newspaper had violated the country’s controversial “foreign agents” law. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their Russian affiliate the Journalists and Media Workers Union (JMWU) in calling on Russian authorities to reverse the recent decision to suspend the printing license of the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper and stop to censor the outlet and its journalists. On Monday 5 September, a Moscow court granted a…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its partners organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today in expressing support and solidarity with embattled broadcaster OK Radio and urging Serbian law enforcement authorities to put an end to the dangerous campaign of harassment and pressure exerted on the media outlet by a powerful local businessperson. Over the last few months, OK Radio, a leading independent radio station which covers local news in the southern city of Vranje, has faced an increasingly violent wave of attacks and intimidation from Dejan Nikolic Kantar, a powerful gambling businessperson. Pressure on the media…