Five years after the assassination of Já​​n Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová, Slovak judges are nearing their judgment in the retrial of the alleged mastermind of the murder of Aktuality.sk’s journalist and his fiancée. While the hitmen and an intermediary of the February 2018 killing have already been convicted to long prison sentences, suspect Marián Kočner, charged with ordering the crime, was acquitted. With the retrial verdict expected in April 2023, our organisations renew our call for full justice for the double murder. The undersigned organisations conducted a fact-finding and advocacy mission in the country to express their support to the…

Two Italian journalists, Andrea Sceresini and Alfredo Bosco, had their press accreditation withdrawn on 6 February 2023 while reporting for the public broadcaster Rai3 in Ukraine. Since then, they have been unable to work, awaiting interrogation by the Ukrainian security service (SBU). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Italian affiliate, the FNSI, in calling on the Ukrainian authorities to let the journalists continue their reporting by granting them new accreditation as soon as possible. In a letter published in Il Fatto Quotidiano,the two freelance reporters wrote that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence had notified them of the suspension of…

Two weeks after the terrible earthquake that shook Northern Syria and Eastern Turkey, Kenan Şener, Secretary General of the Ankara Journalists Association (GCD), describes the dire humanitarian situation for the inhabitants and the local journalists who are trying to tell their stories despite everything. Şener recounts the daily grind of journalists reporting on the ground, as well as how the Association is responding to their urgent needs, and preparing for a long crisis. What are the main issues journalists are facing in the field? The protection of journalists’ rights and freedoms has become more difficult due to the declaration of a…

French weekly Le Poher had to evacuate its office on 20 February 2023 after an anonymous caller said a bomb had been placed in the office in Carhaix, France. Although no explosive device was found, this incident comes on top of several serious acts of intimidation targeting Le Poher in recent weeks. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the French journalists’ unions SNJ, SNJ-CGT, and CFDT-Journalistes in expressing solidarity with the six employees, and denouncing the deleterious effects of these repeated attacks on the regional independent newspaper and its journalists. The bomb threat is the latest of a series…

Trade union representatives from 10 European countries attended the 1.5-day training in Stockholm, Sweden, on 15 and 16 February 2023 as part of the “Safety for Journalists” project. The panel discussions and training focused on online harassment, the duty of care of employers, and physical safety. The goal was to highlight good practices and find ways to involve emlployers towards employees and the role of large social media platforms. The session opened with Maja Sever, president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND). She stated the project aims to develop a universal risk assessment model through…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined today the partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in expressing solidarity with Emilia Sercan and urging the end of coordinated attacks on the journalist. Today, 17 February 2023, marks one year since journalist Emilia Șercan filed a police complaint about cybercrime and violation of privacy after she discovered five stolen personal pictures taken about twenty years ago had been published on 34 porn websites. The next day, Șercan found that a Moldovan website had published an article containing the five stolen pictures and a Facebook Messenger screenshot she had provided…