The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the legal actions aimed at muzzling and intimidating the press in the context of the scandal of illegal government practices in Greece, in particular the tapping of journalists and politicians. The EFJ condemns the abusive legal proceedings launched on Friday 5 August by Grigoris Dimitriadis, resigning adviser and nephew of Greek Prime Minister Kyriákos Mitsotákis, against journalists Thanasis Koukakis, Nikolas Leontopoulos and Thodoris Chondrogiannos, as well as against the website Reporters United and the newspaper EfSyn. “We demand the immediate withdrawal of these complaints, which are only intended to intimidate the press and…

Freelance rates in Belgium have been stagnating for three years, according to a survey conducted in May and June 2022 by the Belgian Association of Professional Journalists (AJP). In a context of rising inflation (8% expected), the gap between employed journalists, who benefit from annual salary indexation, and freelancers is widening. The journalists’ organisation will make the remuneration of freelancers a priority from September. Journalism is one of the few sectors where the clients – the media – set the rates. The different calculation practices (billing per sign, per word, per line, per article, per day) make it difficult, to…

After a series of British journalists, Russia has banned, on Monday morning, the Danish public television correspondent in Moscow, Matilde Kimer. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) call for the reversal of these decisions. On the morning of 1 August, on arrival at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, Matilde Kimer had passed through passport control but was arrested after collecting her luggage. At an airport office, she was handed a document stating that she was denied entry to the Russian Federation “for security and defence reasons” and should therefore be deported immediately. After a five-hour wait at the airport in Moscow,…

This morning, August 3, 2022, the Tagansky District Court of Moscow found the Journalists and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU), an EFJ affiliate in Russia, guilty of allegedly “discrediting the Russian armed forces” (Code of administrative offenses of the Russian Federation). JMWU was ordered to pay the maximum fine of 500,000 rubles (8,000 euros). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounces this illegitimate trial, which only aims to facilitate the dissolution of the union, during a hearing scheduled for September 14. According to the indictment, JMWU was held responsible for the “spreading of ideas related to a negative attitude towards the…

On 3 August, the regional court in Homel, Belarus, sentenced journalist Iryna Slaunikava to 5 years in prison in a closed trial. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) in calling for the annulment of this arbitrary and illegal court decision. The journalist, who is vice-president of BAJ, was found guilty of organising collective actions seriously undermining public order and creating or leading an extremist group. The latter refers to the Belsat TV channel, which the Belarusian dictatorship considers an extremist organisation. The proceedings lasted almost one and a half months. Judge…

Latvijas Radio vēstīja, Latvia’s public radio station, reported on Monday that Latvia’s intelligence services, Valsts drošības dienesta (VDD) had informed the country’s senior officials about the risks of the increasing activity of Russian journalists and Russian media companies setting up in Latvia. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Russian Journalists and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) call on the authorities in all European countries not to indiscriminately stigmatise Russian journalists in exile. According to the radio station’s information, since Russia started the war, more than 200 journalists and 23 Russian media outlets have left Russia to settle in Latvia.…