A group of government supporters attacked the offices of the online media Hayeli.am, highly critical of the Armenian authorities, on October 5. The group threw eggs and posted offensive posters at the entrance of the offices of the publication in Yerevan, the capital of the country. The four suspects are all known as ardent supporters of Armenian Prime Minister and were protesting against a headline that they consider pro-Azerbaijani published by the news website last week: “Aliyev’s belated but ‘strong’ response to Pashinian”. The article was about Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s public reaction a statement on Nagorno-Karabakh made by Armenian…

Kosovo Police detained four Serbian journalists from Radio Belgrade at a police station in Southern Kosovska Mitrovica on Friday, 4 October for six hours. On the same day, Pink Television and Tanjug News Agency crews were held up for several hours at Jarinje administrative crossing. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Serbian affiliates the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists’ Association (NUNS) and the Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS) in supporting their protest for the protection of journalists and the right of informing freely. The Radio Belgrade crew, which included journalist Nataša Aćimović, sound technician Aleksandar Bojović, producer Svetlana…

On 29 September, the Madrid radio M21 stopped airing its programmes following a decision from the newly elected city council of Madrid, leaving the thirteen media workers in an uncertain situation. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Spain Federación de Asociaciones de Periodistas (FAPE) and Federación de Sindicatos de Periodistas (FeSP) in expressing solidarity with M21’s staff. They are calling on the new Mayor and the city council of Madrid to reconsider their decision. Madrid’s Mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida had been accusing repeatedly the radio to be the former mayor mouthpiece, renaming the station ‘Radio Carmena’…

Russian journalist Yulia Yuzik was arrested on 3 October in her hotel room in the Iranian capital Teheran. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) joined their Russian affiliates in urging Iran to clarify the reasons for her arrest. In the absence of evidence, the EFJ calls for the journalist’s immediate release. Yulia Yuzik had her passport confiscated by the police as she entered Teheran airport on 3 October and was told she would get it back on her return. She was arrested later in her hotel room by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for allegedly working for…

Twelve journalists working at the the public service broadcasters (PSM) in Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Serbia and the UK attended the first meeting of the Broadcasting Expert Group (BREG) has raised serious concerns over the increasing political interference on public service media. In the meeting held at the EFJ headquarters in Brussels, discussion over the development of the independence of PSM shows a worrying trend of political interference all over Europe, even in the “traditionally democratic countries” in Northern and Western Europe like Denmark and Austria. Particular attention was also paid to the situation of Poland,…

A journalist of Radio Sarajevo was attacked and several journalists were threatened by a group of fans of the Football Club Sarajevo on the evening of September 27. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) joined its affiliate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BH Journalists, in demanding harsh sanctions against the assailants. After breaking into the newsroom, a group of hooligans harassed for more than two hours, including death threats, a radio reporter to remove an article about a fan who had been convicted to a five-year prison sentence for drug possession. He was then forced to call other editorial…