The court indicated it would grant further appeal unless the U.S. authorities provided satisfactory assurances that they would not pursue the death penalty and that Assange could rely on the First Amendment in his defence.

Assange has been the center of a years-long legal battle, with the U.S. government seeking to prosecute him for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic documents. Assange could face up to 175 years in jail if convicted on all 17 charges. 

While IPI welcomes the High Court’s ruling as a temporary reprieve from extradition, we repeat our calls on the U.S. government to drop espionage charges against Assange and on the UK authorities to block his extradition.

Assange’s prosecution under Espionage Act establishes a serious and unacceptable risk for the media’s right to gather and publish information in the public interest. At stake are core principles of press freedom and the right to information. This case sets a precedent that could be used to target journalists and criminalize core newsgathering activities. It has the potential to cast a chilling effect over national security reporting in the U.S. and around the world.

As the next hearing has been scheduled for May 20, IPI calls on the international community to condemn the espionage charges against Assange and intensify efforts to protect press freedom and the right to information.

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The MFC is a group of 50 states that commit to protect the safety of journalists and press freedom at home and abroad. IPI joins civil society organizations in urging the MFC to stand united in calling on Israel to ensure the safety of all journalists inside Gaza, in accordance with the rules of war, and allow for immediate and unfettered access of international journalists to Gaza.

Read the letter below or download the letter here.

MFC Member States your credibility is on the line: we need your meaningful action for the safety of journalists and access to information in Gaza

MFC Member States your credibility is on the line: we need your meaningful action for the safety of journalists and access to information in Gaza. We write you today as a collective of concerned members of civil society working on media freedom globally. While on December 5, 2023, 24 members of the Media Freedom Coalition expressed concern about the plight of journalists in Israel and Gaza, in more than five months of a devastating conflict, with record numbers of journalists killed, primarily by Israeli forces in Gaza, there has been no credible action taken by MFC Member States. The targeted or indiscriminate killing of journalists is a war crime. Despite recent UN figures that at least 122 journalists have been killed, the collective official silence of the MFC member states as a group regarding these killings, with increasing evidence of journalists being specifically targeted, along with the lack of actions to ensure that international journalists can access and report from Gaza, seriously diminishes our collective ability to credibly stand up for media freedom globally.

The global rules-based order is served by predictability and consistency, as it all comes down to the shared commitment to live up to these norms in practice. Unfortunately we now witness the opposite with many states who routinely take initiative to promote media freedom and safety of journalists remaining silent on this issue. Calls for accountability in other situations are no longer credible when those calls are not made now in the face of such human suffering, destruction of media facilities, communication blackouts, arrests and threats that extend to the Occupied West Bank alongside increased censorship measures within Israel, and a consistent lack of accountability for the alleged targeting of journalists during this conflict.

We need journalists on the ground to be our eyes and ears. Journalists in Gaza face the most serious risks to their lives and urgently need our support, as outlined in a joint letter of solidarity by international media outlets published on February 28. Furthermore, the International Court of Justice in its January 24, 2024 order on provisional measures, underlined the importance of evidence collection; journalists play a crucial role in this effort, even more so when other pillars of accountability are weakened or absent.

This requires action from your Member States to consistently and publicly call for the treatment of Palestinian journalists, who continue to report from Gaza in spite of the risks, as civilians according to established norms of International Humanitarian Law, as well as urging for the immediate and unfettered access of international journalists to Gaza.

Finally, the growing evidence of targeted killings of journalists in this war requires a clear and joint call for prompt, independent, effective and thorough investigations into these killings in line with the UN Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (the Minnesota Protocol).

Signed by:

1. 7amleh – Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media
2. ACOS Alliance
3. ARIJ
4. ARTICLE 19
5. Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del Perú
6. Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
7. Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)
8. Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD)
9. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
10. English PEN
11. Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
12. Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP)
13. Gambia Press Union (GPU)
14. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
15. IFEX
16. I’lam – Arab Center for Media Freedom Development and Research
17. International Media Support (IMS)
18. International Press Institute (IPI)
19. International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
20. International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF)
21. Journalists for Human Rights (JHR)
22. Maharat Foundation
23. MARCH Lebanon
24. Marie Colvin Journalists’ Network (MCJN)
25. Media Watch Bangladesh
26. MiCT – Media in Cooperation and Transition
27. Muwatin Media Network
28. Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
29. PEN International
30. Public Media Alliance [PMA]
31. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
32. Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
33. Rory Peck Trust (RPT)
34. Samir Kassir Foundation (SKF)
35. SMEX
36. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).
37. Tafnied limited
38. Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State
39. Visualizing Impact

The post IPI joins 38 other rights groups calling on Media Freedom Coalition states to take concrete action for the safety of journalists in Gaza appeared first on https://ipi.media.

KRRiT issued the fine on March 6 following its investigation into a documentary film aired by TVN in March 2023. The documentary, which was part of a series on child abuse in the Catholic Church, delved into allegations surrounding Pope John Paul II’s potential involvement in covering up the scandal.

KRRiT is headed by Maciej Świrski, appointed by the parliament in 2022, who is known to be a close ally of the former governing Law and Justice (PiS) party. KRRiT remains an institution under PiS influence with a history of harassing independent and opposition media under the previous government. This included issuing arbitrary fines and delaying decisions on license renewals for TVN, TVN24 and TOK FM, which breached the body’s own rules and created economic uncertainty for targeted independent outlets.

Under Świrski, KRRiT fined TOK FM 80.000 PLN (roughly 19.000 EUR) in April 2023 for ‘inciting hatred’ when a commentator claimed that new school history books reminded him of language used in Nazi youth textbooks. It also fined Eurozet/Radio Zet 476.000 PLN for ‘promoting false information’ for a broadcast claiming US secret services had transported Ukraine’s President Zelensky through Poland without seeking assistance or properly informing Polish authorities.

KRRiT has yet to rule on two more cases against TVN, for a documentary on the Smoleńsk air tragedy and a report on police actions against a woman admitted to hospital after taking an abortion pill.   

The latest fine against TVN demonstrates the dangers that a politically captured media regulator poses to media freedom as it misuses its powers to punish independent journalism and curtail media freedom. KRRiT, left unchecked, is reaching beyond its constitutional role of media regulator and acting like a public censor by punishing outlets for legitimate, if uncomfortable, public interest journalism.

The independence of regulatory bodies is vital for the transparent and impartial oversight of broadcast media and to guarantee media pluralism and media freedoms. It is also a requirement of both the European Union’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the new Media Freedom Act.  

As part of the ongoing reforms of the media sector, we call on the new government led by the Civic Coalition (KO) to ensure that media regulators, as with the public service media, are entirely independent of political and governmental control, and have no power to interfere in the editorial decisions of newsrooms.

Signed:

International Press Institute (IPI)

ARTICLE 19 Europe

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

The post Poland: Regulator fine against TVN appears to punish independent journalism appeared first on https://ipi.media.

In just ten days, no fewer than seven journalists have faced threats and assaults in the city of Novi Sad alone. Whether it is physical assaults, verbal abuse, online harassment or death threats, the ability of Serbian journalists to do their job is severely compromised and their safety is at risk. 

On 8 March 2024, journalists from Tanjug and Kurir Television, along with 021.rs radio, were verbally assaulted while covering a demonstration supporting Ana Mihaljica, whose three children were temporarily taken away from her by the Novi Sad Centre for Social Work. During a live broadcast on Tanjug, reporter Saška Drobnjak was interrupted by a woman claiming to be Mihaljica’s lawyer and threatening the journalists, whom she accused of lying. A Tanjug photographer, a Kurir correspondent, and Žarko Bogosavljević of Reporter 021 were also verbally abused. According to the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), the police present did not intervene to prevent interference in the journalists’ work. N1 correspondent Ksenija Pavkov also received numerous online insults and threats of physical violence for her coverage of the demonstration. 

That same week, two other journalists and leaders of the Vojvodina Association of Independent Journalists (NDNV), Ana Lalić Hegediš and Dinko Gruhonjić, received thousands of online death threats sent via social media and email. Ana Lalić Hegediš has been the target of terrifying death threats including some of a sexual nature and insults, also directed at the NDNV she leads, for comments she made on nationalism at the “Rebedu” festival in Dubrovnik where she was invited as a panellist. 

Since 14 March 2024, her colleague Dinko Gruhonjić, journalist lecturer at Novi Sad University and program director of NDNV, has feared for his life and those of members of his family.  Gruhonjić has been the target of a public lynching campaign including threats of physical violence since the publication of a video montage with excerpts from his performance at the Rebid festival in Dubrovnik last year. The montage was manipulated to give the impression that Dinko was expressing his satisfaction at sharing a name with the Ustasha criminal Dinko Šakić. NDNV reported these threats to the high-tech crime prosecutor’s office and, for some of them, provided the details of the perpetrators who signed with their names. 

“We have been under attack with the Association for decades. But this time, it’s the greatest pressure ever. Who knows what will happen to us” worries Lalić, while Gruhonjić deplores the “policy of impunity when it comes to threats against the independence of the press in Serbia, even when the perpetrators are not anonymous”.

“The number of threats and insults against journalists is on the rise in Serbia. Knowing that Serbia is a country where the three murders of journalists in the last three decades have not been punished, we are very worried about every threat against journalists that goes unresolved,” said Tamara Filipović, project manager of the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia (NUNS).

On 15 March 2024, a resident of Novi Sad filed criminal complaints against Gruhonjić and Lalić for allegedly inciting racial, religious, and national hatred and intolerance during their participation at the forum in Dubrovnik. “We have serious reasons thinking the plaintiff is connected to members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party” declared Gruhonjić. Some politicians have revived the insults in public debates.  

We join the Safe Journalists Network in calling on officials to refrain from targeting the media in Serbia. Their hostile rhetoric legitimises and normalises verbal and physical violence against journalists and media workers. We urge authorities to guarantee a safe environment for journalists, allowing them to work without fearing for their lives, and to put an end to the unacceptable culture of impunity by systematically investigating attacks and complaints.

Signed:

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)

International Press Institute (IPI)

Free Press Unlimited (FPU)

Safe Journalists Network

IPI’s statement is part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States, Candidate Countries, and Ukraine. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.

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On March 6, police raided the office of Toplum TV, a major independent internet TV channel, detaining up to 18 of its staff including journalists, as well as several employees of the NGO Institute for Democratic Initiatives (IDI), which shares its office with Toplum TV. The apartments of three journalists and IDI employees were searched by police on the same day. Simultaneously, Toplum TV’s YouTube and Instagram channels were hacked and all content was erased.

On March 8, Alasgar Mammadli, the co-founder of Toplum TV, was detained near a clinic in Baku where he had gone for a medical examination.

A court in Baku later placed Mammadli, as well as Toplum TV journalist Mushvig Jabbar, in pre-trial detention for a period of four months. Two other Toplum TV journalists, Farid Ismailov and Elmir Abbasov, were released “under police supervision,” JAM News reported.

All those initially detained were accused of “smuggling foreign currency”, a charge similar to the one formulated against journalists from Abzas Media, who were detained in a wide campaign of repression of Azerbaijani journalists and activists in the past months. Mammadli rejected the charges, saying that the foreign currency allegedly found in the Toplum and IDI offices had been planted.

On March 14, police interrogated Toplum TV’s editor-in-chief, Khadija Ismayilova at the Baku city police department. Ismayilova accused the authorities of wanting to  “fully liquidate independent media [in Azerbaijan] and to leave no platform for critical opinions.” She added that the arrests are unfounded and that none of the Toplum TV journalists has been involved in illegal activities. 

“Raiding media and arresting journalists demonstrate the regime’s intolerance for independent journalism,” said IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen. “We call on the authorities to immediately release all journalists still detained and to end this campaign of intimidation against the country’s independent media. We are also concerned by the apparent hacking and ensuing removal of content from accounts used by Toplum TV for its broadcasting.”

The arrests at Toplum TV are the latest event in an ongoing crackdown on free press and activists in Azerbaijan. Pressure on independent journalists has mounted since a campaign of politically motivated arrests was launched in November last year with the arrest of more than a dozen journalists from major independent outlets, including Abzas Media and Kanal-13. In November, IPI sent a letter to the Prosecutor-General of Azerbaijan, as well as the Chief of Baku City Main Police Department, urging the authorities to release the media workers.

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The Civil Solidarity Foundation – Civil Solidarity Forum (CÖF-CÖKA), a Hungarian NGO closely aligned with the governing Fidesz party, made the accusation at a press conference on March 12. It also announced it was launching an investigation into the foreign funding of Átlátszó and NGOs including the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Transparency International, and Amnesty International.

CÖF-CÖKA accused Átlátszó and other non-profits of conducting investigative work funded by, and therefore driven by, foreign interests. CÖF-CÖKA further said it would present its findings to the Sovereignty Protection Authority, established under Hungary’s controversial Sovereignty Protection Act.

Átlátszó is one of Hungary’s leading investigative journalism outlets, and has won numerous other awards for its reporting. In response, its journalists have been targeted with spyware and subjected to numerous smear campaigns. Last week, Átlátszó was presented with the Hungarian Press Prize by the Hungarian Association of Journalists to mark Hungary’s Press Freedom Day. On March 14, just after the public accusations were made, 20 Hungarian editorial offices issued a joint statement in support of Átlátszó.

The Hungarian chilling effect: how the Sovereignty Protection Act threatens the media

The accusations against Átlátszó underscore the potential threat that the Sovereignty Protection Act poses to what remains of independent media in Hungary. In particular, IPI is concerned that this case shows how the law can be used by pro-government groups to pressure and intimidate independent media.

The law, passed in December 2023, was widely criticised for opening the door to further state pressure on independent media. Many media rely on donor funds, including from international organisations and sources, because the government denies state advertising revenue and has distorted the media market against independent voices. In Hungary, independent media outlets have been repeatedly accused of serving foreign interests. 

The Act established the Sovereignty Protection Authority with extensive powers to investigate individuals and organisations it suspects of receiving foreign funds to influence elections. 

While specific references to media were removed from the law, its broad nature and vague definitions – including a mandate to  investigate individuals and organisations for “illegally influencing the will of the voters” – provides another tool for the government to pressure its critics and stifle media freedom.

IPI stands with Átlátszó

IPI stands in solidarity with Átlátszó, and all journalists and media organisations facing threats and intimidation in Hungary. 

The relentless pursuit of truth and transparency is essential for the functioning of a democratic society. We call on Hungarian authorities to respect and uphold the rights of journalists to operate without fear of reprisal or harassment.

The post Hungary’s Átlátszó accused of foreign influence appeared first on https://ipi.media.

To:

Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Pavel Blažek, Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic

Vít Rakušan, Minister of Interior of the Czech Republic

Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director EUROPOL

Vera Jourova, Vice-President, European Commission

Dear Prime Minister Fiala,

On behalf of the Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists, we are writing to express our deep concern with regard to the security threats faced by Russian exiled journalists  based in the Czech Republic, and to call upon your help to guarantee their safety. Across Europe, exiled journalists, most of whom have been forced to flee brutal regimes, are extremely exposed, and without greater support from the authorities face a grave risk of serious harm.

We are particularly concerned about the fate of exiled Russian journalists and the ease with which suspected Russian agents are able to locate, follow and intimidate them. Some have already been poisoned while traveling through Europe, including Prague. Since the killing of Alexei Navalny, governments must treat all threats and acts of intimidation against exiled Russian journalists with the greatest seriousness and redouble efforts to ensure their safety.

The partner organizations of the platform met in Thessaloniki for the launch of our annual report where we met with Irina Dolinina, a journalist for the Russian investigative media iStories, forced into exile at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Irina Dolinina and her colleague Alesya Marakhovskaya, moved to Prague from where they have continued their work informing the world of the atrocities of the war and the operations of the Russian state. However, since their arrival they have been subjected to a continuous wave of death threats from suspected Russian agents who know where they live, are able to freely stalk them through the streets of Prague and are even able to track their flight bookings across Europe.

On 21^st September the Council of Europe Platform members issued this alert to which the Czech government responded assuring us of its commitment to the safety of journalists, and of the measures that the Czech police had taken to investigate the matter. The response concluded with: “The Prague Police investigated the case, however the case was closed because it was not possible to find out the facts that would justify the initiation of criminal proceedings against a specific person.”

While we are grateful for your government’s attention to their case we do not believe the gravity of their plight has been fully understood. The police must take seriously the very credible threat posed to the journalists, as well as the consequences of having Russian agents free to roam the streets of Prague stalking and threatening journalists who were forced to flee the country for their safety.

Moreover, the ease with which the agents are able to access flight data in the EU is concerning for the overall integrity of Europe’s information systems as well as the security of journalists and other actors whose lives are threatened by state actors.

We therefore ask your government to reopen the investigation of the case, to provide enhanced security measures to the journalists, to identify and take action against the perpetrators, and to work with European partners and Europol to improve the security of personal travel information.

Irina and Alesya are being targeted for their fearless reporting and readiness to put their lives on the line to expose the corruption and abuse of power within the Russian state.

We all owe it to them and to their colleagues facing similar threats in other countries to provide their unconditional support and to guarantee their safety.

Respectfully,

Platform Partners

Justice for Journalists Foundation (JFJ)

International Press Institute (IPI)

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

Association of European Journalists

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

Index on Censorship

International News Safety Institute (INSI)

PEN International

Free Press Unlimited (FPU)

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

____

• Harrowing Accounts of Ukrainians Who Were Detained, Questioned and Tortured by Russian Troops near Kyiv
• Love, Offshores, and Administrative Resources: How Marrying Putin’s Daughter Gave Kirill Shamalov a World of Opportunity
• The Troika Laundromat

The post Appeal: protect exiled Russian journalists in the Czech Republic appeared first on https://ipi.media.

**********************************************************************************

To:

Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
Piotr Zemła, Head of the Supervisory Board of Polish Television (TVP) in liquidation

CC:

Barbara Szymanowska, Director of the Development Aid Department at Polish MFA
Mieszko Pawlak, Director of International Policy Bureau at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland
Jan Grabiec, Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

Dear Minister Sikorski,

We, the undersigned European media freedom organisations, are writing to express our alarm regarding the decision to reduce the budget for Belsat TV, Poland’s flagship independent broadcaster for Belarus, by almost 30% for 2024.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the budget for Belsat will be reduced from 74 million PLN in 2023 to 40 million PLN and that the reduction will be partly compensated for by a new contribution of 14 million PLN from the budget of TVP World, a part of Poland’s public broadcaster. 

We further understand that Belsat’s budget was trebled for 2022 and 2023 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enabling Belsat to significantly expand its work and its reach. 

This investment is paying off. It has enabled Belsat to make a vital contribution to providing independent news content to Belarus and Russian speaking audiences throughout the region. And it is doing so at a time when so many independent Russian and Belarusian outlets have been closed down. 

Vot Tak, Belsat’s Russian language channel was launched in 2020 and has gained popularity across Russia and beyond. In 2023 its digital platforms were visited by over 10 million unique viewers, while 1.3 million subscribed to its YouTube channel.  

Following the 2020 crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Belarus and the subsequent closure of the remaining independent media, Belsat has become the country’s most popular independent outlet in video news production.

Meta and Telegram statistics show that Belsat TV has a regular audience of between one million and four million Belarusians, from an adult population of eight million. Meanwhile Belsat’s eight Facebook accounts gathered an impressive 1.2 billion video views throughout 2022 and 2023. This was achieved despite censorship laws criminalizing public engagement with Belsat content by for example liking, commenting or sharing content.

The 30% cut will result in a drastic lowering of output that risks losing audiences that depend on Belsat. The war in Ukraine continues to rage and the public in both Belarus and Russia have severely limited access to independent news as both states continue to crack down on press freedom and critical voices.

We understand that the decision to cut the budget is part of a larger review of the Foreign Ministry’s priorities, but we urge you to reconsider and to at least postpone the reduction to provide Belsat the time to plan its response and to seek new sources of funds. Poland should not have to carry the financial burden alone for a service that is essential for the security of all Europeans. We therefore urge you to develop a proposal that would ensure Belsat has secure and stable finances that other EU member states may be able to contribute to. 

Otherwise we fear that the current plans may have a disastrous impact on Belarusians’ and Russian speakers’ ability to access independent news at a time when it has never been more important for the security of Europe.

Signed:

International Press Institute (IPI)
A19 Europe
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

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On March 11, the Slovak government announced a plan to dissolve Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) and replace it with the new Slovak Television and Radio (STaR). The Ministry of Culture’s draft law includes drastic changes to the appointment and competence of oversight bodies, which would set up a government control and effectively end the public broadcaster’s independence.

Upon the passing of the law, the ruling majority of Prime Minister Robert Fico will replace the Director General of the public media and the members of its oversight body ahead of the previous legal end of their mandates.

The new Director-General will be appointed by the new Board of STaR, which will consist of seven members, four appointed by the Parliament, three by the Ministry of Culture, effectively handing the governing parties full control over the Board and the appointment of the Director General. The Board also receives the new power of being able to dismiss the Director without having to provide any grounds, although the ruling coalition has since said they will remove this element following criticism.  

Moreover, an entirely new institution, the Programme Council, is to be formed in order to coordinate STaR’s programming and ensure its “compliance with the public nature of broadcasting.” Nine out of eleven members of this body will be appointed by Parliament and enable direct political control over editorial policy.

The Act on Slovak Television and Radio (STaR) is being rushed through parliament via an abbreviated inter-ministerial and public consultation procedure until March 19. On March 17 Prime Minister Robert Fico called on the Parliament to approve the law in an accelerated legislative procedure starting in April. The bill could hence be approved before the elections to the European Parliament taking place on 8 June.

Opposition to the government’s power grab over the public broadcaster is mounting. By March 18, over 1,200 RTVS employees and external collaborators had signed a petition urging the withdrawal of the draft law. The following day, almost three hundred Slovak editors and journalists signed a joint statement denouncing the law, and expressing solidarity with RTVS.

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová joined the critics, saying that the law is likely to violate the principles of free political contest and the prohibition of censorship, as well as being “in direct contradiction with the new European Media Freedom Act”, an EU law, pending final approval, which lays down strict safeguards on the independence of public service media.

The bill also goes against the European Commission’s 2023 Rule of Law Report which called on Slovakia to “enhance the independent governance and editorial independence of public service media.” 

We welcome the statements of European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová expressing her concerns during the European Parliament debate before the adoption of the European Media Freedom Act on March 12, and later stating that it may lead to the end of independent reporting by public media in Slovakia.

The undersigned media freedom organisations condemn the Slovak Television and Radio bill. We are deeply concerned that this bill is designed to enable the political take-over of RTVS and its conversion into a state propaganda outlet in the service of the government. We call on the Minister of Culture to immediately withdraw the bill.

In a joint open letter, we further call on the institutions of the European Union to urgently address this threat to press freedom at the heart of European democratic values. The political control of public media threatens the integrity of the upcoming European elections by politicising coverage of the campaigns and denying the public to independent and pluralistic sources of information.

Signed

International Press Institute (IPI)

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

Free Press Unlimited (FPU)

OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

The post Call for withdrawal of Slovakia’s repressive broadcast law appeared first on https://ipi.media.

European council President, Charles Michel

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola

Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Dear Presidents,

We, the undersigned international journalists’ and media freedom organisations, are deeply concerned by plans of the Slovak government to dissolve the country’s public-service media, Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), and replace it with a new, politically controlled organisation, the Slovak Television and Radio (STaR).

The proposed Act on Slovak Television and Radio will provide for direct government control over the public media, ending its independence and potentially enabling its swift conversion into an institution for state propaganda.

This act poses a grave threat to media independence and press freedom in Slovakia and is a direct challenge to the EU’s resolve to protect media freedom and the integrity of European democracy. It contravenes the spirit and purpose of the European Media Freedom Act and its provisions to protect the independence of public service media. 

Moreover, the bill, if swiftly implemented, risks undermining the Slovak public’s right to independent information ahead of the upcoming EU elections and thereby the vote’s fairness.

We welcome the swift expressions of concern by the Vice President of the Commission, and Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, and other political leaders about the bill and we call for these to be followed by urgent action across the Institutions of the European Union.

In line with EU treaty values, we urge all the institutions of the EU to take all necessary steps to defend press freedom and uphold democratic principles in Slovakia.

Signed

International Press Institute (IPI)

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

Free Press Unlimited (FPU)

OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

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