The Turkish government continues to ignore international voices calling for justice and respect of human rights, and has excluded human rights defenders, journalists and politicians from the benefits of the recent law that allows 90,000 prisoners to go home. Together with other 23 international groups, OBCT urges the authorities to move now to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
OBCT joined other over 80 MEPs and civil society groups in signing a letter sent to the presidents of the European Commission and Council: we call on European institutions to condemn every measure abusing the emergency situation to dismantle democracy and silence civil society. Here the text of the letter
According to Željko Bodrožić, president of the Association of Independent Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), the state of emergency has only worsened the situation of non-aligned media, often subject to the discredit of the media controlled by power
In Sirobuja, on the outskirts of Split, a clandestine mass was held on the day of Catholic Easter, in spite of all the prohibitions imposed by the coronavirus epidemic. The journalists documenting the fact were beaten up and verbally abused
An unsigned and suspicious article, featured on the website of the Kosovar public broadcaster in the middle of the last election campaign, resparked the debate in Pristina on the use of false news as a tool for propaganda and political struggle
The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to be used by the Serbian authorities to violate the Constitution, break laws, and even formally attempt to introduce censorship – all this by manipulating citizens' fears
A comment by the director of Serbia's Center for Investigative Journalism after the Serbian government recently introduced a measure that restricts freedom of information during a state of emergency. A ruling that the Serbian Prime Minister declared will be withdrawn
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey persists in detaining and arresting new journalists. Calls by human rights organisations for the release of journalists and activists are multiplying
Together with other human rights groups and organizations, OBCT calls on the Turkish government to include journalists and human rights defenders in the release of thousands of prisoners from overcrowded prisons: the novelist Ahmet Altan and the businessman Osman Kavala are among those who would not be released as they are detained for terrorism related crimes
The Council of Europe and media freedom international organisations call on European States to defend independent journalistic work and not to exploit the Coronavirus crisis to further limit free access to information
Together with other 23 international media freedom organisations, OBCT calls on the General Director of BIK to swiftly lift the advertising ban currently imposed on Evrensel, an independent newspaper now risking an economic collapse. Here the text of the call
OBC Transeuropa, together with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and other partners, starts Rapid Response Mechanism to support independent journalism. The project is co-funded by the European Commission
Last January the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports presented a bill in order to change the media and disinformation law. The proposal, however, has raised criticism from the opposition, journalists, and media experts, who see their right to freedom of opinion threatened
The Antonio Megalizzi Foundation was inaugurated in Trento on February 13th-14th. The ceremony was attended by President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, who outlined the challenges faced by the Union, the community in which Antonio strongly believed
The Antonio Megalizzi Foundation, dedicated to the young man from Trentino who died in December 2018 during a terrorist attack in Strasbourg, is being inaugurated in Trento on February 13th and 14th
The Telekom company, of which the state is the majority owner, has removed from its cable offer N1, the only television network aimed at the general public that also presents critical positions towards the current majority
The undersigned international and regional press freedom and journalism groups welcome the start of the murder trial this week against the suspected killers of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová
The abuse of law as a tool to silence dissent, influence freedom of expression and capture media freedom. The 9th of a series of thematic itineraries to explore the Resource Centre on Media Freedom through a curated aggregation of contents
Forced to waste time, energy, and money to defend themselves against lawsuits that are unfounded in almost 90% of cases, journalists in Italy and Croatia are well aware of the SLAPP phenomenon (strategic lawsuit against public participation). Expert talks in Europe and a promising journalist's bill in Italy
In the arms trafficking scandal recently exposed in Serbia, a state-owned company was allegedly damaged to the advantage of a private company that involved the father of the Minister of the Interior. The whistleblower ended up in jail
With the new season just around the corner, Albanian television schedules change, but the media landscape remains unchanged, with increasing hints of pressure and censorship cases
Three years after its first edition, the impression that emerges from the Media Days – an event promoted by the EU Commission in the Balkans – is that of a telenovela with a predictable ending, where the characters move within a well-defined perimeter. But the region's media need more
Greater attention to the issues of press freedom and the protection of journalists: these are the requests of a letter signed by OBCT and other subjects involved in the sector, addressed to the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić
During the 42nd session in Geneva an oral statement was given to address the situation in Turkey, where civil rights and press freedom are endagered while journalists face every kind of threat
Bulgaria confirms its structural problems in the field of press freedom. This time, the scandal is the attempted removal from the public radio (BNR) of an inconvenient journalist, followed by a mysterious obscuring of the repeaters
For three days our partners of ECPMF joined 7 other freedom of expression organisations on a joint mission to Turkey, led by the International Press Insitute. Despite some glimmers of hope, press freedom in the country remains in crisis. Here the final statement, released on 13th September
Less than two months after acquittal in the first instance, two journalists and an activist find themselves accused of "terrorist propaganda": Erol Önderoğlu, Ahmet Nesin, and Şebnem Korur Fincancı will have to face the appeal trial
Minatory writings on walls, physical attacks, and threats. Reporters Without Borders expresses deep concern for what it sees as a real attack against journalists in Croatia
OBCT and the undersigned organizations call on the Montenegrin authorities to acquit investigative journalist Jovo Martinović, convicted for marijuana smuggling and criminal association and sentenced to 18 months in prison despite overwhelming evidence that his only links with organized crime were those of a reporter
