Netherlands: Vexatious lawsuit against Het Financieele Dagblad condemned - Article

OBCT joins the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) in deploring the lawsuit against Dutch daily newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad (FD) and in expressing solidarity with the FD and its journalists. The case, of which the hearing will take place on 13 November 2023, is a clear attempt to silence and discourage Het Financieele Dagblad and its journalists from further reporting

Open letter: “We refuse to let the anti-SLAPP directive be a missed opportunity” - Article

OBCT joins international organisations in calling for robust anti-SLAPP Directive

Also available in ITA

Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EU, Dodik is working against the integration process - Article

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik once again attacks the EU, accusing it of applying double standards to Bosnia and Herzegovina on the integration path. But Dodik's own initiatives, which limit freedom of association and expression, are distancing the country from the European Union

By Massimo Moratti

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA 

Reporting surveillance: the experience of Omer Benjakob - Article

Investigative tech reporter Omer Benjakob, member of the desk behind the publication of the cybersecurity focused newsletter NatSec+ for the newspaper Haaretz, speaks to OBCT/MFRR about the challenges of covering the surveillance tech industry in Israel, one of the countries that has developed this industry the most

Surveillance: how the Greek legal system threatens press freedom - Article

As part of the surveillance series, we interviewed Evita Papakiriakidou, criminal lawyer from the Athens Lawyers law firm, who represents Thanasis Koukakis, a Greek journalist who was the illegitimate target of spyware surveillance

by Alessio Giussani

Originally published by OBCT . Also available in ITA

Croatia, the new media bill is dangerous - Article

“I don't know who wrote this bill, but I suspect that the main intention was to divide the Croatian media, creating havoc in the sector”, said Hrvoje Zovko, the president of the Association of Croatian Journalists (HND). We met him in Zagreb

By Giovanni Vale

Originally pubblished by OBCT. Also available in ITA and BHS

North Macedonia: International press freedom mission finds fragile progress in need of further support - Article

This week OBCT joined MFRR partners in a fact-finding mission to North Macedonia organised by the Association of Journalists of Macedonia. While the coalition recognises an improvement in media workers' working conditions, it also warns that the landscape of journalism in the country remains fragile

Serbia: Legal harassment of investigative media outlet KRIK must stop - Article

OBCT joins international press freedom and journalists’ organisations in expressing solidarity with Serbian media outlet KRIK, whose newsroom is continuously subjected to legal harassment

SLAPPs in Serbia: Bojana Jovanović on the burden of SLAPPs on independent investigative journalism and the public discourse - HTML5 video

Recorded at the margins of the panel co-organized by ARTICLE 19 Europe and Osservatorio dei Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response and the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) for the #ijf23 in Perugia, Italy.

How are courts responding to SLAPPs? Analysis of selected court decisions from across the globe - Reports

This study analyses the threats deriving from vexatious lawsuits against journalists, civil society, and human rights defenders, and highlights the role of courts in providing protection against SLAPPs in contexts that lack dedicated legislation