Daphne Caruana Galizia: Landmark Public Inquiry recommendations must be implemented - Article

We the undersigned organisations welcome the conclusions and recommendations of the milestone Public Inquiry into the assassination of Malta’s leading investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Now is the moment for the Maltese authorities to consider and accept the Board’s detailed recommendations and to publish a plan of action on how they will be implemented in a non-partisan manner without delay and ensure better protection of journalists going forward

Turkey: SLAPP lawsuit filed against academic over Paradise Papers tweet - Article

NGOs and journalists’ organisations call for the dropping of a lawsuit launched against the academic Prof Yaman Akdeniz by Serhat Albayrak, seeking 100,000 Turkish lira (€9,600) in damages for his tweets about the censorship of reports into the criminal investigations and civil lawsuits against journalists who reported on the Paradise Papers

Thematic factsheet: SLAPP in Italy, a democratic emergency - Article

by Paola Rosà

A limited selection of cases from an ocean of lawsuits. A paper sent to the INI rapporteurs of the Draft Report on the strengthening democracy and media freedom and pluralism in the EU: the undue use of actions under civil and criminal law to silence journalists, NGOs and civil society

MFRR condemns the escalating judicial harassment of Can Dündar by Turkey - Article

The journalist Can Dündar, who lives in exile in Germany, is the victim of a judicial harassment that has to be stopped. The latest threat concerns all his properties if he doesn't go back to Turkey

Invitation to participate in our online survey - Article

The safety of journalists is at risk in too many countries, and protection systems are facing new challenges. OBCT invites journalists, media outlets and stakeholders to answer to relevant questions in order to outline the problems and the possible solutions. If you have experienced threats and have asked for help, please, access our questionnaires

The key pillars to fight disinformation. A speech by Vera Jourová - Article

On July 7 the Vice-President of the European Commission held a speech at the European Media Conference "Diversity and Responsibility: Media in a Digital Society" organized by the German Federal Government to encourage debate on the issue of safeguarding media pluralism in Europe

Montenegro: retrial of investigative journalist Jovo Martinović - Article

The MFRR partners call on Montenegro authorities to acquit the investigative journalist and drop all charges against Martinović, a specialist in covering organised crime for leading international media, who was convicted to an 18-month prison sentence by the High Court of Montenegro, on 15 January 2019 despite overwhelming evidence that his only links with organised crime were those of a reporter. After the Appeal Court overturned the verdict, on Monday 6th July the retrial continues

Open letter ahead of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union - Article

Several media freedom organisations urge German leaders to proactively lead the Member States in the Council towards effective solutions that will bring about real progress in the challenges faced by freedom of expression and journalism

Defamation and prison: the decision of the Italian Constitutional Court is a first step forward - Article

The organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) welcome the decision by the Italian Constitutional Court to refer a decision on whether to abolish prison sentences for criminal defamation in relation to journalists and media workers to the Italian Parliament. Qui la versione italiana