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 defamation lawsuit against Gazeta Wyborcza Editor-in-Chief by Polish Justice Minister - Article

The partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today strongly condemn the civil defamation lawsuit launched against the editor-in-chief of Poland’s biggest daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza by the serving Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro

Solidarity with the Swedish media outlet Realtid ahead of the first hearing in their UK defamation case - Article

Twenty-four organisations express their solidarity with the Swedish business and finance publication, Realtid, its editor, and the two journalists being sued for defamation in London. Realtid are due before the High Court tomorrow for a two-day remote hearing that will decide whether England and Wales is the appropriate jurisdiction for the case to be heard

France: one defamation action dropped, but the threat remains - Article

The MFRR welcomes the dropping of the defamation action against Inès Léraud but vexatious legal threats continue to threaten media freedom across Europe

Albania: Defence Minister’s Chief of Cabinet issues legal threat against journalist - Article

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), is concerned about legal proceedings initiated by Belioza Çoku, the Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Defence, against journalist Juljana Ristani, who published a story on undue interference with lists of nominees for educational bursaries in thecontext of a public competition held by the Ministry of Defence

Albania: new cases of SLAPP to silence reporters - Article

Strategic lawsuits are used to intimidate journalists, and ECPMF condemns the recent lawsuits filed in Albania by private companies

SLAPP: a directive drafted by civil society organizations - Article

The international anti-SLAPP coalition invested time and funds to draft a model directive that would help tackle the issue of vexatious lawsuits: now this paper will be presented to EU institutions and stakeholders, and could serve as a pattern for the promised EU initiatives against SLAPPs

New wave of SLAPPs hit Croatian media and journalists - Article

The Croatian journalists’ trade union and professional associations (TUCJ and CJA) announced last week that a new wave of vexatious lawsuits (SLAPP) is threatening freedom of speech in Croatia

Slovenia: OBCT joins IPI's statement condemning brazen use of SLAPP - Article

We believe it is abundantly clear that the number and nature of the spurious defamation lawsuits against Necenzurirano are not aimed at achieving justice, but instead at silencing the outlet by forcing its journalists to fight time-consuming and costly legal battles, draining them financially and discouraging them from further reporting

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