Serbia: dangerous liaisons

On the eve of the elections, yet another scandal invests Serbia's leadership. A photograph portrays the son of President Vučić at a bar in the company of some other people, including a member of a mafia clan

Turkey: an open call to release the Kurdish journalist Nedim Türfent

Together with more than 40 ngos, we call to the Turkish authorities to free Kurdish journalist Nedim Türfent, who is in jail since May 2016 for false allegations of "terrorism": his only fault was to report on Kurdish issues and on the abuses of Turkish special forces. After almost 1500 days of detention, we invite everybody to sign this call

Albania: public information becomes a casualty of COVID-19

COVID-19 has exposed the weaknesses of Albania’s public information. The monopolisation of communication on coronavirus has raised concerns over the government’s accountability on pandemic management as well as media freedom

Jail and defamation: an international call to the Italian Constitutional Court

An historical decision is awaiting journalists and Parliament on June 9th: the Constitutional Court is deciding if prison is a legitimate punishment for defamation. And Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners consider this a crucial first step forward

Croatia: a minister's dangerous allegations

Once again, journalists are under attack in an EU country. Croatian Minister of the Environment Tomislav Ćorić discredited journalist Hrvoje Krešić by citing the latter's private conversations. Bewilderment in the associations in defense of journalists

Journalists and media workers need to be protected when covering demonstrations and protests

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners are concerned about the increased violence against media professionals at protests and demonstrations across EU Member States and Candidate Countries in the last months and call for increased protection

Turkey: 24 rights groups call for release of all those arbitrarily detained, now at risk of Covid-19

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.

Here the full text of the call we signed

Open letter: the EU must not sit idly by while a Member State’s democracy is in jeopardy

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

Željko Bodrožić: the state of emergency smothers the Serbian media

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

Croatia, journalists beaten up on a Ustasha Easter

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

Kosovo, fake news and politics

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

Serbia, coronavirus, and autocracy

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

Branko Čečen: let us do our job

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

Journalism in times of COVID19: an update from Turkey

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

Turkey: Rights groups call for urgent release of imprisoned journalists, human rights defenders and others, now at risk of Covid-19

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

Media and COVID-19: the risk of restrictions on media freedom

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