On Tuesday, 15 December, the Maltese Prime Minister, Robert Abela told members of the board presiding over the public inquiry that they must “shoulder the responsibility of its decisions and the consequences these bring” after the inquiry panel ruled to extend the inquiry’s deadline in line with its terms of reference. Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis reiterated this threat, stating in Parliament that “If the public inquiry is not completed, the rule of the jungle will take over.” This followed a decree made by the members of the board of inquiry the previous day, following testimony from former OPM Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri where they stated that the inquiry would continue past the 15 December deadline set unilaterally by the Prime Minister and that “they would not accept any undue pressure or interference curtailing their brief.”

A number of MFRR partners, alongside other press freedom, journalist and transparency organisations condemn these threats and call for the independence of the inquiry to be respected

On 27 June 2020, Gafà, a former person of trust in the Office of the Maltese Prime Minister, issued a threat against Scavo of the newspaper Avvenire. In response to a tweet posted by AlarmPhone, an independent support organisation for people crossing the Mediterranean, Gafà called on the organisation to “stop your dirty business”. When Scavo responded, questioning the former official’s record, Gafà called for him to “stop your dirty business. If not, we will be stopping you.”

According to the Maltese magistrate, Scavo’s initial response to the tweet did not indicate he had perceived it as a threat. To support this, she noted that Scavo did not file a police report in Italy, although he has been under police protection following threats related to his reporting on immigration and organised crime since October 2019. In his defence, Gafà had said that he did not have the intention to threaten Scavo and that his tweet was a political comment about illegal immigration directed towards AlarmPhone. Overall, the judge found there was insufficient evidence to support the criminal charge and acquitted Gafà.

On 7 December, the state-controlled oil refiner and petrol retailer PKN Orlen announced that it would purchase 100% of the shares of Polska Press from German company Verlagsgruppe Passau for a reported PLN 120 million (€27 million).

As one of the country’s largest media companies and owner of 20 out of Poland’s 24 regional newspapers, Polska Press has long been a target of PiS’s plans to “repolonize” and “deconcentrate” the media landscape.

In recent years, the government has repeatedly sought to pass legislative changes which would have forced foreign owners to sell up and leave. However, these proposed laws were met with strong political and diplomatic pressure from the U.S and the EU, forcing the Ministry of Culture to shelve the plans and the government to look for alternatives.

This distortion of the market by Orlen and other state-owned companies have resulted in the formation of various right-wing media outlets springing up in recently years to reap the financial benefits.

The deal also hands Orlen control of six printing works across the country and greater control over distribution of newspapers. Last month the energy giant also completed the purchase of a 65% stake in newsstand operator Ruch, which has a network of 1,300 newspaper kiosks across the country, leading to concerns that media unfavoured by the government would be poorly displayed. Similar tactics were used in Orlen’s network of petrol stations after PiS were elected in 2015.

Anja Kožul works for Novosti, a Croatian and Serbian-language weekly magazine published by the Serb National Council (SNV) in Croatia, which covers issues related to the Serb community in the country.

She has been exposed to numerous threats, insults and attacks coming from Serbia since 1 December. The hate campaign started after she published an article entitled “From Islamophobe to state official” about Arnaud Gouillon, a French and Serbian national known in Serbia for his advocacy for the Kosovo Serbs. The article refers to Gouillon’s recent appointment as head of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the region.

The threats were reported to the police and an investigation is currently underway. The EFJ, the IPI and the ECPMF urge the General Police Directorate and the Croatian Minister of the Interior to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to protect Anja Kožul.

As the vote on the first reading of the “Global Security” law achieved a majority in the French National Assembly on Tuesday 24 November, the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), as well as other representatives from the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) called on the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, to withdraw three articles from the text, and on journalists and democracy activists to demonstrate on Saturday 28 November.

The draft law on Global Security was tabled by two deputies from the government majority and  secured a majority vote (388 votes for, 104 against) in the National Assembly on Tuesday 24 November. It seeks to amend the law of 29 July 1881 on freedom of the press as follows: “The act of disseminating by any means whatsoever and whatever the medium, with the aim of harming his physical or mental integrity, the image of the face or any other element of identification of an official of the national police or a military member of the national gendarmerie when he acts as part of a police operation is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.”

The IFJ, EFJ, their affiliates in France and the MFRR consider that this law is contrary to international legal standards on freedom of expression and disproportionately restricts the rights of journalists and press freedom.

For more than a month, hundreds of thousands of people have gathered and protested across the country against the decision of the Constitutional Court to ban abortions in cases of foetal abnormality. The Constitutional Court has been criticised for its lack of independence in recent years. The protests, led by women and organised by the Women’s Strike initiative, have reached an unprecedented scale including in small towns and communities.

Since the beginning of the protests, ARTICLE 19 as part of the MFRR has been concerned about a number of violations of the right to protest in Poland

The International Press Institute (IPI) condemned the arrest of photojournalist Agata Grzybowska in Warsaw and called on Polish authorities to drop the charges against her immediately. Grzybowska, an award-winning photographer who works for the RATS agency and co-operates with the Associated Press and Gazeta Wyborcza, was arrested as she documented a protest outside the Ministry of National Education in Warsaw on November 23.

On 23 November 2020, openDemocracy released a report regarding a UK government unit called the ‘Clearing House’, based out of the Cabinet Office. According to the report,  Freedom of Information (FOI) requests sent to Whitehall departments that are deemed sensitive, or too expensive to answer are forwarded to the unit for further vetting. As noted in the report, Act of Darkness authored by Lucas Amin, ‘the FOI act does not stipulate the need for a Clearing House and the unit has no public policy mandate.’

This centralisation of the responsibility to respond to FOI requests gives ample cover for political decisions to inform the government’s response. Something that goes against the spirit, and likely also the letter, of the 2000 Freedom of Information act.

Journalists from openDemocracy, The Guardian, The Times, the BBC, and many more, as well as researchers from Privacy International and Big Brother Watch have been included on lists compiled by the Clearing House.

It is vital that an independent and robust investigation is carried out to ensure that all FOI requests are treated equally and without political interference or the appearance thereof.