Ivo Prokopiev, the owner of Economedia is currently on trial at the Specialized Criminal Court in Bulgaria in relation to the privatization of a minority stake in an energy company. He is accused of expressing his opinion in public and has been threatened with arrest by the lead case prosecutor.

Economedia publishes Capital weekly and Dnevnik.bg, both considered as independent and professional journalistic outlets in a media environment dominated by state-affiliated outlets and media companies. Their published investigations over the past decade had uncovered increasing corruption in Bulgaria and concerted efforts to silence independent voices in media and politics.

The statement calls on the Court to make their judgment independent of any political pressure or interference and local authorities to stop the ongoing institutional and legal harassment of Ivo Prokopiev and Economedia.

Police in Slovakia must thoroughly investigate a possible death threat issued against an investigative reporter at Slovak online news outlet Aktuality.sk, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today.

On the morning of Thursday, June 25, Aktuality investigative journalist Peter Sabo awoke to find a pistol bullet in the mailbox of the Bratislava apartment where he lives with his wife, according to the outlet’s editor and media reports.

Aktuality is the online newspaper that Slovak investigative reporter Ján Kuciak worked for before he was shot and killed alongside his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, in 2018. The murder weapon was a pistol.

The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists for press freedom, condemned the beating of journalist Sasa Mikic and threats of violence against reporters and media workers covering parliamentary elections in Serbia.

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners, journalist bodies, free expression and journalist support organisations are concerned about the legal threats made against EUobserver in Luxembourg and Belgium and call to stop the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) actions across Europe.

Left unreformed, such legal threats will be sufficient to silence media workers and outlets. We stand in solidarity with EUobserver and will continue to monitor developments around the case.

In recent years, press cartoonists have come under increasing threat for their work scrutinising and satirising those in power. This statement signed by MFRR partners and Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) and Cartooning for Peace calls on all cartoonists to be protected to ensure they can realise their rights to free expression

Following the MFRR statement of 5th June, the Italian Constitutional Court held a public hearing into the constitutional legitimacy of Article 595 of the penal code and Article 13 of the law on the press, which allows for prison sentences to be passed down to journalists in relation to criminal defamation cases. On Tuesday 9th June the Court ruled that while reform was necessary, it was the responsibility of Parliament to amend the legislation. This effectively postponed the Court’s decision for one year, stipulating that if Parliament has not passed legislation to amend the law by 22 June 2021, then the Court itself will abolish prison sentences. As part of this process, the Court has temporarily suspended prison sentences for journalists convicted of criminal defamation. This applies to both ongoing criminal proceedings and all pending cases.

The MFRR partners cautiously welcomed this ruling as part of a larger reform of both criminal and civil defamation in Italy.

Representatives of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), International Press Institute (IPI) and the Syndicate of Journalists of Czech Republic have sent a letter to Members of Parliament in the Czech Republic to raise concerns that the composition of the Council of Czech TV (Česká televize) cannot be considered impartial or balanced between political groups.

The International Press Institute (IPI) expressed its growing concern about the increasing climate of hostility towards journalists and executives at Slovenia’s public broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVS). Its statement highlights recent attacks and incidents of harassment and calls on the members of the new government led by Prime Minister Janez Janša to stop its efforts to undermine the integrity, independence and public trust in Slovenia’s public broadcaster, and instead work to defuse tensions.