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The highest number of cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists during 2021 and early 2022 were recorded in Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia and Britain, according to the Council of Europe report “Protecting press freedom in times of tension and conflict” “, Published on April 27.
The report of 15 media organizations, partners of the Council of Europe, showed that the percentage of threats to media freedoms increased dramatically in 2021 and that in the same year 41 percent more serious threats to media freedom were recorded than in the year 2020.
“Most of the threats against journalists were focused on their lives, health and physical integrity. The largest number of these threats were made by unknown persons, in written and online communication, while as a new trend, telephone threats were also noticed. “In this sense, Russia, Serbia, Cyprus and Bulgaria stand out,” the report said.
It is noted that in the Western Balkans region there have been cases when state officials have also attacked national media journalists and the attacks have been particularly pronounced at rallies and protests.
“The safety of media staff at these events was so endangered that in some cases media organizations and their staff stopped displaying their logos while reporting from the field,” the report said.
It is noted that there have been death threats against journalists, especially in France, Russia, Spain, the Netherlands and Serbia.
Meanwhile, this report also mentions Kosovo, despite the fact that it is not part of the Council of Europe.
According to the report, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo in 2021 has registered 29 cases of threats and other violations of press freedom.
“These cases include physical attacks, legal threats initiated by prosecutors and defamation campaigns,” the report said.
The Council of Europe also mentions the vote in the Assembly of Kosovo on December 6, 2021 to approve the new board for the public broadcaster Radio Television of Kosovo.
“The recruitment process and composition have been praised both domestically and internationally,” the report said.
The Council of Europe report notes that there have also been positive developments and that some countries have adopted plans aimed at improving the safety of journalists in line with British, Dutch and Swedish action plans for the safety of journalists, including Serbia, which it is said to have been semi-successful in this regard.
The text of the report states that the Government of Serbia established a working group on the safety and protection of journalists in December 2020, but that in March 2021 five journalists’ and media associations withdrew from that group, citing “a lack of trust in institutions and the orchestrated campaign of slander and threats against the leading group of investigative journalists KRIK ”.
It is emphasized that in Serbia “SLAPP lawsuits [padi strategjike kundër pjesëmarrjes publike] are a common tactic against independent media in and targeted is especially the non-profit research network on crime and corruption – CRIC ”.
“Usually, prosecutors ask the court to force journalists and the media to remove publications, apologize, publish the correction, and commit not to report on a particular topic in the future,” the report said.
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