Meeting at their Annual General Assembly on 13 September 2010 in Vienna, Austria, the IPI members unanimously adopted a resolution condemning a deterioration in the press freedom climate in Europe, notably a strong trend by some established democracies to backtrack on legal guarantees of media freedom.
Concerns include: An attempt in Italy to pass a “Wiretap Bill” threatening prison terms and exorbitant fines for journalists who publish wiretap information before a trial; creation in Hungary of a strongly government-influenced media body overseeing public broadcasting: withdrawal of licenses from independent broadcasters in Ukraine; the French government assertion of direct control over appointment of public broadcasting chiefs and the use by Spain of the criminal defamation provision in the “Franco Press Law” which the European Court of Human Rights overturned in June (Case No. 16023/07).
The IPI members urge the authorities throughout Europe to live up to their human rights and media freedom commitments and obligations and to ensure that journalists are free to report without fear of imprisonment, bankruptcy, intimidation or assassination.