EU demands more Press freedom as pandemic of death and corruption scares so many journalists
The pandemic, it is claimed, gave the Slovak government the opportunity to postpone legislation to protect journalists and their sources against the background of the scandalous murder of reporter Ján Kuciak and his fiancée.
Plans to improve editorial and financial independence for radio and TV broadcaster RTVS were also shelved.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in violence, censorship and reprisals for journalists daring to question government policies.
Last year two people were convicted of the 2018 murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his architect fiancée, Martina Kusnirova. A third person was convicted of acting as intermediary but another accused of instigating the murder, was acquitted.
The horrific assassination of the 27-year-old journalist over his investigative work, has shaken Slovakia’s media.
The killings of Kuciak and Martina brought back fears about the existence of organised crime, oligarchs and ‘political mafia’.
“All the mud is coming to the surface,” Michal Vasecka, sociologist at the Bratislava Policy Institute is quoted as saying. “I would compare it to a state when addicts go through a withdrawal phase: it’s very uncomfortable, but we have to face it head on.”
Kuciak and Martina were shot with a 9mm gun in their home on February 21, 2018. Their bodies were found five days later.
The killings sparked the biggest protests in Slovakia since 1989’s Velvet Revolution.
Parliamentary elections, which were held as the case bubbled away, put populist Igor Matovič in as prime minister in March 2020.
And he was vitriolic about Slovakia’s Press, accusing journalists of “spite” – amongst other things – for criticising his coronavirus policies. The opposition also attacked the media.
Now it is World Press Freedom Day and the EU says that press freedom continues to be under threat at a time ‘when independent and free media reporting is more essential than ever’.
“Journalists continue to experience harsh working conditions with increasing financial and political pressure, surveillance, arbitrary prison sentences or violence for doing their work. According to the UNESCO Observatory, 76 journalists were killed since 2020, while many more were arrested, harassed or threatened worldwide. Of particular concern is gender-based violence targeting women journalists”, their statement reads.
In another statement issued Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić urged European governments to show stronger political will to protect journalists.
“Media freedom is an essential pillar of our democracies which is too often taken for granted. Respect for freedom of the media is in decline in many countries. In the last years we have witnessed an increase in the number of cases of violence and intimidation against journalists.
The annual report of the Platform for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, released today by 14 international media freedom organisations, lists 201 serious cases of threats to media freedom in the 47 Council of Europe member states in 2020, a 40pc increase compared to 2019. A record number of alerts concerned physical attacks (52 cases) and harassment or intimidation (70 cases).
The UK is shockingly 33rd in the Press Freedom Ranking issued with Slovakia at 35th.
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