While the number of serious threats decreased slightly compared to the previous year, journalists continued to be intimidated, monitored, attacked and imprisoned in 2023.
There are growing concerns about the safety and freedom of journalists in Europe.
While members of the media in countries like Belarus and Russia have been illegally spied on, subjected to abusive prosecutions or detained, there are also problems in the West.
This is what emerges from the annual report of the Council of Europe published on March 5, 2024.
Despite a significant drop in the number of journalists killed in Europe in 2023, compared to the previous year, the threats faced by media in the 46 member states of the Council of Europe are diversifying, making the task of journalists more difficult .
The report, titled “Press freedom in Europe: it is time to reverse the trend”assesses the main problems that compromise press freedom.
These include threats, intimidation, detentions, restrictive legislation, abusive prosecutions and attacks on public service media.
The study found that of a total of 285 alerts regarding serious threats and attacks on media freedom on the continent, almost 15% came from Russia alone. The country continues to persecute journalists who have criticized the Kremlin line, including those who have fled abroad.
According to the report’s authors, the threat of mafia-style violence “currently hangs like a dark cloud over crime journalists”especially those investigating drug trafficking.
Threats in Europe: the figures
The threats faced by journalists in Europe range from physical assault and death to detention, illegal surveillance, media denigration by politicians and government-imposed muzzles.
In 2023, the physical safety of journalists was seriously threatened by Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine. Last year, two journalists – Bohdan Bitik and Arman Soldin – were killed while covering the war in Ukraine, while several others were injured. Both died in Russian strikes.
Another media worker, security guard Pal Kola, was killed in 2023 in an attack on the television station “Top Channel”, in Albania. This is the only case of a media worker killed outside a war zone.
In total, 41 alerts denounced attacks on the physical security and integrity of journalists in 2023: 11 came from the territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine, four from France, four from Turkey, three from Italy, and three from Serbia.
Detention remains a common punishment for journalists who criticize their countries’ leaders, particularly in Russia and Belarus.
At the end of 2023, 59 journalists were imprisoned in countries across Europe, including the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. 65 were detained in Russia and Belarus.
At least 18 journalists were detained last year in Turkey, while Poland and the United Kingdom detained one each (Pablo Gonzales and Julian Assange, respectively).
Here are the countries that reported threats against journalists in 2023: Belarus (42), Russian Federation (39), Turkey (27), Ukraine (24), France (19), Italy (16), Poland (12), Serbia (11), Azerbaijan (10), Greece (9), Albania (6), Spain (6), United Kingdom (5), Slovakia (5), Georgia (5), Bosnia and Herzegovina ( 5), Bulgaria (5), Armenia (4), Croatia (4), Germany (4), Netherlands (4), Moldova (4), Belgium (3), Czech Republic (3), Finland (3) , Austria (2), Hungary (2), Denmark (1), Ireland (1), Latvia (1), Malta (1), Portugal (1), Romania (1).
Since the start of the year, there have already been 27 alerts about threats against journalists in Europe, most of them in Ukraine (7), Turkey (6), the Russian Federation (4), and Portugal (3).
Impunity for the murders of journalists
The Council of Europe report also highlights that at the end of 2023, there were still 30 cases of impunity for the murders of 49 journalists and media workers.
ADVERTISEMENTThe files remain open to this day.
According to the Council of Europe report, impunity for journalist murders – when investigators and prosecutors have failed to find the culprits and secure a conviction – is still the norm.
In November 2023, a former Russian police officer sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the 2006 assassination of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist critical of Vladimir Putin, was pardoned by presidential decree after completing a contract six months of military combat in Ukraine.
