17 NGOs call for EU action to protect journalists - Index on Censorship Index on Censorship

13.3.18

17 NGOs call for EU action to protect journalists - Index on Censorship Index on Censorship: Dear President Juncker,

We, the undersigned organisations, are deeply saddened and appalled by the recent killings of Slovak journalist J�n Kuciak and Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. These killings on European soil in retaliation for the investigative reporting by these journalists are simply unacceptable.

We welcome the condemning of these killings by the European Union (EU) institutions. However, we demand that no further time is wasted and these words are followed by action. We urge high-level officials from the European Commission to retain regular communication with senior police authorities in Slovakia and Malta to ensure that police investigations are full, thorough and independent.

Moreover, the European Commission must take the lead and hold state officials and public figures to account for creating an environment in which the critical function of journalism is respected. State officials and public figures should consistently speak out in support of the critical function of journalism and support journalists when they are attacked.

A climate in which impunity prevails and in which journalists are only respected when they serve the interests of those in power, paves the way for violence. These murders signal the urgent need to support civil society in the EU Member States in their efforts to fight impunity, and to document and promote accountability for violations of press freedom.

In today’s world where a journalist is killed every five days with almost full impunity as a result, we have to stop the European region from becoming an environment where journalists are no longer safe to do their work. We call on the European Commission to work, as a priority, with Member States to begin the process of establishing national protection mechanisms for journalists in Europe.