EU underscores support of free expression, but slights access to information
A new document on freedom of expression and opinion, adopted May 12 by the 28 foreign ministers of the European Union, presses nearly all the right buttons. Drawing its inspiration from international human rights norms as well as from the EU’s treaties and its charter of fundamental rights, the document reaffirms the role of freedom…
In Belarus, journalist charged with libeling Lukashenko
New York, July 2, 2012–Andrzej Poczobut, the prominent Grodno-based correspondent for the largest Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, was formally indicted Saturday on criminal charges of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko through a series of articles critical of administration policies.
Defining role of the press in genocide prevention
Talking about genocide prevention in the shadow of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camps brings an intense and unique gravity to the discussions. The academic presentations cannot extract themselves from the looming presence of the barbed wires and grim towers surrounding the Nazis’ most infamous death factory.
Reporter for Polish paper faces insult charge in Belarus
New York, March 30, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Belarusian authorities today to stop the politically motivated prosecution of Andrzej Poczobut, a prominent correspondent for Poland’s largest daily, Gazeta Wyborcza. On Monday, prosecutors in the western city of Grodno filed criminal charges against Poczobut for allegedly insulting Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in articles…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Europe and Central Asia Snapshots
Armenia Germany/Poland Poland Bosnia Italy Portugal Bulgaria Lithuania Romania Croatia Macedonia Serbia Cyprus Moldova Switzerland Denmark Netherlands ARMENIA • On May 25, authorities denied independent television station A1+ a broadcasting license for the 12th time. According to press reports, the National Commission on Television and Radio justified the rejection by saying that competitors submitted stronger…
Imprisoned for libel, a Polish journalist is released
New York, January 26, 2006—A Polish journalist convicted in a rare criminal libel prosecution has been freed two days into his prison term after the country’s top constitutional court ordered the suspension of his sentence, according to news reports. Andrzej Marek, editor-in-chief of the weekly Wiesci Polickie in the town of Police, was released from…