Today the European Federation of Journalists(EFJ),
the European group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), called
for a broad support to Italian journalists in their opposition to the reform of
the Criminal Code and their struggle for press freedom.
"The Italian Parliament is asked to vote a text
that would restrict journalists' possibility to use or to refer to telephone
tappings. This vote takes place at the time media and individual journalists
are pushed to censorship by politicians. So, we can genuinely say that Italy's
basic democratic values are currently at stake," said EFJ President Arne König.
"Press freedom and the right to information need to be guaranteed in Italy".
The draft law increases the punishment for journalists and
publishers who refer to tapped documents with penalties up to three years of
prison and up to € 465,000 fines.
In addition to this draft law, media professionals are concerned about
increasing attacks after scandals over the private life of Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi.
Media such as La Repubblica and the Spanish El Pais which published articles and pictures on this issue have been strongly attacked
by Mr. Berlusconi. With the support of some of his ministers, Mr Berlusconi reportedly
tried to block the circulation of newspapers and to censor television channels,
which he claimed were "trash media".
The EFJ affiliate, the Federazione Nazionale della Stampa
Italiana (FNSI) and the publishers' association (FIEG) called on journalists to
continue to work for an ethical and a free journalism. European journalists
fully support this struggle for press freedom in Italy as the country risks to drift
away from European standards of press freedom.
Messages of support and solidarity can be sent
to: [email protected][email protected]
For more information: +32 2
235 22 15
The EFJ represents
over 250,000 journalists in more than 30
countries of Europe
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- EFJ Calls for Broad Support to Italian Journalists as “Democracy Is at Stake” in Vote on Criminal Code