Strategic lawsuit against public participation

"Threats and intimidation, detention of journalists, restrictive legislation, lawsuits or lawsuits filed by a powerful person or organization against persons not belonging to governments and attacks on public media."

The European Parliament on Wednesday called on the Commission to act over what it described as "grave concerns" about the rule of law in Greece, citing a hostile environment for journalists, the use of spyware against political opponents and journalists and abuse of power by the police.

MEPs adopted the resolution with 330 votes in favor, 254 against, and 26 abstentions.

Hrvoje Zovko, president of the Croatian Journalists' Association. HND. Photo: SNH

Nenad Milanovic, chief of cabinet of Belgrade mayor Aleksandar Sapic, filed a defamation lawsuit against BIRN Serbia before the Higher Court in Belgrade, seeking 200.000 dinars (1,705 euros) in damages for mental anguish.

Aleksandar Sapic, the mayor of the Serbian capital of Belgrade, has filed two separate defamation lawsuits against BIRN Serbia, its editor and journalists, claiming that their reporting damaged his reputation and caused him mental anguish.

Between 2010 and 2020 in Serbia, at least 26 civil lawsuits were brought against journalists, media outlets, civil society organisations and activists as a result of their efforts to monitor rights violations, says a report published on Wednesday by international human rights group Article 19, the ABA Centre for Human Rights, and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, NUNS.

Ljubljana – The Slovenian Association of Journalists (DNS) has come out in defence of fellow journalists with the news portal Necenzurirano.si who are facing increasing pressure from a tax advisor.

The Kelkos hydropower plant on the Lumbardhi river in Kosovo. Photo: BIRN.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Monday called on Kelkos Energy, a company that operates hydropower plants in a protected area in western Kosovo, to withdraw two lawsuits against two activists who have spoken out against the environmental impact of the projects, Shpresa Loshaj and Adriatik Gacaferi.

Poland's ruling Law and Justice, PiS party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Croatian public broadcaster HRT were given 'awards' on Friday in the first European SLAPP Contest, a parody initiative intended to highlight the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs, to intimidate and deter journalists and rights campaigners.

Albanian journalists and cameramen reporting about the COVID-19 pandemic in Tirana, on March 30, 2020. Photo: LSA

The report, "Attacks on media in Europe Must Not Become the New Normal", states that about 140 alerts were filed with the platform during 2019, including 103 from Turkey, 21 from Serbia and 11 from Albania.