Press statements of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

VIENNA, 29 September 2021 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro urges the Turkish authorities to acquit journalists Erol Önderoğlu and Ahmet Nesin, and human rights defender and physician Şebnem Korur Fincancı, ahead of their retrial hearing on 30 September. They face a lengthy jail sentence on terrorism-related charges for their participation in a 2016 press freedom campaign.

VIENNA/SARAJEVO, 24 September 2021- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro and Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Kathleen Kavalec condemned today a targeted online hate campaign against several media professionals in BiH, urging the authorities to take effective measures to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators in accordance with the law...

VIENNA, 20 September 2021 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, concluded her official visit to Kazakhstan on 17 September.

TASHKENT, 13 September 2021 – The 23rd annual OSCE Central Asia Media conference, organized by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, ended on 10 September in Uzbekistan, after two days of discussions on public service media, public value of the media and safety of journalists in Central Asia and Mongolia.

VIENNA, 30 August 2021 – Amid continuing massive violations of the right to freedom of expression and media freedom in Belarus, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro today deplored the decision of the authorities to shut down the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).

VIENNA, 25 August 2021 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro today expressed her concern regarding Ukraine’s practice of applying sanctions that negatively affect the work of media outlets and journalists.

VIENNA, 24 August 2021 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro today expressed her grave concern regarding the expanding practice by Russian authorities to designate media outlets and journalists as ‘foreign agents’.

VIENNA, 2 August 2021 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro welcomed the report published by the independent Public Inquiry Board into the assassination of renowned investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in 2017. The Public Inquiry, launched in December 2019 by the Maltese authorities, was conducted by a board consisting of a retired judge, a former Chief Justice and a serving judge. This board was tasked to determine whether any wrongful action or omission by, or within, any State entity in Malta facilitated or failed to prevent the death of the journalist.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), Teresa Ribeiro, met on 29 July with Armela Krasniqi, the newly elected Chairperson of the Albanian Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA).

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro denounced today the continued massive violations of the right to freedom of expression and media freedom in Belarus, after recent cases of harassment and intimidation of media and journalists in the country.