Press statements of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

VIENNA, 13 January 2020 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, received today from the President of Republic of Albania Ilir Meta’s Office explanatory documents on the reasons for the return to Parliament of the laws on Audiovisual Media and the Law on Electronic communication in the Republic of Albania...

VIENNA, 18 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his support for the registry on self-regulation of online media in North Macedonia, which was announced today by the Council of Media Ethics together with the Association of Journalists of Macedonia and the Economic Chamber...

VIENNA, 13 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his hope that the perpetrators of, and masterminds behind, the murder of the journalist Pavlo Sheremet will soon be identified and brought to justice, after the Ukrainian authorities declared five persons to be suspects...

VIENNA, 13 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, raised his concerns today at the disproportionate damages of more than 320,000 US dollars demanded in a defamation suit against the Kyrgyzstan media organizations Azattyk (the Kyrgyz-language service of the international broadcaster RFE/RL), Kloop.kg and 24.kg...

VIENNA, 9 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, sent a legal review to the Government of Albania on the latest amendments to the Law on Audiovisual Media in Albania and the Law on Electronic Communications...

VIENNA, 4 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, published today a legal review of the draft law “On Broadcasting”, of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This review was commissioned by his Office and prepared by Dmitri Golovanov, a legal counsel from the Russian Federation. The review was shared with Uzbekistan’s authorities at an earlier date...

VIENNA, 3 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concerns today regarding the enactment of the law which extends the status of a “foreign agent” to private individuals, and introduces new restrictions on the distribution of information from media outlets categorized as “foreign agents” (known as “media outlets–foreign agents”).

VIENNA, 1 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the bringing of criminal charges against businessman Yorgen Fenech for complicity in the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16 October 2017...

YEREVAN, 28 November 2019 – During his visit to Yerevan on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the Armenian Human Rights Defender’s Institution, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, encouraged authorities to continue promoting a safe and enabling environment for media freedom.

VIENNA, 21 November 2019 – Not only the physical safety but also the legal safety of journalists needs to be protected, said OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir as he presented his biannual report to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna today...