The enduring challenge of justice: promoting fair trials and accountability through the Media Freedom Coalition.

 

Parallel event

Tuesday, 6th May 2025;

Arrival and networking (tea and coffee provided): 1330 – 1400;

Presentation and Panel Discussion: 1400 – 1530.

Location: Egmont Palace, Brussels, Belgium.



Journalists should be able to rely on the law to protect them against threats and attacks – but increasingly, laws are being used to suppress independent journalism, including laws that have little to do with freedom of expression. Building on the ongoing work of the Media Freedom Coalition, a partnership of governments that promotes media freedom alongside civil society organisations, a panel of legal experts, and UNESCO, this session will ask: how can governments and other actors promote accountability for crimes against journalists, and fair trials when journalists themselves are charged with crimes?

The session will feature case studies of initiatives such as trial monitoring by embassy representatives, recent research into a proposed international task force to investigate crimes against journalists, and the training of lawyers and judges on media freedom. It will also feature a roundup of the MFC’s progress and results during the past year, as well as reflections by co-hosts Belgium marking one year since joining the Media Freedom Coalition.


Opening Remarks
  • H.E. Theodora Gentzis – President of the Board of Directors, FPS Foreign Affairs of Belgium
  • Claudia Schmitz – Head of Division for International Media Policy, Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany (MFC co-chair)

Panel discussion

The moderator will begin with a round-up of the MFC’s activities and progress in the past year.
  • Catherine Anite – Member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts and Founding Director of the Freedom of Expression Hub in Uganda
  • Irma Dimitradze – Communications Manager and Journalist, Batumelebi & Netgazeti, Georgia
  • Jaymie Reyes – Senior Political Officer, Embassy of the Netherlands in the Philippines
  • Evelien Wijkstra – Director for Policy and Advocacy, Free Press Unlimited
  • Moderator: Derek Thorne, Head of Media Freedom Coalition Secretariat
  • Closing RemarksKatrin Kivi – Ambassador at Large for Human Rights, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFC co-chair)
  • Dr Tawfik Jelassi – Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO

The event will be live streamed for those following remotely.

Please direct any enquiries to info@mediafreedomcoalition.org

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Agenda Programme of the World Press Freedom Day 2025.

Image
  Programme of the World Press Freedom Day Signature Event - 7 May 2025 9:30 - 10:45 - Registration Registration and badge pick up at BOZAR. Networking Breakfast 11:00 - 12:05 - Opening Session High Level Opening Address  H.E. Ms. Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-GeneralVideo-Message from United Nations Secretary-General,  H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres Ms. Dubravka Šuica, EU Commissioner for Mediterranean [TBC] Mr. Rob Beenders, Minister of Consumer Protection, the fight against Social Fraud, Persons with Disabilities and Equal Opportunities, Belgium Ms. Cieltje Van Achter, Flemish Minister of Brussels and Media Ms. Elisabeth Degryse, Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Video-Message from   Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, European Commission Master of ceremony:  Annelies Beck, Moderator and Presenter, VRT Show Part 1 Godparents of AI ” - Video contribution by Yoshua Bengio, Turing Award W...
Read more

Core International Standards.

Image
 The right to freedom of opinion and expression is closely linked to other human rights, such as the rights to privacy, freedom of association and assembly, and freedom of religion, among others. In addition to article 19 of the ICCPR and the UDHR , the right to freedom of expression is protected under: • Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) , articles 12 and 13 • Convention on Migrant Workers (CMW) , article 13 • Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) , article 15(3) • Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) , article 5 Key regional standards include: • African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights : article 9 • American Convention on Human Rights : article 13 • European Convention on Human Rights : article 10 • Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union : article 11.
Read more

Honoring Guillermo Cano Isaza, a colombian journalist assassinated in front of his Newspaper Office "EL TELESPECTATOR" in 1986.

Image
This Prize is named in honour of #GuillermoCano Isaza, a Colombian #journalist assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper  @elespectador on 17 December 1986. His work and commitment to journalism made him a symbol of freedom of Expression. On December 17, 1986 as Guillermo Cano Isaza was leaving the offices from El Espectador in his Subaru Leone one of two hitmen on a motorcycle across the street at a stoplight opened fire at Cano with a Uzi shooting Cano 4 times in the chest, causing him to lose control of the car and crash into a light pole. The hitmen quickly fled the scene he was taken to a Hospital where he died shortly before 7 pm. It was assumed that the attack was in response to a campaign Cano had launched in the paper years earlier to denounce the influence of drug traffickers in the country's politics. Three years later the El Espectador's building was destroyed with a 300-pound bomb, Cano's family lawyer was murdered, and the Cano family summer ho...
Read more