Motion for a recommendation | Doc. 12518 | 03 February 2011
The state of media freedom in Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly is alarmed by the fact that media freedom is increasingly challenged in Europe through serious attacks against individual journalists and writers, restrictive legislation as well as difficult working conditions for journalists.
The Assembly deplores in particular the targeted action against the media in Belarus witnessed after the presidential election of 19 December 2010, the violent attacks against Oleg Kashin and Anatoly Adamchuk in Russia in November 2010, as well as the more than 50 journalists imprisoned in Turkey today.
Freedom of expression and information is a necessary condition for the functioning of democracy. Democracy and the rule of law are necessary conditions for membership of the Council of Europe. It is therefore a key challenge for the Council of Europe to ensure that media freedom is respected in all member states.
The Assembly calls on national parliaments to review threats to media freedom in their country and recommends that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe assist member states in this respect.