Together with the law firm Jus Cogens, Patrick Breyer and Saskia Bricmont are delighted to invite you to the conference on Media Freedom and Journalists under pressure that will take place on Wednesday 10 April from 12.30 to 14.00, in room A3H1, at the European Parliament in Brussels, and online.

While presenting the cases of Omar Radi, Moroccan journalist, and Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, we want to describe what type of pressure journalists are suffering worldwide, expose the modern forms of repression against journalism and its impact on freedom of press, rule of law and democracy. Ahead of the European elections, on the eve of Assange’s 5-year imprisonment in the high-security Belmarsh prison, and while we see more and more attacks on media freedom and journalists in Europe and in the world, we believe it is the right time to take stock of what has been done and what can be done in the coming years at EU level.

Speakers will include MEP Saskia Bricmont and Patrick Breyer, as well as representatives from Human Rights Watch, Reporters Sans Frontières, International Federation of Journalists and International Federation for Human Rights. Debate will be followed with an Q&A session.

Conference will take place in English.

11.50-12.00: Meeting for external participants and speakers to arrive at European Parliament and go through accreditation process

12.35-12.45: Introductory remarks = Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party MEP, Greens/EFA)

12.45-13.05: 1st panel – freedom of expression under pressure: the cases of Julian Assange and Omar Radi; Participants: Vincent Engel (PEN Belgique), Alexis Deswaef (Vice-président FIDH), Julia Majerczak (RSF) and Ahmed Benchemsi (HRW)

• Omar Radi’s case: a classical example of national journalistic repression (HRW, Ahmed Benchemsi)
• Julian Assange’s case:  crossing the Rubicon: opening the door to transnational repression (RSF, Julia Majerczak)

13.05-13.25: 2nd panel – the way forward to act at EU level ahead of EU elections; Participants: Vincent Engel (PEN Belgique), Alexis Deswaef (Vice-président FIDH), Julia Majerczak (RSF)

• • Chilling effect:  affecting journalistic routine on European territory and legitimizing authoritarian states repression toward journalists (speaker TBC)
  • Legal avenues in EU institutions: the need for institutional reforms (speaker TBC)

13.25-13.50: Q/A

13.50-14.00: concluding remarks Saskia Bricmont (Ecolo MEP, Greens/EFA)

In order to enter the European Parliament or attend the event online, you need to register HERE.