International Eurasia Press Fund

Remembering Natalia Estemirova – Human Rights defenders still at risk in Russia

16 December 2009. The European Parliament has awarded today the Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought to Ludmila Alekseeva, Sergei Kovaliov and Oleg Orlov, from the NGO Memorial Human Rights Centre and other human rights activists in Russia Davamı »

An Iraqi journalist reporting for Britain’s Guardian newspaper  was released along with two Afghan colleagues after being held hostage for six days in Afghanistan’s North Eastern region.

According to the news given to International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) by IPI, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad was in contact with The Guardian on 9 December. Two days later the newspaper was informed that the three journalists had been kidnapped. Davamı »

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) adopted a ruling that confirmed the rights of news organisations to protect the confidentiality of their sources. International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) was informed about this occurrence by the International Press Institute (IPI). With this ruling, five news organisations – The Guardian, The Independent, the Times, the Financial Times and Reuters – won a case against the Belgian-based brewers Interbrew. In 2001 a UK court ordered these organizations to hand over leaked documents submitted to Interbrew by its financial advisers about a possible bid for South African Breweries. They brought the case before the ECHR in response to this judgement. Davamı »

32 leading organizations for protection of freedom of speech, including International Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers have endorsed the Vienna Declaration. According to the news given to International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) by IPI, IPI has launched the “Vienna Declaration on Terrorism, Media and the Law.” IPI Director David Dadge who said that a free and unfettered flow of information and ideas is an important antidote to terrorist ideologies also noted that a free media is indispensable in achieving this: “Governments and inter-governmental organisations, therefore, must ensure that any and all counter-terrorism measures or laws are consistent with international standards and that the media is free not only to report on terrorist acts, but also to exert its watchdog role over security policies.” Davamı »