1.  The Assembly
recalls its

Recommendation 1506 (2001) on freedom of expression and information in
the media in Europe and its decision to exert, through the General
Rapporteur on the Media, moral and political pressure on governments which
violate freedom of expression in the media, pursuing this issue on a
country-by-country basis.

2.  It regrets
that since the adoption of Recommendation 1506 many problems persist and
that further serious violations of freedom of expression have since taken
place in Europe as in the rest of the world.

3.  Violence
continues to be a way of intimidating investigative journalists or of
settling scores between rival political and economic groupings, for whom
certain media act as mercenaries. The number of journalists attacked or
even murdered in Russia is alarming. Violence has also recently been
recorded in Armenia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Georgia,
Ukraine and Belarus. In particular, the Assembly strongly condemns the
assassination of Tighran Naghdalian, Chairman of the Public TV and Radio
Council of Armenia. It is unacceptable that no substantial progress has
been made in the investigation of crimes committed earlier such as the
murder of Georgy Gongadze in Ukraine and the disappearance of Dmitry
Zavadsky in Belarus.

4.  It is also
unacceptable in a democracy that journalists should be sent to prison for
their work as in the case of Mikola Markevich, Paval Mazheika and Viktar
Ivashkevich in Belarus and of Grigory Pasko in Russia. Criminal
prosecution against journalists continues in Turkey.

5.  Other forms
of legal harassment, such as defamation suits or disproportionately high
fines that bring media outlets to the brink of extinction, continue to
proliferate in several countries. Such cases were recently recorded in
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Russia and Ukraine. A dozen lawsuits brought
against Presspublica, the publisher of the major Polish daily,
Rzeczpospolita. Intimidation of media also takes the form of police
raids, tax inspections and other forms of economic pressure.

6.  In the
Ukraine, according to numerous journalists and the conclusions of the
parliamentary hearings on freedom of speech and censorship, the
Presidential Administration provides instructions to the media on the
coverage of main political events.

7.  In most
countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States the national
television, the main source of information for the majority of the
population, continues to be state-run or under tight government control.
It is regrettable, for instance, that despite explicit Council of Europe
recommendations to the Moldovan authorities and despite mass protests at
TeleRadio Moldova last spring, the newly adopted broadcasting law provides
for many forms of direct political interference. The same problem exists
with the proposed draft for a law on public television in Azerbaijan.

8.  In certain
countries it is still far too easy to replace heads of public media
according to the whims of the authorities.

9.  Even the most
advanced new democracies still face difficulties with ensuring genuinely
independent public service broadcasting and proper balance between
government and opposition.

10.  In certain west
European countries, courts continue to violate the right of journalists to
protect their sources of information, and this despite the case-law of the
European Court of Human Rights.

11.  The media
legislation in some of these countries is outdated (for instance the
French press law dates back to 1881) and although restrictive provisions
are no longer applied in practice, they provide a suitable excuse for new
democracies not willing to democratise their own media legislation.

12.  In Italy, the
potential conflict of interest between the holding of political office by
Mr Berlusconi and his private economic and media interests is a threat to
media pluralism and unless clear safeguards are in place sets a poor
example for young democracies.

13.  Media
concentration is a serious problem across the continent. In certain
countries of central and eastern Europe a very small number of companies
now predominantly own the printed press. Access to digital television also
tends to be highly concentrated.

14.  The recent
terrorist attacks can provide a pretext for introducing new restrictions
to freedom of information, as with the adoption by the Russian Duma of
amendments to the Laws on mass media and the Law “on the struggle against
terrorism”, but which President Putin had asked to be reformulated using
his right of veto.

15.  The Assembly
therefore stresses the need for the Council of Europe, through its
appropriate bodies, to continue to monitor closely the state of freedom of
expression and media pluralism across the continent and to put all its
weight behind the active defence of its basic standards and principles,
including the duty of journalists to observe ethical and responsible
professional standards.

16.  In this
context, it asks the Committee of Ministers to make public the results of
its monitoring procedure in the field of freedom of expression of the
media.

17.  The Assembly
also asks the Committee of Ministers to urge all European states, where
appropriate:

i. 
to ensure that substantial progress is made in the investigation
of murders of journalists and that the perpetrators of such crimes are
punished;

ii.
to set free all journalists imprisoned for their legitimate
professional work and to remove legislation that makes journalistic
freedom of expression subject to criminal prosecution;

iii. 
to stop immediately all forms of legal and economic harassment of
dissenting media;

iv.  
to revise their media legislation according to Council of Europe
standards and recommendations and to ensure its proper implementation;

v.
to revise in particular their broadcasting legislation, to
abolish restrictions on the establishment and functioning of private
media broadcasting in minority languages, and implement it with a view
to the provision of a genuine public service;

vi. 
to incorporate the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
in the field of freedom of expression into their domestic legislation
and ensure the relevant training of judges;

vii. 
to ensure the plurality of the media market through appropriate
anti-concentration measures, especially in fairness of access to digital
radio and television platforms, and to press for relevant international
mechanisms in that respect;

viii. 
to refrain from adopting unnecessary restrictions to the free
flow of information under cover of the fight against terrorism, while
respecting Article 10.2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

18.  The Assembly
should continue to pay special attention to freedom of expression in the
mass media in all European states. The Assembly considers active
international co-ordination necessary in order to react immediately to
cases of violence and pressure on journalists.

---

[1].   
Assembly debate on 28 January 2003 (3^rd Sitting) (see
Doc. 9640 rev.,
report of the Committee on Culture, Science and Education, rapporteur: Mrs
Tytti Isohookana-Asunmaa). Text adopted by the Assembly on 28
January 2003 (3^rd Sitting).