OSCE media freedom representative condemns recent violence against reporters in Czech Republic, urges safe environment for media

VIENNA, 30 January 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today condemned recent violent attacks against reporters at an event in a hotel in Prague following the election of the Czech president.

“Journalists must be allowed to carry out their work free from intimidation and violence. I denounce the recent attacks against journalists following the announcement of the results of the presidential election in the Czech Republic, and call for an investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators,” Désir said.

On 27 January, an activist at the president’s campaign headquarters physically attacked reporters who were filming an incident and damaged their equipment. Among those attacked were a Seznam television reporter, an operator of TV Nova and of iDnes.cz.

“Recent threats against the media by political leaders clearly contribute to an atmosphere which can lead to violence against the media,” Désir said, referring to a press conference in October 2017, when President Miloš Zeman greeted journalists with a replica Kalashnikov machine gun. A few weeks before that, the president threatened to “get rid of” a reporter. In May, he said journalists should be “liquidated” because “there are too many of them”.

“I call on the political leaders in the Czech Republic to publicly condemn this incident, refrain from further vilification of the media and contribute to a safe and secure environment for journalists,” said Désir.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. He provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom.