Freedom of the press!
Freedom of the press and safety are the main demands for journalists worldwide, the International Federation of Journalists' (IFJ) visiting President Dominique Pradalier told Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) on Wednesday.
The IFJ official was speaking in the context of the federation's annual general meeting and executive committee meeting that will be held in Athens on Thursday and Friday.
Outlining the difficulties and threats faced by professional journalists, Pradalier noted that democracy is threatened when the profession of journalism is being attacked. She also blamed economic hardships for the existence of media outlets that rely entirely on artificial intelligence to generate pseudo-journalistic content, before noting that governments are obliged to protect journalists from the threat of spyware.
Pradalier then mentioned the unsolved murder of Greek journalist Giorgos Karaivaz in 2021, announcing that the IFJ will raise with the United Nations the need for drastic action against the impunity of murderers of journalists and the masterminds behind such murders. In Peru on Tuesday, she highlighted, a former prime minister was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his implication in the murder of a journalist after a 35-years legal struggle. "You can kill a journalist but you can't kill the news," she underlined.
In 2022 alone 68 journalists were murdered all over the world, the IFJ president noted. Greece can play an important role in creating an international legislation to address this impunity, she added, and referred to her recent meeting with Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias, who, Pradalier said, assured her of Greece's committent to that effect.
The Athens convention will be chaired by Pradalier, in the presence of IFJ Secretary General Anthony Belanger and IFJ Honorary Treasurer Jim Boumelha. The European Federation of Journalists' (EFJ) President Maja Sever and Vice-President Mustafa Kuleli are also expected to attend in person.
Additionally, it is also expected that representatives from more than 147 countries will attend the event online, as IFJ represents more than 600,000 professional journalists across the globe.
Works on Thursday will begin with a vote on IFJ's 2022 audited accounts and the 2023 budget.
Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) is the event's media sponsor.
AMNA
