The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today condemned the
behavior of the Greek police who prevented journalists from
operating freely during recent
demonstrations in Athens.
"We call upon the Greek authorities, and in particular the police, to let
journalists and media workers do their work freely. The Greek people as well as
European citizen have to know exactly what is happening in Greece. This implies
the respect for basic standards of press freedom".
On Friday 17 February, the Greek police prevented Greek journalists
Dimitris Trimis, George Savvides and Giorgos Katerinis, from communicating with a
German journalist who was arrested for demonstrating peacefully outside the
German Embassy in Athens. All three journalists are also leaders of the EFJ
affiliates, the Panhellennic Federation of Journalists Unions (PFJU) and the
Journalists' Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN). Together with their
lawyers they were obstructed by the police from talking to a group of German
activists who were protesting against German government policy over Greece.
The EFJ is the European group
of the International Federation of Journalists
The EFJ represents over 260,000 journalists in 30 countries
For more information contact the EFJ at +32 2 235.2200
