[eccr] IFJ calls on the right to protect sources

IFJ calls on the right to protect sources
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The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional
organisation, the European Federation of Journalists are calling on the
European Court of Human Rights to safeguard journalists' right to
protect their sources.

The action comes after they examined a petition introduced on June 25th
by IFJ/EFJ affiliated General Association of Professional Journalists of
Belgium, the Society of Professional Journalists of Le Soir and by four
professional journalists against the Belgian state.

According to information from IFJ, massive searches took place in June
1995 in four offices of the Belgian media and in the private houses of
five journalists. Dozens of files, floppy disks and computer hard disks
belonging to the journalists were confiscated. They claim these searches
only had one aim: to discover who, inside the authorities of the Belgian
Justice, gave certain information to those journalists regarding an
ongoing investigation into "the Cools affair", which refers to the name
of the Minister of State killed in Liege in 1991.

"This case is of crucial importance to the European journalism
community", said Gustl Glattfelder, chairman of the EFJ, "not only for
the freedom to inform and for journalists in Belgium, but also for all
member countries of the Council of Europe that have to include the
decision in their national law".

Source: http://www.ifex.org/alerts/view.html?id=10813 - International
Freedom of Expression Exchange

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