International Freedom of Expression Exchange: The global network for free expression
25 January 2000
MEDIA'S SELF-CENSORSHIP CONTINUES
Although the Greek media were generally free in 1999, self-censorship continues to be a common practice among journalists in Greece, say the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and the Minority Rights Group-Greece (MRG-G) in its annual report of human rights for 1999. The groups state that in 1999, self-censorship was evident in media coverage of "sensitive, national issues," but was also commonplace among journalists in the coverage of the NATO air strikes in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The report, entitled "Human Rights in Greece: Joint Concise Annual Report for 1999," details cases in which journalists were prosecuted and/or imprisoned for libel, defamation and "the publication of leaked confidential documents." A number of journalists also faced assault or lost their jobs due to their work, says GHM and MRG-G. The report, however, also addresses the media's participation in or propagation of "hostility and hate speech" towards some human rights and minority organisations.
Greece also saw several positive developments for free expression in 1999. Several journalists were acquitted or had their sentences reduced, and a censorship verdict was overturned by the country's Supreme Court. The groups report that the Ombudsman's office, which was instituted in October 1998, has already had a positive impact on the country's human rights situation, including freedom of expression. The office has already documented "many longtime human rights violations and offered concrete solutions, some of which were soon after implemented," say GHM and MRG-G. In addition to the media and freedom of expression, the report examines the "protection of ethnic minorities, citizenship, religious tolerance, protection of asylum seekers and immigrants, harassment of human rights activists." A copy of the full report can be found at:
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/.
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