Freedom of the Press

Miklos Haraszti, co-founder of the democratic opposition and currently OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media, analyses in an interview led by Rádai Eszter the situation of the independent press in post-Soviet countries. "In these new democracies, diversity of opinion is often only possible in the print media and the internet... However, the print media is under pressure from the authorities. The penal codes of these countries give the authorities 'constitutional instruments' for punishing freedom of speech and journalistic research by calling them libel, defamation, breach of honour or betrayal of state secrets. Oppositional non-governmental organisations have the right to criticise this practice, and we must give them our support."

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