Protection of journalists has been one of the most critical issues within the ongoing media legislative reforms that the joint European Union/Council of Europe action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Montenegro – JUFREX 2” has been actively supporting. In order to broaden the public debate on the best modalities for practical implementation of new legal standards, JUFREX 2 organised a two-day workshop on 26 and 27 November in Podgorica.

Workshop has been organised in partnership with the Media Trade union and brought together local journalists and members of the national Commission for monitoring investigations of attacks on journalists.

The event was facilitated by Jonathan Price and Marc Gruber, Council of Europe experts, who focused on European standards in the area of protection of journalists, relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and curriculum on the protection of journalists developed under the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) programme. Their lectures were complemented by the interventions of Dalibor Tomovic, local legal expert, who focused on local legislation and elaboration on concrete cases of the attacks on journalists and consequent investigations.

JUFREX and Media Trade union will continue with similar training events and strive to engage with the media community as well as representatives of the judiciary and the police, in order to contribute to the improved co-operation of all stakeholders towards better protection of journalists.

Action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Montenegro – JUFREX 2” is implemented under the joint European Union and  Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".