The killing of Greek journalist Giorgos Karaivaz remains unresolved.

Blueprint is proud to be a promoter and speaker at the International Festival of Whistleblowing, Dissent and Accountability, organised by the Centre for Global Justice, Peace and Accountability and Dr. Deepa Driver. The event will take place on May 8, 2021 in a virtual online format.

As Greek police were sifting through the news stories of journalist Giorgos Karaivaz for clues why he was shot dead outside his home, a security camera caught on video a motor scooter carrying two men who fled, one of whom fired the shots.

A Greek television journalist and blogger who wrote about organized, crime, corruption and the police was shot dead outside his home in an ambush by two men on a motorcycle who reports said may have used a silencer.

Already essentially shut out by a government that critics said has used the COVID-19 pandemic to stifle the press, 28 Hungarian media outlets demanded greater access to hospitals for journalists covering the crisis to report on a surge of cases and deaths. The request wasn’t granted.

Prosecutors on Sicily probing sea rescue groups and charities for alleged migrant smuggling were also wiretapping reporters to find their their sources, and tracked journalists movements on their phones, an Italian newspaper said.

She wouldn't name them – Malta and Slovakia – but European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourová said countries where journalists have been murdered must offer more protections, including against SLAPP suits aimed at silencing them.

Not running for re-election, her government engulfed in scandals and conflicts of interest around the purchase of COVID-19 masks, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is rewriting ethics rules.

EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová presents the launch of the CASE website, where individuals or organisations that have been victims of a SLAPP can register their case.

The European Union “made a horrible mistake in Europe by underestimating the role of media for upholding democracy,” European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová said, citing the murders of journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in 2017 and Ján Kuciak in Slovakia in 2018. Both probed high-level corruption.

The German Government is currently considering a first draft presented by the Ministry of Justice to transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblower Protection. Blueprint for Free Speech has analysed the draft law, which is still incomplete and should be improved further.