Journalists must not be called as witnesses

The Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech has supported a draft law which would make it impossible to interrogate journalists as witnesses. The Committee unanimously recommended that parliament adopt draft Law No. 8256 in its first reading as basis. The draft law makes amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code to safeguard journalists’ right to protection of their sources of information. The decision was passed at the Committee meeting on 20 April.

The authors of the bill propose adding journalists to the list of people entitled to refuse to give evidence and not be interrogated as witnesses. They also propose introducing special procedure for searching the residence or work place of journalists, whether employed by a media outlet or freelance.