Expanding the space for Freedom of Expression by protecting and legally empowering traditional and citizen journalists, and bloggers

The specific issues to be addressed by the project are: - The national legislative limits to freedoms of opinion, expression and press and the incompatibility of national and international standards - The criminalization of misuse of the freedom of expression - The impunity of those who threaten and carry out attacks against human rights defenders (HRDs) and journalists The window of opportunity presented by the political transitions In Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt and related reform processes offers room for change. But free access to information and freedom of expression are deemed crucial: it is impossible for the population to fully participate in the political transition process or to sustainably address the basic economic and social issues that prompted the revolutions if these rights are not guaranteed. As of today, those rights and freedoms are regularly at stake and often violated. Some positive signs demonstrate that civil society actors, media stakeholders and lawyers are ready to taking up the challenge and are interested by ASF’s approach based on fostering an open, constructive and technical dialogue based on the use of international standards as a reference tool and using the law as a motor for change. The reference to international human rights standards, which are still unfamiliar or poorly understood even by legal practitioners, has the potential to advance the jurisprudence but also to create an objective and dispassionate framework for discussion, at national, regional, and international level. Activities of the project: One baseline study in the three targeted countries, three training sessions for traditional/citizen journalists and bloggers, three training sessions and four on-site coaching sessions for lawyers, legal aid and assistance for traditional/citizen journalists and bloggers (20 cases), strategic litigation cases (2), setting up a regional platform for FOE stakeholders, workshops and publications.;