EIT:n suuri jaosto: Poliisi sai ottaa kiinni Smash ASEM -tapahtumaa kuvanneen toimittajan

21.10.2015 | Oikeusuutiset

Markku Fredman

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuimen (EIT) suuri jaosto on eilen Suomea koskeneessa tuomiossaan katsonut, että toimittajan kiinniotto tämän kieltäydyttyä noudattamasta poistumiskäskyä mielenosoituksessa ei loukannut toimittajan sananvapautta. Ratkaisu syntyi äänin 13-4, ja neljä vähemmistöön jäänyttä tuomaria katsoivat, että toimittajan vajaa 18 tuntia kestänyt kiinniotto ei ollut oikeassa suhteessa sillä tavoiteltuun päämäärään nähden.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

In [a] Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Pentikäinen v. Finland (application no. 11882/10) the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority, that there had been:

no violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the apprehension of a media photographer during a demonstration and his subsequent detention and conviction for disobeying the police.

The Court found that the Finnish authorities had based their decisions on relevant and sufficient reasons and had struck a fair balance between the competing interests at stake. They had not deliberately prevented or hindered the media from covering the demonstration. Mr Pentikäinen had not been prevented from carrying out his work as a journalist either during or after the demonstration. In particular, he had not been apprehended for his work as a journalist as such but for refusing to obey police orders to leave the scene of the demonstration. His equipment had not been confiscated and he had not been sanctioned.

Vähemmistöön jääneet tuomarit tiivistivät kantansa eriävässä mielipiteessään seuraavasti:

Today’s Grand Chamber judgment is a missed
opportunity for the Court to reinforce, in line with its consistent
case-law, the special nature and importance of the press in providing
transparency and accountability for the exercise of governmental power
by upholding the rights of journalists to observe public demonstrations
or other Article 11 activities effectively and unimpeded, so long as
they do not take a direct and active part in hostilities. Recent events
in many European countries demonstrate, more than ever, the necessity of
safeguarding the fundamental role of the press in obtaining and
disseminating to the public information on all aspects of governmental
activity. That is, after all, one of the crucial elements of the
democratic ideal protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.

Koko lehdistötiedote, missä myös linkki koko tuomioon, löytyy täältä: here

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