On 3 May 2017, an event to mark World Press Freedom Day was held at the UN House in Moscow. The topic of the event was “Freedom to hold opinions and receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers”.

The Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Moscow V. Kuznetsov and the Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in the Russian Federation P. Sich opened the event delivering welcoming addresses.

In his speech, Mr Sich underlined that the Council of Europe’s action to promote press freedom and freedom of information is based on Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and, through its rich case law, the European Court of Human Rights has developed the most authoritative legal guide for governments on the parameters of free speech.

Also, at the beginning of 2017, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a Recommendation which clearly sets out how governments can create the right environment for journalists to do their job. This document represents probably the most comprehensive set of principles relating to the protection of journalists and secured political backing from all of 47 Council of Europe’s member states.

Mr Sich also recalled that on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland called upon the 47 Council of Europe member states to make sure that their national legislation on defamation does not lead to self-censorship of the media and does not weaken public debate.

In the framework of the event, the UN Information Centre in the Russian Federation along with Russian Cartoonists Guild under support of School of International Journalism of MGIMO opened an exhibition at the UN House in the Russian Federation.