Journalists targeted by home-made bomb attacks

Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns yesterday’s home-made bomb attacks on the homes of several journalists. Made from propane gas canisters and thrown at buildings, the bombs caused some damage but no injuries. Reporters Without Borders also condemns the illegal occupation of the premises of the state-owned radio station ERT3 by unidentified masked individuals, who eventually left as suddenly as they had arrived. “We are very concerned by the growing violence against news media and leading journalists in recent months,” Reporters Without Borders said. “These attacks are the most visible expression of an increasingly dangerous climate for all journalists, who are being turned into the scapegoats of a crisis they are just analysing. “The problems that we pointed out to the authorities in our September 2011 report have worsened. Aside from the disastrous consequences of the collapse of the media’s business and social environment, news providers now have to face the neo-Nazi violence of Golden Dawn and other extremist movements. “We call on the Greek authorities to quickly investigate these attacks with the aim of identifying not only the perpetrators but also, and more importantly, those behind them. The impunity that so often accompanies this kind of violence will only encourage those responsible to continue their sterile and dangerous activities.”