Press freedom does not cover
illegal radio snooping, the European Court of Human Rights said
Thursday in rejecting an appeal by three Italian journalists
convicted of illegally intercepting police radio transmissions.
The three convicted were the editor of Lecco Web daily
Merateonline, Claudio Brambilla, and two of his journalists,
Daniele De Salvo and Fabrizio Alfano.
In their appeal, the three maintained that a search of
their cars and office and seizure of their radio interception
equipment in 2002 and their cour convictions in 2007 and 2008
violated their right to freedom of expression protected by
article 10 of the European convention on human rights.
But the Strasbourg court found that all the measures taken
against them were in accordance with the law and had a
legitimate end.
The ECHR said journalists are bound to act responsibly and
this duty of responsibility "does not only concern the content
of the information they gather and disseminate but also the
legality of their conduct, in particular in their relations with
authorities during the exercise of their journalistic
functions".
The judges also underlined that, "notwithstanding the
essential role that media have in a democratic society,
journalists are not in principle exempted, by virtue of the
protection afforded them by article 10 of the European
convention on human rights, from having to respect the law".
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