Two German journalists and a Turkish national living in Germany have been banned from entering the EU and had their bank accounts frozen for their critical reporting on Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza
By Thomas Fazi
May 26, 2025
I’ve written for Public about the EU’s shocking and utterly unprecedented decision to sanction three journalists for the critical reporting on Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza — including, for the first time ever, two EU citizens from Germany. This means they are now banned from entering the EU and their bank accounts have been frozen.
This marks a chilling escalation in the EU’s assault on free speech and other fundamental rights: never before had the EU sanctioned two of its own citizens, effectively forcing them into exile. Should they violate the sanctions, they face a minimum of 5 years’ imprisonment.
The fact that challenging the EU-NATO narrative on the war — or even openly endorsing the Russian government or testifying in Russia’s favour at the UN, for that matter — is now effectively treated as a quasi-criminal, de facto act of treason justifying extra-judicial punishment in the form of travel bans and asset freezes is nothing short of terrifying.
The ethical and legal implications are staggering: two EU citizens have effectively been stripped of their basic civil liberties — exiled from virtually the entire European continent, subjected to financial strangulation and deprived of their livelihoods — through a simple act of bureaucratic fiat, without trial or court ruling. This is punishment without process, imposed by an unaccountable, out-of-control elite, in defiance of the most basic principles of the rule of law.
Link to article: https://www.public.news/p/eu-travel-ban-on-three-journalists?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web
EU Travel Ban On Three Journalists Is Flagrant Violation Of Human RightsAs terrible as it may seem to anyone who loves their country, it is legal to use one’s voice to support a foreign nation over one’s own, so long as it is not accompanied by espionage or material support to an enemy. It’s easy to see why this should be. If it were illegal, it would be straightforward for anyone to demand the arrest of peace activists or anyone else calling for an end to hostilities with another nation. Governments could even use such a
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