Journalists and Lawyers for Freedom of Expression
APRIL 2026
A busy April for JAM — from international panels to coalition work on the ground. Here is a roundup of what we were up to last month.
JAM LAUNCHES ITS RELOCATION PROGRAMME — FIVE FELLOWS SELECTED
April marked a major milestone for JAM: the formal launch of our temporary relocation programme for journalists and human rights defenders at risk, in partnership with ProtectDefenders.eu. We are delighted to welcome our first cohort of five fellows to Berlin.
The group includes two journalists from Turkey, two journalists from Russia, and an LGBTI rights activist from Tajikistan — individuals whose work has made them targets at home and who will spend three months in Berlin with accommodation, a stipend, and professional support from JAM and our network.
This programme represents the most direct form of protection we can offer: bringing people to safety and giving them the time and space to continue their work. We look forward to introducing our fellows in the coming weeks — in ways that respect their security and privacy.
PRESS FREEDOM UNDER ATTACK: JAM AT THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM FESTIVAL IN PERUGIA
JAM Senior Projects Manager Evin Baris Altintas joined a panel organized by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, alongside Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Rinat Tuhvatshin, co-founder of the exiled Kyrgyz investigative outlet Kloop.
The session examined how governments across Turkey, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan are weaponizing national security laws to silence journalism. Baris presented data from MLSA’s trial monitoring programme, which tracks around 300 journalist cases annually: 72% face charges under Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law, acquittals exceed 65%, but pre-trial detention means journalists often spend months behind bars before charges are dropped.
The panel also discussed transnational repression — the tools authoritarian governments use to pursue dissidents and journalists across borders, from Interpol red notices to digital surveillance. “Democracy is very fragile,” Baris noted in closing. “Most people don’t realize that yet.”
Read the full panel report on jam-ev.com
JAM AND COALITION JOINS IPHR EVENT ON TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION IN GERMANY
JAM participated in the launch of the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) report on transnational repression in Germany, a significant new study that documents the scope of foreign-state harassment of exiles and diaspora communities on German territory.
The report features the Coalition Against Transnational Repression in Germany — of which JAM is a founding member — prominently throughout, citing the Coalition’s 2025 policy paper as a primary reference and dedicating a full section to civil society mobilization efforts. Seeing our coalition’s work used to frame the international discourse on TNR is a meaningful recognition of what we have built together over the past two years.
Photo from the event available on our social media channels.
SUPPORTING AN AFGHAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER AT RISK
In April, JAM worked closely with partners to support an Afghan human rights defender facing serious protection risks. While we cannot share details of individual cases publicly, this kind of direct case work — connecting people with legal support, navigating protection mechanisms, and coordinating across networks — is an increasingly central part of what JAM does alongside our programme and advocacy work.
We are grateful to our coalition partners and legal contacts who responded quickly to this situation.
EVENING WITH EXILED JOURNALISTS — WITH FNF
On April 24, JAM joined the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for an evening gathering with exiled journalists in Berlin. Events like this — informal, relationship-building, off the record — are part of how we sustain the networks that our programme and advocacy work depend on. We are grateful to FNF for the continued partnership and for creating space for these conversations.
COALITION AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION: APRIL HIGHLIGHTS
April was a full month for the Coalition Against Transnational Repression in Germany, of which JAM is a founding member. Highlights included:
- A meeting at the Federal Foreign Office with the TNR Coordination Unit, focused on ongoing research and the need for genuine collaboration between government and civil society.
- Publication of the German government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry on TNR, which acknowledged protection gaps — while critics noted that concrete measures remain lacking.
- Ongoing work on a coalition position paper addressing TNR through three lenses: the repressive state, the host state, and a human rights approach — now in its second review round ahead of publication.
- Real-time case support for affected communities, including a Vietnamese diaspora group in Berlin facing venue cancellation pressure from the Vietnamese government — successfully resolved through coalition solidarity.
- A Freedom House report on transnational repression in 2025, a Citizen Lab report on Chinese digital TNR, and coverage of the Greens’ parliamentary inquiry all keeping TNR in the public eye.
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Journalists and Lawyers for Freedom of Expression