Sommaruga cares about democracy
Press freedom – Media Minister Simonetta Sommaruga expressed her concern for democracy on Press Freedom Day in Geneva. Media freedom and freedom of expression are “continuously weakened,” and where media freedom is small, autocracy is approaching.
The Sommaruga in her speech on the UN World Press Freedom Day in Geneva, as announced by the Department for the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (UVEK) on Tuesday evening. Freedom of the press is the barometer for freedom in general, said Sommaruga according to a video excerpt published by UVEK on Twitter. The fewer there are, the more autocracy is approaching. The more of them there are, the closer you are to democracy.
The event will also be attended by Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the two media professionals and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winners Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov.
According to the release, she said that media professionals and cartoonists are taking great risks to inform people. Therefore, in the speech, she also praised the courage and commitment of media professionals and the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winners. The two knew that they were putting themselves in danger with their reporting. Despite this, they and other media workers would continue. So that the world may know what others have tried to cover up.
Maria Ressa is the founder of the online medium Rappler in the Philippines, Dmitry Muratov is editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. The newspaper is currently closed.
The event was organized by press cartoonist Patrick Chappatte and the Freedom Cartoonists Foundation.