SRT Newsletter – March

Grantee News

Direkt36 journalist Szabolcs Panyi  has been charged with espionage in Hungary following his reporting on alleged links between senior officials and Russia, in a move widely criticised as politically motivated. The case, unfolding ahead of national elections, is part of a broader pattern of surveillance, smear campaigns and pressure on independent media, raising renewed concerns over press freedom and rule of law in the EU.

Direkt36 has also reported that Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation allegedly sought to use its Cybercrime Division to frame the opposition Tisza party with fabricated child abuse charges and compromise its IT systems. A subsequent whistleblower interview had over one million views in one day, and prompted a raid on the officer involved, raising concerns about abuse of state power.

International Center for Not-for-Profit Law has analysed new amendments adopted in Georgia expanding regulation of foreign-funded activities, including broader grant definitions, government consent requirements and criminal liability for violations. The changes, which also create new offences related to activities deemed to influence political processes, raise concerns over legal uncertainty and further restrictions on civil society.

The Sarajevo Open Centre has secured a landmark final court ruling confirming that public speech advocating segregation or discrimination against LGBTIQ people violates Bosnia and Herzegovina’s anti-discrimination law. The first judgment of its kind, it establishes a clear legal precedent and signals a shift from symbolic protections to enforceable rights.

Separately, the Sarajevo Open Centre is participating as an observer in a newly established working group tasked with drafting legislation on same-sex partnerships in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The move marks a step forward after years of political stagnation, with SOC contributing legal expertise to the process as it advances.

The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has supported a case in which a Kenyan court sentenced two men to 15 years in prison for a violent attack targeting gay men, a rare instance of accountability in a hostile legal environment. The ruling has been welcomed by rights groups as a sign the justice system can deliver protection, ahead of a key Court of Appeal hearing on the decriminalisation of homosexuality in May.

Bellingcat has verified video footage showing a US Tomahawk missile striking an Iranian Revolutionary Guard compound adjacent to a girls’ school in Minab during the February offensive, placing the US at the scene of one of the deadliest civilian incidents of the conflict, where over 170 people were reportedly killed.

Separately, a Bellingcat investigation explores alleged links between leaders of the Kinahan cartel and networks connected to Hezbollah and the Iranian state, highlighting overlaps between organised crime, sanctions evasion and geopolitics. The findings point to intersections with transnational networks involved in arms smuggling, money laundering and illicit trade, raising concerns about the convergence of criminal and state-linked activity.

Civitates-supported investigations have highlighted growing risks linked to digital platforms, including AI Forensics’ findings on harmful outputs from X’s Grok tool, which prompted regulatory scrutiny, and Maldita.es reporting on the amplification of AI-generated political disinformation on TikTok. Together, the investigations underscore the role of civil society in exposing online harms and advancing platform accountability.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has submitted evidence to a UN investigation into Indigenous rights, drawing on interviews with 100 Indigenous people from tropical forest regions worldwide. The findings highlight ongoing failures to protect land rights and ensure meaningful consultation, feeding into a review by the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples.

Watershed Investigations has introduced a sewage spills map to its interactive tool that combines dozens of environmental datasets and allows users to track pollution sources affecting rivers, lakes and coastlines across the UK. Separately, it also collaborated with The Guardian on an investigation identifying genes capable of creating antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” in Lough Neagh, highlighting growing public health risks linked to sewage pollution.

Bookbanks, a UK charity placing free books in food banks, has been shortlisted for the inaugural Queen’s Reading Room Medal, recognising its role in promoting literacy and access to reading. Founded in 2022, the initiative addresses inequalities in book access while supporting community wellbeing, as part of wider efforts to tackle declining reading rates across the UK.

Book Bunk, a Nairobi-based initiative, has been shortlisted for the World Resources Institute Ross Centre Prize for Sustainable Cities for its work restoring public libraries as inclusive civic spaces. Combining physical renovation with community-led programming, the project supports education, culture and social services, and has attracted nearly 200,000 visitors.