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Reporters Without Borders Annual Report 2003 - Denmark

The country, normally very liberal about the media, faced one of the most serious threats in the European Union to the protection of journalists' sources because of the drive against terrorism.

The appeals court in Copenhagen dismissed on 12 September 2002 a request by police to compel journalist Stig Matthiesen, of the daily Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, to reveal his sources about Islamist activities in Denmark. It said the information police were seeking was "not crucial." Matthiesen had faced up to six months in jail and a fine.

The paper's managing editor, Joergen Ejboel, said on 28 August that the journalist's phone had been tapped. The police had obtained a court exemption from a clause of the law protecting journalists' sources after listening to a secretly-recorded conversation between Matthiesen and his office.

Topics: Freedom of expression,