Western European countries, often held up as models of democracy, respect press freedom but there are flaws in these journalistic havens of tranquillity.
Press freedom is sacrosanct in Scandinavia, where it is strongly protected and defended by law. The national constitution in Sweden allows a civil servant to give information to the media and confidentiality of sources is an absolute right. Stockholm's police chief was put under legal observation in October 2004 after he investigated one of his officers for passing on information to a journalist. Such an investigation is illegal in Sweden.

The weak link in press freedom

Most other European countries do not recognise such rights and their court rulings on revealing sources, secrecy of preliminary legal investigations, presumption of innocence and the right to use someone's picture increasingly present a clash between individual freedom and the right to inform the public.
Formal questioning of journalists, searches of media premises and seizures of documents increased in Belgium, Denmark, France and Italy

Such practices are serious obstructions and significant pressure, especially on investigative journalists.
Pressure and self-censorship also arises from laws in some countries that still allow journalists to be sent to prison for what they have written. Two journalists were jailed for libel in Italy in 2004