in the sights of our yes starts may 20th on t.w. . this is d.-day over the news line from burden on world press freedom day deutsche avella on his journalists around the globe with our annual freedom of speech award to highlight the courage and determination of reporters persecuted for exposing the truth about the coronavirus pandemic also coming up. syrians mount ramadan in the last rebel stronghold if it found out the years of civil war or failure to maintain social distancing could set off and not the disaster.

i'm rebecca riches it's good to have you with us today is world press freedom day and we begin our broadcast with something we here at day proud to announce the doors of ela freedom of speech award this year the war highlights journalists who feign persecuted because of their reporting of the coronavirus pandemic were only naming 17 individuals they represent all those journalists bloggers and citizens around the world who have defied restrictions on press freedom to report on the coronavirus michelle bashing lay the united nations high commissioner for human rights pay tribute to this year's award winners. i'm here to honor the courage of the journalists who despite such attacks speak up and continue to investigate our

report critically without fear i pay tribute to the courage of those who have been disappeared arrested or threatened for their work my office of the united nations will continue to stand up for their rights shell bash lead the un high commission for human rights there and we have this closer look at some of the journalists were singling out this year for the courageous reporting. threatened attacked arrested press freedom was already a contentious and often dangerous issue in countries governed by repressive leaders the corona crisis is giving autocratic regimes a welcome excuse to clamp down even further they're using the pandemic also to bring pressure on journalists and we see this in china russia and turkey in iran received around the globe so that these countries which are have a very problematic. educate on press freedom they're using this now to. january

2020 these images was secretly shot by chinese citizen journalist fun been inside a hospital in one han the epicenter of the pandemic his reports divorced me from the image of the country portrayed on state television. a short while ago i saw 3 corpses here he says on the video now there are 8. chris shia loyal was the most prominent citizen journalist in will han whichever have been viruses right in front of me are china's criminal prosecutors are behind me i'm not afraid of death do you think i'm afraid if you come in this party of china or holland called out what. it was gently she's lost video before he disappeared without trace just like fang been his last footage shows police knocking at his door like an hour. earlier that hour. the world director peter dimbleby criticized china's blocking of investigations into the viruses origin and a free press would have really helped to to find the reason and at the end would

have saved lives. in russia where press freedom is strictly curtailed government friendly media outlets have been spreading misinformation about the corona crisis independent journalists are feeling the pressure. elaina mulish internationally renowned investigative journalist received death threats after reporting on the coronavirus in chechnya allegedly from chechen president ramzan kadyrov himself the organization reporters without borders has documented a record number of arbitrary acts of violence against reporters in venezuela davisson rojas was detained by special forces for 12 days for reporting on called 1000 on social media. in countries where press freedom is already under threat the corona pandemic is making things even more difficult and more dangerous for journalists. one of those countries where it's becoming more and more difficult to

work as a journalist is right here in europe that's hungry and funny fresh our data correspondent joins me from the capital budapest funny hungary's been condemned by the for attacking media freedom what's the situation there like there during covert 9 tain . well if you look at the world press freedom index according to which hungary's ranked 8989 out of 180 countries worldwide it gives us one indication about the state of press freedom in this country which has been challenged not by only the current government but by any government ever since that democratic election since 1900 what makes a current amendment of the criminal code so worrisome to some of the joys here that i've spoken to is the fact that you're not only punishable fool sharing or spreading false information but also for spreading information that is true in a forte distorted manner but what does that mean who is defining what distortion

means what does it mean for journalists to operate in your underground trying to report about the consequences of this pandemic i asked some of these questions to zoltan but because one of the investigative journalists would have passed and he had some very interesting answers to tell me let's have a report let's have a look at the report. like most of his peers soltani an investigative journalist is confined to working from home. and this guy nor i nor him for more than 10 years. but he says it's not staying at home that makes reporting harder these days he sources have become reluctant to talk in the role. of the. serious now if there is something wrong when the. stop it.

soltani as you furring to the amended criminal code which imposes a prison sentence of up to 5 years for spreading false information this provision is part of the emergency powers that have been extended indefinitely he writes for a small daily newspaper or the circulation of 20000 but papers like need are coming under increasing fire for the past 10 years the governing fitness party has sought ways to tighten its grip on the media here at this newspaper stand you can still find a variety of newspapers and magazines but the sphere for paper carrying critical reporting that does not kill the government's line is shrinking media freedom organizations complain that most of the hungry and media is either managed or owned by people loyal to the government. i want to talk to our who works for media what struck me atika about the new law her job is to evaluate media policy measures.

that rank and watch for teen all code now sanctions distortion of information that undermines efforts to protect against the pandemic. and this is a big problem because it's not clear what distortion means. that it does and their message she says the very survival of the independent media in hungary is in serious danger and the government a few weeks ago justice minister unit water go spoke to t w news shelter and in that interview that the new provision applies to every citizen not singling out any specific occupation this time we are told that it was too busy to speak to us on this particular matter looking at her tweets she frequently accuses critics of witch hunting one reads the european parliament attacks hungary again in its resolution based on false accusations and it continues

to apply double standards understanding what's going on in hungary requires access to many sources once that's alton would like to continue to tap into after all he believes in democracy it's a quite strong feeling and. people want to believe in them or they want to give information for journalist still yes they are less secure they are more into maybe a 3rd but there are definitely sources there are the more who want to help so actually this is our kind of. obligation for me to do that as well he will continue to track down sources and help them to speak up come what may he says during these very extraordinary times in hungary. funny as we just saw in your piece all time is struggling to access the information to do his job as a journalist in his case unique in hungary maybe

only unique in terms of the fact that there are many of us to gauge if journalists left actually in hungary well working out of all glory but it's definitely an example on a broader sense when it comes to journalists who are working from home gori trying to depict facts information for the public that are not operating for on the within the media that is either owned by the government or by people that are allied with the government no if you look at the victim you may still find it critical process especially online but if you zoom in other a bit more that's where you find that for for for the great majority of hungary and who do not live here in the capital city buda path they have a hard time accessing brain accessing channels on t.v. that are not allied over the government and that press freedom is very challenging but also the mere situation of getting information that's not channeled through to

government getting that information to the public is a challenge home great. reporting for us from budapest thanks very much all over the world muslims are having to adjust to celebrating ramadan on the lockdown but in in lives syria's lost rebel strength stronghold the social distancing message doesn't seem to be getting through and the high number of displaced people medics fear an outbreak of code it could be disastrous. praying close together without protection every day off to sunset hundreds gather at this mosque and it lead. during ramadan this is perfectly normal but because of the coronavirus pandemic it's highly risky he said of course the infection can spread during prayer. but we are in god's hands and the prophet mohammed said that no people will suffer to disasters at the same time. one disaster is

syria's war there's currently a cease fire and it led to the country's last rebel stronghold much of the infrastructure here is destroyed including hundreds of clinics in the region. there aren't yet any confirmed cases of corona virus but there aren't many tests either. many people are living their daily lives just like they did before the pandemic this could claim thousands of lives the world health organization is warning. them please and it does the results of in a crisis zone that already has health care problems where people live very close to each other. the spread of corona virus would be truly catastrophic and at the socialist. private home or online risk free rather than in a mosque this message from the dog has hardly gotten through and it led. to some sports now and despite 3 positive tests tests for the coronavirus at

cologne football club when its latest bid to resume matches has received vocal backing from germany's interior and sports minister or c. hoffa anthony how it is here to tell us more anthony what exactly did say hoffa have to say what he said was music to the is a bundesliga clubs and fans everywhere 40 hours ago when there were 3 positive tests a lot of people including me thought they might be a really big moment a hammer blow to those hopes of getting the league back and getting football back so a really sensitive moment. they hope a step forward and says and i quote off on the should you oppose proposed by the german league plausible and i support the restart in my he told building clear and calm words at a really frightening moment he then went on they'll continue therefore to be risks of for the shuttle and of matches for the for this in the standings if this further contamination so put that one fire as for tiny to what's already happened really importantly and they've been look forward and says well we're going to have more positive tests or than likely but keep it together keep it calm we can do it is

what i showed and what they showed is the will that they have the government to make this happen that that's critical of them yes i'm pretty clear it words that how significant is his backing at this point it's the timing that's really really key with dies away from the 16 states and the federal government and the health authorities getting together to consider this decision so it's pretty strong and clear words as to what he thinks should happen a quick reminder that france belgium and holland they've mothballed they say is in the plies or on holiday it's don they've declared a winner jim is really blazing a trial he saw the all eyes of the football world particularly spying italy and england where they haven't my decisions they are looking at germany as a leader and and offering some sort of blueprint they're looking to the adults in the room if you like to see what they're going to do after 3 positive tastes meet mr z hoffa's shows the ultimate solidarity for all those people who want football back and who need it back at the government level they've got positive tests and i got that backing between the government national national association the

bundesliga and the clubs i have to be marching to the same drum and this was a real stress test to get football back and i got a lot will be interesting to see what happens next thank anthony houghton date of the sport thanks very much. you're watching date of opinions i'll be back next hour with more news headlines in the meantime head over to our website d.w. dot com and then to get follow us on twitter and instagram and date of the news i'm rebecca reaches in the tent thanks so much watching. this state of emergency is the. people around the world are talking to this dramatic times. they're keeping a corona diary and welcoming us into their lives they let us get as a close and personal as the pandemic will allow.