Event
You Hear Me? - The SLAPPs that try to silence us
Public debate
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) are a growing threat to journalists, NGOs, and human rights defenders in Romania and beyond. These lawsuits are designed to intimidate, drain resources, and silence those who dare to expose corruption and abuses of power. This event brings together journalists, civil society representatives, human rights defenders, and legal experts who have faced SLAPPs firsthand. Through real-life cases and open discussions, we aim to raise awareness, show solidarity, and explore ways to strengthen protections against these attacks. The guests will be Elena Calistru, president of Funky Citizens; Vlad Stoicescu, Dela0 journalist; Victor Ilie, investigative journalist and Mihail Bumbes, civic activist, Miliția Spirituala. This session is an urgent call to listen to those whose voices are under threat—because defending them means defending democracy itself. This event is part of the broader efforts to promote the rule of law and protect democratic values. The focus on SLAPPs highlights the challenges faced by journalists and civil society in Romania, where such lawsuits are increasingly used to suppress critical voices. Open to all interested in learning the truth and taking a stand. Event by Rule of Law Programme in South East Europe, Konrad Adenauer Foundation and by LiderJust Association (Leaders for Justice Association), organized during the One World Romania International Documentary and Human Rights Film Festival. Tickets are available here: https://eventbook.ro/film/bilete-owr-18-ma-auzi-slapp-urile?lang=en
Diskussion
Launching of a New Manifesto in Leadership
Training Cafe Community
At the end of January, our program had the pleasure to host and co-pilot an idea for a new Manifesto in Leadership, by BlackBrick.Academy, a company hosted and grown in Training Cafe community. Together we discussed a short history of leadership theories, the five points proposal for tackling leadership in high entropy environment and situations coming from participants. As a result of this meeting, the future plans that emerged focused on developing a Leadership Development Community as well as further research in the leadership field.
Event
International Conference on Electoral Systems in Southeast Europe
Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
We welcomed esteemed speakers and participants from eight of the countries that our Rule of Law program covers to discuss the complexities and innovations in their national electoral systems. With a robust agenda and diverse speakers, this conference managed to deepen understanding and inspire innovative approaches to democratic governance in the region.
Event
15. Generation "Leaders for Justice" - Graduation Event
Leaders for Justice Romania Training Program
The 15. generation of Leaders for Justice (LfJ) alumni, will have their official graduation event, where they will present themselves and will be included in the large Leaders for Justice Romania community, after completing a year of personal and team management training. The event will also be a perfect medium for discussing new projects and ideas and strengthen the network of young legal professionals.
Expertengespräch
Platforma 2024 Expert Meeting
Organised by Tech and Tonic Association
Tech and Tonic is implementing the Platforma 2024 project with support from the Transatlantic Foundation and the European Commission. 2024 is a defining year for democracy in Romania, being the only year so far with all four rounds of elections. In this context, the association aims to initiate a genuine discussion on democracy and public policy in Romania, observing how specific themes are reflected in electoral campaigns, how candidates’ discourse evolves, and how citizens engage in elections. This effort will be supported by research technologies, data analysis, and visual information presentation, alongside relevant actors from fields of interest. The experts come from various fields (justice, social affairs, urban planning, economy), the main goal being to create a space for intersectoral dialogue that will also cover issues such as: review of project activities, including topics addressed in the public and political speech and lessons learned during this year of elections as well as planning and prioritising analysis themes for the upcoming years.
Studien- und Informationsprogramm
Internationale Sommerschule Sarajevo 2024
Eine großartige Gelegenheit für Studenten und junge Berufstätige, ihr Wissen über Transitional Justice und Förderung von Menschenrechten und Rechtsstaatlichkeit zu erweitern
Fachkonferenz
Kriegsverbrechen in Prijedor und Umgebung – Botschaft für die Zukunft
Die Zusammenführung von Rechtsexperten, Journalisten, Überlebenden mit der nächsten Generation unterstützt die Suche nach Gerechtigkeit und Lehren aus den Ereignisse in Prijedor.
Workshop
“How to deal with SLAPPs”
KAS RLPSEE with One World Romania and Leaders for Justice
On the 6th of April, KAS RLPSEE, together with One World Romania and Leadres for Justice, organised a workshop regadring cases of judicial harassment abusing journalists and activists through the form of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), wich are constantly on the rise in Europe. The workshop addresses investigative journalists, documentary filmmakers, media professionals, legal experts and freedom of expression specialists. These lawsuits are increasingly being used to intimidate professionals and citizens who are merely exercising their fundamental rights. SLAPPs tend to impose social, economic and psychological burdens on targets. Given that 2024 is a year with multiple electoral stakes in Romania and 4 rounds of elections, the pressure on journalists, in particular, will be even greater. This SLAPP workshop was meant to provide useful advice on how to deal with the judicial pressure when you're making investigative journalism & documentary. Discussions focused on national and European legislation (anti-SLAPP directive), and the most common threats faced by journalists. The workshop offered experts the possibility to present guidelines and advice on how to prevent, mitigate, and protect yourself from legal threats due to your everyday work as a journalist or as an activist.
Ausstellung
Roma Slavery in the Romanian Principalities
The Eyes of the Mind history series
On the 10th of April, the Casa Paleologu Cultural Foundation, together with the Roma Education Fund Foundation, launched at the KAS RLPSEE headquarter the final episode of the “Eyes of the Mind”-series, dedicated to the history of the Roma slavery during the Romanian Principalities. This final episode focused on the period between the two world wars, WWII, and the following communist and post-communist period. The launching was accompanied by an art exhibition with works by Eugen Raportoru, a painter with Roma origins.
Workshop
Platforma 2024 Working Group on Justice
Election Year Monitoring
On March 25th, taking into account that 2024 is an important election year, the Tech & Tonic Association organised a working group on Justice with the following topics: identification of important themes for the Romanian democratic society through studies, market research, data collection and analysis; following some themes relevant to the democratic process throughout the four rounds of elections and analysing the way they are approached according to the type of elections, the parties or by candidates; development of a network of NGOs, media, specialists and other relevant actors in society, which address the themes identified in specific ways (analyses, articles, policy papers, materials of communication, etc.); concentration of verified information related to the election cycles of the election year 2024 and presenting them in an easy-to-understand, visual format to the voting citizens, so that they can make an informed choice in all voting rounds.
