23/01/2019 | 11:36:10 First, I would like to speak on behalf of all journalists who are contending with great difficulties. A great many journalists are in prisons in member States of the Council of Europe – journalists who are being held in prison because of their journalism – so this is a timely discussion. We know full well that many political parties have become electioneering machines and that all equilibrium has gone out of the window. Therefore, it is important that all our States be alerted to those... 22/01/2019 | 19:34:56 The Turkish representative, Mr Mustafa YENEROĞLU, said with a certain irony that all he could see was a host of experts on Islam holding forth. With total respect, if anything is lacking that is because of a mistake on my part. No one is perfect in what they say or how they behave, but I would like us to work with goodwill and the best motivation. One issue is clear in the Council of Europe and that is that the European Court of Human Rights is the North Star – our moral compass. It has... 22/01/2019 | 11:08:43 I too thank everybody who was involved in drafting the report, and the Venice Commission. We are trying to find answers, from the perspective of representative democracy, about a long-standing tradition, which stems back to Athenian democracy: direct democracy. How can we create tools and instruments to enable our citizens to speak directly via direct democracy? It is a clear concept in our democracies, as is participation. However, there are real limits to participation. Participation, too...