Location: Czech Republic, Prague
Date: April 7, 2022

Investigative journalist Pavla Holcova has been hit with a relentless smear campaign for her work on Pandora Papers and reports of corruption by former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš. Pavlo reported on alleged money laundering by Babis and his purchase of a castle in France via offshore accounts. The Coalition For Women In Journalism extends support to Pavla and calls on the authorities to take immediate action against the smear campaign aimed at silencing and discrediting her. 

Pavla Holcova is the founder and director of Investigace.cz, a news portal which focuses on investigative reports about cross-border organized crime and its impact on the Czech Republic. In October 2021, the portal published a report alleging that Babiš sent almost 400 million crowns through offshore accounts and bought real estate on the French Riviera using laundered money. Investigace.cz has continued to publish the first batch of data from the Pandora Papers leak and identify wrongdoings by Babiš. In a recent attempt to discredit these reports, the former PM has launched a smear campaign against Pavla and her publication.

Pavla took to Twitter to comment on the former PM's attempts to slander her. “He had the opportunity to comment on our text about the purchase of a castle in France. He did not do it. Nor did he write to us that there was an error in the text,” said the journalist, adding that she would take legal action.

The Pandora Papers is a leak of nearly 12 million documents incriminating some of the world’s most rich and powerful over hidden wealth, tax evasion and money laundering. The data was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), of which Investigace.cz is a member, for the largest ever global investigation of its kind. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Pavla Holcavaand her team at Investigate.cz and condemn the attempts made to discredit their work. We call on the authorities to take immediate action on the smear campaign launched at the journalist and call on the former premier to end his attacks on independent journalism. Members of the press must be free to report without fear of government retaliation.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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