Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Wuhan virus reporting

Yahoo – AFP, 28 December 2020 

Authoroties said former Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist
Zhang Zhan had spread "False remarks" online.

A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years Monday for her reporting from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak began, her lawyer said, almost a year after details of an "unknown viral pneumonia" surfaced in the central China city. 

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer who arrived at court in a wheelchair, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for allegedly "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" during her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak. 

Her live reports and essays were shared on social media platforms in February, grabbing the attention of authorities, who have punished eight virus whistleblowers so far as they curb criticism of the government's response to the outbreak. 

Beijing has congratulated itself for "extraordinary" success in controlling the virus inside its borders, with an economy on the rebound while much of the rest of the world stutters through painful lockdowns and surging caseloads a year on from the start of the pandemic in Wuhan. 

Controlling the information flow during an unprecedented global health crisis has been pivotal in allowing China's communist authorities to reframe the narrative in their favour, with President Xi Jinping being garlanded for his leadership by the country's ruling party. 

But that has come at a serious cost to anyone who has picked holes in the official storyline. 

The court said Zhang Zhan had spread "false remarks" online, according to one of her lawyers Zhang Keke, but the prosecution did not fully divulge its evidence in court. 

"We had no way of understanding what exactly Zhang Zhan was accused of doing," he added, describing it as "a speedy, rushed hearing." 

In return the defendant "didn't respond [to questions]... She refused to answer when the judge asked her to confirm her identity." 

The defendant's mother sobbed loudly as the verdict was read out, Ren Quanniu, another member of Zhang's defence team, told reporters who were barred from entering the court. 

Concerns are mounting over the health of 37-year-old Zhang, who began a hunger strike in June and has been force-fed via a nasal tube. 

Her legal team said her health was in decline and she suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain, and that she had appeared in court in a wheelchair. 

"She said when I visited her (last week): 'If they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food until the very end.'... She thinks she will die in prison," Ren said before the trial. 

"It's an extreme method of protesting against this society and this environment." 

China's communist authorities have a history of putting dissidents on trial in opaque courts between Christmas and New Year in an effort to minimise Western scrutiny. 

Example made

The sentencing comes just weeks before an international team of World Health Organization experts is expected to arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. 

Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government "didn't give people enough information, then simply locked down the city". 

"This is a great violation of human rights," she wrote. 

Rights groups and embassies have also drawn attention to her case, although diplomats from several countries were denied requests to monitor the hearing. 

"Zhang Zhan's case raises serious concerns about media freedom in China," the British embassy in Beijing said, urging "China to release all those detained for their reporting." 

Authorities "want to use her case as an example to scare off other dissidents from raising questions about the pandemic situation in Wuhan earlier this year", added Leo Lan, research and advocacy consultant at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders NGO. 

A United Nations official following the trial also expressed "deep concern" about the verdict. 

"We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release," the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a tweet. 

Zhang is the first of a group of four citizen journalists detained by authorities after reporting from Wuhan to face trial. 

Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three -- Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua -- were unsuccessful. 

Related Article:

"Corona 1", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - 

(>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)

Pope meets with embattled Malta PM despite plea to cancel

Yahoo – AFP, December 7, 2019

Pope Francis and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meet at the Vatican,
despite calls from academics for the pontiff to cancel the event (AFP Photo/Handout)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis held a private audience with outgoing Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Saturday, despite a plea to cancel the meeting over a scandal-hit investigation into the murder of a journalist.

The Argentine pontiff met Muscat and his family for an event the Vatican said had been scheduled months ago.

Muscat said Sunday he will step down in January after mass protests over a much-criticised probe into the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, which has also led to the resignations of his chief of staff and tourism minister.

Twenty-two Maltese academics sent the pope a letter, dated before Muscat's decision to step down, asking Francis to cancel a meeting they slammed as a "propaganda exercise" for the prime minister.

They said it would be "totally unwise, and pastorally undesirable" for the audience at the Vatican to take place, "given the serious and grave nature of the accusations and allegations which are plaguing" the government in Valletta.

Caruana Galizia, a mother of three described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", was blown up in a car bomb attack near her home in October 2017.

The reporter had become known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within the country's political and business elite, including among Muscat's inner circle.

Francis joined the cries of outrage across the globe over her slaying, sending a rare formal note of condolences, which are usually reserved for the deaths of prominent world leaders rather than private citizens.

Related Articles:

Malta PM to step down over slain reporter case: party sources

AFP established in tumult of 1944 Paris uprising

Yahoo – AFP, Juliette Baillot, August 12, 2019

The headquarters of Agence France-Presse remains in the same location in
central Paris, where it began in 1944 (AFP Photo/FRANCOIS GUILLOT)

Paris (AFP) - Agence France-Presse was created in the tumult of World War II by a band of journalists who stormed a pro-Nazi newsroom and took over as Paris was in revolt.

It was August 20, 1944, the day after Resistance leader Henri Rol-Tanguy had called Parisians into action against the Nazis who had occupied their city for four years.

Propaganda

The group of eight met at 7:00 am outside a dilapidated building near the stock exchange on Place de la Bourse, in the heart of Paris, where the French Information Office (OFI) was installed.

It had been the home of Havas, the world's first international news agency that was nationalised by the pro-Nazi regime in 1940 to set up the OFI.

Havas agency, here pictured in the 1930s, was the world's first international 

news agency and the precursor to AFP (AFP Photo)

"It had become an agency of German propaganda," one of the eight, Gilles Martinet, recalled in a radio interview in 2004.

The streets were empty on that summer Sunday, although a German tank was stationed close by, another of the group, Basile Tesselin, would write later in his memoirs.

There was the sound of gunfire as Parisians heeded the call to mobilise without waiting for French and Allied soldiers to arrive to free their city.

'Nobody move'

The group was soon joined by two policemen sent by the Resistance committee organising the Paris uprising. They were the only ones carrying weapons.

Together they stole up the stairs and burst into the newsroom. Ten heads darted up, astonished.

A reproduction of the first news dispatch of the Agence Française 

de Presse, which soon became the Agence France-Presse (AFP Photo)

"Nobody moves, nobody leaves," shouted Martial Bourgeon, the eldest in the group of mostly former Havas editors. "From now on you work for France, and not the Germans."

No one moved. A German censor was taken to the basement and locked in.

Bourgeon took charge and assigned roles. Martinet was made editor-in-chief.

The journalists immediately set to work, making contact with teams of underground newspapers such as Combat, Defense de la France, Le Parisien Libere and L'Humanite.

First dispatch

At 11:30 am the first story went out, announcing they were back in business.

"At the service of all free newspapers, Agence Française de Presse will ensure, with a strict objectivity that is the duty of a news organisation, the publishing of news that has been scrupulously checked and verified...," it said.

Journalists at the Havas news agency in Paris in the 1930s, before it was 

nationalised by the pro-Nazi German regime during World War II (AFP Photo)

The dispatch also paid hommage to other journalists missing or captured by the Nazi police.

"As fighting continues in the city, and where new freedom fighters fall, we salute all our comrades of the press who have disappeared, are imprisoned and deported, and in particular our 21 comrades who have fallen into the hands of the Gestapo."

Network grows

The first stories were printed on early stencil duplication Roneo machines and distributed by cyclists to newspapers and Resistance offices across the city.

Communication was established with journalists of the French government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle.

The news team grew fast. People slept at the office and raided the stocks of a nearby restaurant that had served as a canteen for German officers. On the menu: pate, foie gras and fine wines.

Parisians buy newspapers August 1944, after the city was freed from Nazi 

occupation in an uprising that also saw the establishment of AFP (AFP Photo)

Paris liberated

Over the next days reporters crossed the city on bicycles, watching for the arrival of the first French troops.

The scoop went to Tesselin, who had installed himself in the police headquarters with a phone line from the police chief's bathroom.

"General (Philippe) Leclerc entered Paris this morning, at 8:45, through the Porte d'Orleans amid indescribable enthusiasm," he reported on August 25.

"His troops were greeted by bursts of machine-gun fire from the rooftops, where militia and Germans dressed as civilians were posted."

A fierce shootout ensued and Germans were taken prisoner, Tesselin reported.

Just hours later, other dispatches announced that the Germans had surrendered.

The headquarters of Agence France-Presse remains in the same location in 

central Paris, where it began in 1944 (AFP Photo/FRANCOIS GUILLOT)

Paris was liberated.

Worldwide

In 1957, the French parliament adopted the AFP Statute guaranteeing the agency's editorial independence and financial autonomy.

Still headquartered at Place de la Bourse, it has expanded to cover more than 150 countries, becoming one of world's biggest news agencies alongside Reuters and Associated Press.

Russian journalist walks free as drugs charges dropped after outcry

Yahoo – AFP, Anna SMOLCHENKO, June 11, 2019

Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov walks free from a Moscow police
station after drug charges against him are dropped (AFP Photo/Vasily MAXIMOV)

Moscow (AFP) - A Russian investigative journalist walked free late Tuesday after authorities in Moscow dropped drug charges against him in a rare climbdown by law enforcement following a public outcry.

Ivan Golunov, a reporter with independent media outlet Meduza, walked out of the gates of a Moscow police building to cheers from waiting journalist and wept as he thanked supporters.

"This all happened so quickly and thank you for that, that you supported me. I think it somehow influenced the course of events," Golunov said, with tears running down his cheeks.

He said he hoped his case would change police practices and "such situations will not happen again to anyone in this country."

The journalist vowed to continue his investigative reporting for Meduza, which is based in EU-member Latvia to allow it to work more freely.

"I will be doing investigations because I have to justify the trust of those who supported me," he said.

The 36-year-old was detained last week on charges supporters said were trumped up to punish him for his investigative work and placed under house arrest.

The case sparked outrage in Russia and abroad over what critics slammed as the impunity and corruption of law enforcement agencies.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said Golunov was to be released from house arrest and charges against him lifted.

Kolokoltsev also said he would ask President Vladimir Putin to sack the head of a Moscow police department and another senior official in charge of drug control in the capital.

The EU welcomed the news, with a European Commission spokesperson calling it a "positive outcome", but demanding a probe into reports police beat Golunov in detention.

Journalists and activists reacted with joy.

The arrest triggered a public outcry, and Russia's most respected newspapers on 

Monday publishing headlines reading "I am (we are) Ivan Golunov" (AFP Photo/

Yuri KADOBNOV)

"This is victory... I'm crying," said Meduza editor-in-chief Ivan Kolpakov.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny called it "an inspiring and motivating example of what simple solidarity... can achieve".

Golunov's Meduza colleague Ilya Zhegulev told AFP: "An unbelievable event has happened."

"Even the most optimistic didn't believe this would happen, and happen so quickly."

Arrest sparked outrage

Golunov had been charged with attempting to deal a "large amount" of drugs and was placed under house arrest at the weekend, facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The reporter said he was beaten in detention. His lawyers alleged drugs had been planted on him to justify his arrest.

Moscow police admitted photographs published on its website that they said showed drug paraphernalia found at the crime scene were not taken at Golunov's flat.

Golunov's lawyer Sergei Badamshin said Golunov's fingerprints were not found on any of the items police said they seized during a search of his flat.

The officers who arrested Golunov last week have been suspended pending an investigation, Kolokoltsev said.

"I believe that irrespective of any citizen's professional activities his rights should always be protected," the minister added.

After Golunov's arrest, hundreds protested outside a court and the Moscow police headquarters.

Supporters had organised a march to happen in Moscow for Wednesday to press for his freedom. But Golunov as he walked free said he would prefer supporters spend time with "loved ones and family."

Journalists and activists reacted with joy to Gulonov's release (AFP Photo/

Vasily MAXIMOV)

'We are Ivan Golunov'

The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders hailed what it called the "historic mobilisation of the Russian civil society".

"Now those who tried to set him up must be judged," the NGO wrote on Twitter.

"We are happy that the authorities listened to society," the editorial team of Meduza and several other prominent journalists said in a statement. "This is just the beginning, a lot of work lies ahead."

As part of an unprecedented campaign of solidarity, major newspapers Kommersant, Vedomosti and RBK published the same front page on Monday with headline "I am/we are Ivan Golunov" in giant letters.

Even some staunchly pro-Kremlin television journalists such as RT chief editor Margarita Simonyan expressed support for the independent reporter.

Golunov has investigated everything from Russia's shady funeral industry to corruption at Moscow city hall.

His release came a month after days of protests forced authorities to backtrack over plans to build a controversial new cathedral in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

During his two decades in power, Putin has silenced most of his critics and sought to muzzle the media.

The few opposition and independent media that still operate in Russia are under huge pressure, Kremlin critics say.

The Meduza website is based in Latvia to circumvent censorship, but some of its journalists like Golunov live in Russia.

Royal baby announcement breaks with tradition

Yahoo – AFP, Dario THUBURN, May 6, 2019

In a modern twist, the royal birth was also announced on Instagram, from
the royal couple's official account (AFP Photo/HO)

London (AFP) - Tradition-defying royal couple Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, broke with custom yet again on Monday with the announcement of the birth of their first child.

News of the birth was released on Instagram -- a first in royal history -- in a post on their @sussexroyal account with the couple's crest and the simple phrase: "It's a BOY!"

The post received more than 750,000 likes in under an hour.

The account was only launched in April, breaking a world record by reaching a million followers in under six hours.

Harry has battled to protect his privacy for years.

The 34-year-old's relationship with the media has been fraught ever since the death of his mother Diana in a car crash in Paris 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.

The couple had made it clear last month that they wanted the birth kept private -- in contrast to Harry's brother Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge.

Their three children were all delivered in the private wing of St Mary's Hospital in London and shown off to the world's media and royal fans a short time later.

Instead, the new baby will only be seen later this week to a media pool that will share the images worldwide.

Wish to 'celebrate privately'

"Their Royal Highnesses have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private," Buckingham Palace said in a statement in April.

"The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family," it said.

The circumstances of Monday's announcement demonstrated the couple's wish to retain their privacy as much as possible.

Royal officials announced on Monday afternoon that Meghan had gone into labour in the early hours of that morning.

Only half an hour later, a royal statement announced that Meghan had in fact given birth at 5:26am (0426 GMT).

George and Sir John

The announcement was followed up by a video statement by a beaming Harry, standing in front of a stable in Windsor -- a town outside London where the couple now live on the grounds of its famous castle.

The names of two black horses behind him were clearly visible -- George and Sir John, prompting some media to speculate the child's name might be John, who would be cousin to William and Kate's first son George.

"This little thing is absolutely to die for. So I am just over the moon," Harry said, calling the birth "the most amazing experience I can ever possibly imagine".

Harry said the announcement of the name was the "next bit".

"I think we will be seeing you guys in probably two days' time as planned as a family to be able to share it with you guys and so everyone can see the baby," he said.

Neither Harry nor royal officials specified where the birth took place -- at their residence at Frogmore Cottage or in a nearby hospital.

Some British media earlier reported that the couple wanted a home birth, which would re-connect with older tradition.

Queen Elizabeth had all four of her children, including Harry's father Prince Charles, in a royal palace.

After reporter's murder, govt critic tipped to win Slovak poll

Yahoo – AFP, by Laszlo Juhasz with Anna Maria Jakubek in Warsaw, 16 March 2019

Presidential candidate Zuzana Caputova, seen here casting her vote, has
campaigned under the slogan: "Stand up against evil, together we can do it"

Slovaks voted Saturday in round one of a ballot that could usher in their first female president, a vocal government critic who emerged as the clear favourite after an investigative journalist's murder dealt a blow to the political establishment.

Zuzana Caputova, 45, was among tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets after the killing, which shocked the nation and raised fears about media freedom and political corruption.

They were the largest anti-government protests since communist times in the central European country of 5.4 million people, which spent decades behind the Iron Curtain before joining the European Union, the eurozone and NATO.

Opinion polls give the environmental lawyer a double-digit lead over European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, a 52-year-old career diplomat backed by the ruling Smer-SD party, in the race for the largely ceremonial post.

"Caputova attracts those who abhor corruption and are dissatisfied with what they see as an increasingly... self-dealing government," said Kevin Deegan-Krause, a central Europe expert at Wayne State University.

"Sefcovic appeals to those with a certain satisfaction with the progress of a country which, by many indicators, has not done at all badly over the last decade."

Voters were chosing one of 13 candidates vying for the top job

Neither candidate is on track for an outright victory and a run-off vote is expected on March 30.

The president ratifies international treaties, appoints top judges, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can also veto laws passed by parliament.

Caputova, a deputy head of the non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party, cast her ballot in her southern city of Pezinok.

"Slovakia is at a crossroads in terms of regaining the public's trust," she said, flanked by her daughters and partner.

'Symbol of change'

Journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee were gunned down in February 2018 just as he was about to publish a story on alleged ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia.

The double murder and Kuciak's last explosive report, published posthumously, plunged the country into crisis.

Jan Kuciak was probing political corruption when he was gunned down with 

his fiancee his Martina Kusnirova in February 2018

Then prime minister Robert Fico was forced to resign but remains the leader of the populist-left Smer-SD and is a close ally of current premier Peter Pellegrini.

Four people were charged with the killings.

On Thursday, prosecutors said they had also charged multi-millionaire businessman Marian Kocner with ordering the murder of Kuciak, who had been investigating his business activities at the time.

Kocner is believed to have ties to Smer-SD.

"With this announcement, the authorities may have wanted to show just how effectively the state functions so it could help Sefcovic gain some points," Bratislava-based analyst Grigorij Meseznikov told AFP.

"On the other hand, this could also be a vindication for Caputova, as she is the symbol of change."

The election comes after last year's shock murder of an investigative journalist
probing high-level corruption

Caputova won a vote from outgoing President Andrej Kiska on Saturday. "It is extremely important to continue this fight for a decent and fair Slovakia," he told reporters.

She has appealed to voters tired of the country's main political players and vowed to restore public trust in the state, running on a slogan of: "Stand up to evil".

Sports diplomacy

On the streets of Bratislava, several voters said they were impressed by her fresh approach.

Project manager Nora Bajnokova, 33, said she backed Caputova because "she is a woman, a mother, a lawyer and not involved in active politics", while 31-year-old voter Ivan Jankovic called her "courageous and open-minded".

But for 41-year-old security guard Oto, who did not give his last name, only Sefcovic was "serious" enough to be president material.

Presidential candidate Maros Sefcovic is known for his toothy smile and love of sports

"Sefcovic is an experienced multilingual diplomat who can immediately represent Slovakia abroad," said another voter, Milan Perunko, 54.

Campaigning on the slogan "Always for Slovakia", Sefcovic has promised greater social benefits for the elderly and young families.

Pensioner Irena, 69, said she voted for him so her sons and grandchildren can "live in a prosperous country."

A European Commission vice-president since 2014, Sefcovic is known for his passion for sports.

After voting, he told reporters he would "have lunch with my family and in the afternoon, I want to do some physical activity".

Eleven other candidates are vying for the job, including Supreme Court judge Stefan Harabin, far-right MP Marian Kotleba and ethnic Hungarian politician Bela Bugar.

Slovaks are voting in round one of a ballot that could usher in their first female president, a vocal government critic who emerged as the clear favourite after an investigative journalist's murder dealt a blow to the political establishmenthttps://t.co/wfJAsbugXF

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 16 maart 2019

'I select on penis length,' says female coach of German men's team

Yahoo – AFP, 17 January 2019

When asked whether she sounds an alarm on entering the locker room to ensure her male players cover up, BV Cloppenburg female coach Imke Wuebbenhorst replied that she's a "professional" and bases her selections on "penis length" (AFP Photo/Odd ANDERSEN)

Berlin (AFP) - The first woman to coach a men's team in one of Germany's top five leagues is tackling sexism by sarcastically suggesting her selections are based on penis lengths.

Former Germany women's Under-20 midfielder Imke Wuebbenhorst was last month appointed head coach of the men's team at BV Cloppenburg, who currently sit bottom of the Lower Saxony Oberliga in the fifth tier of German football.

When German newspaper Welt jokingly asked whether she sounds an alarm on entering the dressing room, to ensure her players cover themselves up, the tough-talking blonde gave a cutting answer.

"Of course not, I am a professional -- I base my selections on penis lengths," the 30-year-old replied sarcastically.

Having hung up her boots in 2016 after a career which saw Wuebbenhorst twice win the European title with Germany's Under-19 team and played in the women's Bundesliga for Hamburg, she ended up coaching the women's side in Cloppenburg after playing for the team.

She refuses to see herself as a pioneer for other women.

"The topic bounces off me. I want to be judged on performances, not on whether I'm a woman or a man," she told Cloppenburg's website.

"I don't have a problem commanding authority -- I'm a teacher."

The presence of a female head coach in Germany's lower leagues has attracted plenty of media attention, but Wuebbenhorst is focused solely on the task in hand.

"We only have 12 games left to stay in the league. It's going to be a tough job," she said.

"Several of my peers have described my new task as a suicide mission, and asked me why I do such a thing, but other clubs are not exactly lining up for me.

"The only fear I have is that a relegation would be blamed on the fact that I am a woman."

MEPs can keep their expenses secret, European Court of Justice rules

DutchNews, September 25, 2018

MEPs do not have to publish details of how they spend their monthly expenses allowance of €4,300 a month because it would be in breach of their privacy, the European Court of Justice said on Tuesday. 

Journalists from all 28 EU member countries, including Dutch public broadcaster NOS, had gone to court in an effort to have MEPs’ expenses made public. MEPs are given the money, which is supposed to fund a home office, every month in addition to their salary of €8,848. 

The European court upheld several earlier votes by the European parliament not to open expenses to public scrutiny, citing privacy rules. In addition, redacting bills and invoices to remove personal information would, the court said, be an ‘excessive administrative burden’ given the volume of documents. 

Dutch Socialist MEP Dennis de Jong said the court’s decision is ‘a slap in the face’ for all Europeans. ‘MEPs are representatives of the people and they should show what they spend the money on,’ he said. 

Lobby group Transparency International said it is ‘enormously disappointed’ in the court’s decision. 

In 2017,  journalists also made a public appeal for MEPs to volunteer information about their expenses to the public. In the Netherlands, the VVD, the fundamentalist Christian SGP and the anti-EU PVV refused to comply. 

In addition to their salary and standard expenses package, MEPs have their travel expenses between Brussels and Strasbourg paid, they get a car allowance of 50 cents a kilometre and an extra €306 for every day they attend official meetings – totalling some 168 meetings a year.

EU, US police cripple Islamic State media mouthpieces

Yahoo – AFP, Jo Biddle, April 27, 2018

The Islamic State group, whose flags are pictured here in northern Iraq, has lost
large swathes of its territory since a US-led alliance started an offensive in 2014

The Hague (AFP) - European and US police forces have struck at the heart of Islamic State's propaganda machine, seizing servers and "punching a hole" in its ability to spread its radical jihadist message online.

The transatlantic takedown was spread over eight countries and was coordinated by the EU's police agency in "a major operation over a two-year period", the head of Europol, Rob Wainwright, told AFP on Friday.

Wednesday and Thursday's operation was the latest in a campaign targeting in particular the Amaq news agency used by IS to broadcast claims of attacks and spread its message of jihad.

"With this takedown action, targeting major IS-branded media outlets like Amaq, but also al-Bayan radio, Halumu and Nasher news, IS's capability to broadcast and publicise terrorist material has been compromised," Europol said in a statement.

The "simultaneous multinational takedown" was coordinated by Europol from its headquarters in The Hague, and led by the Belgian federal prosecutor.

"Dozens and dozens" of police fanned out in their countries, seizing servers in the Netherlands, Canada and the United States as well as in Bulgaria, France and Romania.

'Technically challenging'

The goal was "to destabilise this apparatus by seizing and dismantling servers used to diffuse IS propaganda and to identify and arrest its administrators," the Belgian prosecutor said in a statement.

"With this groundbreaking operation we have punched a big hole in the capability of IS to spread propaganda online and radicalise young people in Europe," Wainwright said.

Britain's Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit was also involved in identifying "top-level domain registrars abused by IS", and the Bulgarian interior ministry confirmed "access was blocked to four servers, used for disseminating information" by Amaq in its country.

"It was so technically challenging that we were only really able to do it because of our experience in major cybercrime takedowns," Wainwright told AFP.

"We basically ran the cyber playbook against IS," he said, adding police forces around the world had spent years gathering intelligence to locate the servers being used by the jihadists.

'Squeezed' in battle and online

While a US-led international coalition has been combatting IS on the battlefields of Iraq and Syria taking back territory it had seized in 2014, nations have also warned that a multi-pronged effort was needed, including choking off funding and its online access.

"They've been squeezed on the battlefield, and now they've been really badly squeezed, badly hit, on the online platform as well," said Wainwright.

IS used Amaq to claim "every major attack since 2015 in Europe", he said, including the deadly assaults in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and Berlin.

"The technical infrastructure which allows it to put these terrible propaganda videos and messages out has been knocked offline," Wainwright told AFP, speaking on his last day as Europol chief.

But Europol's investigation is still ongoing, and arrests could follow.

At its height, the IS media portfolio included smartphone apps for children, websites, and a glossy magazine, full of post-apocalyptic prophesies and articles declaring the "caliphate" was the only legitimate and viable home for Muslims.

But as IS's structure has crumbled, its media empire has waned too. Al-Bayan radio, which once broadcast on frequency mode and offered a wide range of statements, news and talks in several languages, had long moved online and reduced its activities.

On Friday, however, Nasher news -- the main Telegram account on which Amaq statements are posted in the region -- remained active, claiming jihadist fighters had damaged three Syrian army vehicles in fighting in southern Damascus.

"We are realistic in recognising that there still might be a retained possibility of re-establishing the network," Wainwright said, highlighting that this week's action was the third in a series of such takedowns.

"But we're getting stronger every time, and narrowing the space for them to re-create their online presence."