The Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (BDVZ) has announced there is “damage to the sensitive good that is the freedom of the press” in Germany, due to proceedings against journalists, Helmut Heinen, the association's president, announced Monday in Strasbourg.

The “series of preliminary proceedings launched of late against journalists for allegedly aiding and abetting the betrayal of secrets” points to a “highly questionable interpretation of freedom of the press,” Heinen is quoted as saying by Heise Online.

Heinen was opening the BDZV Congress 2007 in the European Parliament. He, along with Valdo Lehari, president of the European Newspaper Publisher Association and managing director of the southern German Daily Reutlinger Generalanzeiger, said the press should not be encroached upon by the state.

“We need clear legal rules that ensure that the publication of certain texts is no longer judged to be tantamount to aiding and abetting the betrayal of secrets,” Heinen said, according to Heise Online. Proposals that have been submitted to German legislators about telecommunications and retention of telecommunications data are “unacceptable,” he said.