The public broadcaster NDR is prohibiting MEP Petr Bystron from distributing an NDR documentary about the journalists’ network OCCRP. In the film, OCCRP head Drew Sullivan boasts of having “toppled five or six governments.” NDR reporters were also able to uncover years of covert U.S. funding of the network. The broadcast of the film was halted in advance. In December 2024, the French investigative platform Mediapart made the matter public. Bystron published a leak of the explosive documentary, and NDR is now demanding he cease and desist, under threat of a €50,000 fine.
On this, ESN Group MEP Petr Bystron states:
“A public broadcaster that pulls a documentary is engaging in censorship. If the head of OCCRP openly says they’re responsible for the fall of ‘five or six governments,’ then the public must be allowed to see those statements. The NDR investigation also shows that OCCRP was secretly funded from the U.S. for decades. After the EU elections, a further €600,000 flowed to OCCRP, while the network fought conservative candidates and also damaged my candidacy. The fact that NDR now wants to intimidate me with a cease-and-desist shows how much they care about hiding Sullivan’s quotes. The angry reactions from OCCRP and Sullivan on X, including his justifications in response to reports by Berliner Zeitung and his comment about Charlie Kirk, speak volumes.”
