Vienna, 30 April 2018
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is worried about developments against media in Cyprus.
In January 2018 a Cypriot court had forbidden daily newspaper Politis from publishing emails that were hacked from the personal account of a suspended state attorney, who was head of extradition requests. The emails had been made public by a Russian website.
The suspended state attorney requested steps against Politis Politis and preventing the newspaper publishing or using content from the hacked emails. Additional she filed a lawsuit against the newspaper seeking maximum €2 million in damages. The suit claims the newspaper violated her right to privacy.
In the beginning of 2018 the police have been questioning several journalists in Cyprus over the leaked emails: 5 journalists from the newspaper Politis, 2 journalists from the newspaper Kathimerini, 2 journalists from the Sigma TV, 2 journalists from the newspaper Phileleftheros, and one journalist from the newspaper Alithia.