Vienna, 14/05/2017
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) harshly condemned the recent statement of Czech President Milos Zeman (Miloš Zeman) on 14 May, in which he, during a verbal exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin, jokingly suggested journalists should be “liquidated”.
During an international conference in Beijing, China, President Zeman had a meeting with Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Following the event, and as the two heads of state walked together, Zeman commented to Putin in front of the media that there are “too many journalists” and that “we should liquidate them”.
SEEMO is condemning this abhorrent statement made by the political leader of a EU member state. SEEMO also asks the Czech President to issue an official apology following his clumsy, vulgar and highly offensive statement.
SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe and its press freedom work is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.