Bosnia and Herzegovina: Seemo Alarmed: Republika Srpska

Vienna, 18 December 2019

Serbian investigative reporter Stevan Dojcinovic, the editor of the Crime and Corruption Investigations Network (KRIK), has been banned from entering the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), where he was planning to attend a UN conference on organized crime and corruption.

Dojcilovic returned to Serbia on 18 December in the morning after U.A.E. authorities prevented him from entering the country. He was held for 12 hours at the airport police station.

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condenms this ban by authorities in U.A.E ans is asking also Serbian authorties and Serbian Ministry for Foreign Affairs to react officially and support the journalist

Vienna, 18 November 2019

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is worried about attacks against N1 TV in Serbia.

Persons close to the leading Srpska Napredna Stranka (SNS), party in power in Serbia, and some pro-regime media are since days accusing N1 TV and its reporter Miodrag Sovilj of indirectly engendering the health of President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic by asking questions about the findings by the whistleblower Aleksandar Obradovic.

Obradovic published what he said were documents about some dubious arms trade deals at Serbia’s ammunition Krusik factory and the alleged involvement of Serbia’s Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic’s father.

Obradovic is at house arrest.

Vienna, 18 November 2019

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) strongly condemned today the shooting of the journalist Mario De Michele, which took place on 16 November.
De Michele, was shot by two unknown individuals while driving his car in Gricignano d’Aversa.

Three days prior to this attack, De Michele reportedly received threats and was attacked by two individuals who struck his car with an iron bar.

De Michele is editor of the Campania Notizie news website and is reporting about crime.

Vienna, 27 July 2019

An unidentified person shot on Šerif Marukić, in Moskovska ulica in Novi Pazar on Friday night. He was shot in the shoulder blade with one bullet, which stopped in close proximity to the heart. Marukić’s condition is stabilizing and he is able to communicate. He didn’t know who could shoot him. Šerif Marukić was director and owner of the local TV Jedinstvo. He sold his TV some months ago.

Vienna, 24 July 2019

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is surprised by methods used by the police in Skopje. Today, upon a previous invitation from the Ministry of Interior, journalist Ljupce Zlatev had a conversation with officials from the Department of Cyber-crime and Digital Forensics at the Ministry of Interior. According to Zlatev, they discussed about his previous posts on the online media where he works as an editor, related to suspected crimes by the Secretary General of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, Dragi Rashkovski.

During the conversation at the Ministry of Interior, Zlatev was asked to confirm whether he was the author of these reports as well as to reveal the source of the published information. Zlatev refused to provide information about his source.

The Constitution of Republic of North Macedonia guarantees the right to protect the source of information in the media and this right is enshrined in the Law for Media.

Vienna, 18 July 2019

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is suporting the last statementy by the Croatian Journalists Association (HND). HND said on Thursday it was appalled by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic’s “scandalous statements … unworthy of the office she holds, in which she shamefully instructs journalists how to do their job.”

“The Croatian president’s message to our colleagues, ‘Don’t follow foreign media, which work in I don’t know whose interest’, aside from accusing our foreign colleagues in a very ugly way and without any arguments, is trying to discipline journalists in Croatia in a very perfidious way to do their job by blindly believing only one side, representatives of the authorities, and not their colleagues, whom she virtually labelled as enemies of Croatia,” the HND said in a press release.

Journalists asked the president to comment on the criticisms in world’s media of her admission in an interview for Swiss public broadcaster SRF that Croatian police use violent pushback in dealing with migrants, the HND said, adding that after her statements received negative reactions at home and abroad, the president blamed the Swiss broadcaster.

“The president ended her statement with an instruction to journalists: ‘As Croatian media you must present the Croatian side of the story. Don’t follow foreign media which work in who knows whose interest.’ This reminds us of the 1990s when some journalists, apologists of the then authorities, publicly said: ‘If necessary, I will lie for Croatia,” the HND said.

Journalists’ job is not to work in the interest of any policy but in public interest, HND added.

The president also recently criticised media outlets for misinterpreting her statements.

Vienna, 13 July 2019

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned the grenade attack on the office building of Ukrainian TV channel 112 Ukraine in Kyiv.

In the night 12/13 July 2019 an unknown person shot at the premises of the channel with a grenade launcher. No one was injured.