9/5/2018: MONTENEGRO: ATTACK ON OLIVERA LAKIC

Vienna, 9 May 2018

European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) strongly condemn the attack on Vjiesti investigative journalist Olivera Lakić in Montenegro. This is the second attack in just over a month.

“There is a history of physical assaults on journalists in Montenegro, and this fact is unaccaptable. Impunity must stop, now,” says Lutz Kinkel, Managing Director of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF). “We demand of the Montenegrin administration a swift and thorough investigation of the assault on journalist Olivera Lakić. And we demand the same treatment of all the other attacks that are so far unresolved and unpunished.”

Olivera Lakić, who works for Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti, was shot and injured in the leg outside her home in the capital Podgorica. She was taken to hospital and her injury is not life-threatening. This is the second attack in just over a month. On 1 April, 2018, TV Vijesti journalist Sead Sakinović found a car being bombed just outside his house. He was not injured.

“This is not the first attack on Olivera Lakić and it’s one of many attacks on Vijesti staff members since the paper was founded. I am very alarmed about the developments in Montenegro”, says Oliver Vujović, Secretary General of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), which protects press freedom by helping journalists and media outlets in South East Europe. “Olivera is not only a great investigative journalist, she is also a friend of SEEMO, and I wish her all the best. After all that’s happened in Montenegro SEEMO will monitor all developments strongly and also organise an official visit to the country”, he added.

A wave of bombings and killings – believed to be connected to drug deals and some other criminal activities – has swept across Montenegro in recent weeks and years.

Vienna, 8 May 2018

The Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is shoked to learn that journalist Olivera Lakic was shot in the leg in front of the building where she lives in Podgorica, Montenegro. She is now in a hospital and according to doctors her life is not in danger.

As SEEMO was informed many of the stories she wrote about crime have not been investigated by the police.

This was not the first time Lakic was attacked. She was assaulted at the same place several years ago after receiving threats following her investigative reports. On 1 April a bomb exploded near the house of Lakić’s Vijesti colleague, Saed Sadikovic, in Bijelo Polje

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.

Vienna, 26/04/2018

We, the undersigned freedom of expression and human rights organizations, strongly condemn last night’s guilty verdicts for staff and journalists of Cumhuriyet newspaper and note the harsh sentences for the defendants. The verdict further demonstrates that Turkey’s justice system and the rule of law is failing: this was a trial where the “crime” was journalism and the only “evidence” was journalistic activities.

While three Cumhuriyet staff were acquitted, all the remaining journalists and executives were handed sentences of between two years, six months and eight years, one month. Time already served in pretrial detention will likely be taken into consideration, however all will still have jail terms to serve, and those with the harshest sentences would still have to serve approximately five years. Travel bans have been placed on all defendants, barring the three that were acquitted, in a further attempt to silence them in the international arena.

Several of our organizations have been present to monitor and record the proceedings since the first hearing in July 2017. The political nature of the trial was clear from the outset and continued throughout the trial. The initial indictment charged the defendants with a mixture of terrorism and employment-related offenses. However, the evidence presented did not stand the test of proof beyond reasonable doubt of internationally recognizable crimes. The prosecution presented alleged changes to the editorial policy of the paper and the content of articles as “evidence” of support for armed terrorist groups. Furthermore, despite 17 months of proceedings, no credible evidence was produced by the prosecution during the trial.

The indictment, the pre-trial detention and the trial proceedings violated the human rights of the defendants, including the right to freedom of expression, the right to liberty and security and the right to a fair trial. Furthermore, the symbolic nature of this trial against Turkey’s most prominent opposition newspaper undoubtedly has a chilling effect on the right to free expression much more broadly in Turkey and restricts the rights of the population to access information and diverse views.

“We observed violations of the right to a fair trial throughout the hearings. Despite the defence lawyers’ arguing that the basic requirements for a fair trial, such as an evidence-based indictment, were lacking, these arbitrary sentences were handed down in order to attempt to intimidate one of the last remaining bastions of the independent press in Turkey”, International Press Institute (IPI) Turkey Advocacy Coordinator Caroline Stockford said.

The defence team repeatedly relied on the rights enshrined in the Turkish Constitution, as well as the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, demonstrating the importance of European human rights law to Turkey’s domestic legal system.

“‘Journalism is not a crime’ was declared again and again by the defendants and their lawyers and yet, despite the accusations containing no element of crime, the defendants served a collective total of 9.5 years in pretrial detention, and were found guilty at the end of an unfair trial”, Jennifer Clement, president of PEN International, said.

Speedy rulings on legal cases of Turkish journalists, which include those of Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu and of staff journalist Ahmet Şık cases, pending before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) are crucial. This is not only to redress the rights violations of the many journalists still languishing in detention, but also to defend the independence and impartiality of the judiciary itself in Turkey. The Cumhuriyet case and other prominent trials against journalists clearly demonstrate that the rule of law is totally compromised in Turkey and that there is little hope for fair or speedy domestic judicial recourse for any defendant.

“The short three hours of deliberation by the judicial panel did not give the impression that the case was taken seriously. The 17 months during which there have been seven hearings of this utterly groundless trial have damaged independent journalism in Turkey at a time when over 90 percent of the media is under the sway of the administration”, Nora Wehofsits, advocacy officer with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), said.

The guilty verdicts against the Cumhuriyet journalists and executives must be overturned and the persecution of all other journalists and others facing criminal charges merely for doing their job and peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression must be stopped. The authorities must immediately lift the state of emergency and return to the rule of law. The independence of the Turkish courts must be reinstated, enabling it to act as a check on the government, and hold it accountable for the serious human rights violations it has committed and continues to commit.

In light of the apparent breakdown of the rule of law and the fact that Turkish courts are evidently unable to deliver justice, we also call on the ECtHR to fulfil its role as the ultimate guardian of human rights in Europe, and to rule swiftly on the free expression cases currently pending before it and provide an effective remedy for the severe human rights violations taking place in Turkey.

Furthermore, we call on the institutions of the Council of Europe and its member states to remind Turkey of its international obligation to respect and protect human rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial, and to give appropriate priority to these issues in their relations with Turkey, both in bilateral and multilateral forums. In addition, the Council of Europe’s member states should provide adequate support to the ECtHR.

We also call on the European and International media to continue to support their Turkish colleagues and to give space to dissenting voices who are repressed in Turkey.

International Press Institute (IPI)
ARTICLE 19
PEN International
Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Freedom House
Index on Censorship
Initiative for Freedom of Expression – Turkey
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
Norwegian PEN
P24 Platform for Independent Journalism
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Amnesty International
Articolo 21
Association of European Journalists (AEJ)
English PEN
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Global Editors Network
Italian Press Federation
PEN Belgium-Flanders
PEN Centre Germany
PEN Netherlands
Research Institute on Turkey

Vienna, 26 April 2018

Your Excellency Ambassador,

cc. Deputy Ambassador,

We, the undersigned, are writing to you ahead of your COREPER discussion on the proposed Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market.

We are deeply concerned that the text proposed by the Bulgarian Presidency in no way reflects a balanced compromise, whether on substance or from the perspective of the many legitimate concerns that have been raised. Instead, it represents a major threat to the freedoms of European citizens and businesses and promises to severely harm Europe’s openness, competitiveness, innovation, science, research and education.

A broad spectrum of European stakeholders and experts, including academics, educators, NGOs representing human rights and media freedom, software developers and startups have repeatedly warned about the damage that the proposals would cause. However, these have been largely dismissed in rushed discussions taking place without national experts being present. This rushed processes is all the more surprising when the European Parliament has already announced it would require more time (until June) to reach a position and is clearly adopting a more cautious approach.

If no further thought is put in the discussion, the result will be a huge gap between stated intentions and the damage that the text will actually achieve if the actual language on the table remains:

• Article 13 (user uploads) creates a liability regime for a vast area of online platforms that negates the E-commerce Directive, against the stated will of many Member States, and without any proper assessment of its impact. It creates a new notice and takedown regime that does not require a notice. It mandates the use of filtering technologies across the board.
• Article 11 (press publisher’s right) only contemplates creating a publisher rights despite the many voices opposing it and highlighting it flaws, despite the opposition of many Member States and despite such Member States proposing several alternatives including a “presumption of transfer”.
• Article 3 (text and data mining) cannot be limited in terms of scope of beneficiaries or purposes if the EU wants to be at the forefront of innovations such as artificial intelligence. It can also not become a voluntary provision if we want to leverage the wealth of expertise of the EU’s research community across borders.
• Articles 4 to 9 must create an environment that enables educators, researchers, students and cultural heritage professionals to embrace the digital environment and be able to preserve, create and share knowledge and European culture. It must be clearly stated that the proposed exceptions in these Articles cannot be overridden by contractual terms or technological protection measures.
• • The interaction of these various articles has not even been the subject of a single discussion. The filters of Article 13 will cover the snippets of Article 11 whilst the limitations of Article 3 will be amplified by the rights created through Article 11, yet none of these aspects have even been assessed.

With so many legal uncertainties and collateral damages still present, this legislation is currently destined to become nightmare when it will have to be transposed into national legislation and face the test of its legality in terms of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Bern Convention.

We hence strongly encourage you to adopt a decision-making process that is evidence based, focussed on producing copyright rules that are fit for purpose and on avoiding unintended, damaging side effects.

Yours sincerely,

EUROPE

1. Access Info Europe

2. Allied for Startups

3. Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER)

4. Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties)

5. Copyright for Creativity (C4C)

6. Create Refresh Campaign

7. DIGITALEUROPE

8. EDiMA

9. European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA)

10. European Digital Learning Network (DLEARN)

11. European Digital Rights (EDRi)

12. European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroISPA)

13. European Network for Copyright in Support of Education and Science (ENCES)

14. European University Association (EUA)

15. Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU

16. Lifelong Learning Platform

17. Public Libraries 2020 (PL2020)

18. Science Europe

19. South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)

20. SPARC Europe

AUSTRIA

21. Freischreiber Österreich

22. Internet Service Providers Austria (ISPA Austria)

BELGIUM

23. Net Users’ Rights Protection Association (NURPA)

BULGARIA

24. BESCO – Bulgarian Startup Association

25. BlueLink Foundation

26. Bulgarian Association of Independent Artists and Animators (BAICAA)

27. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

28. Bulgarian Library and Information Association (BLIA)

29. Creative Commons Bulgaria

30. DIBLA

31. Digital Republic

32. Hamalogika

33. Init Lab

34. ISOC Bulgaria

35. LawsBG

36. Obshtestvo.bg

37. Open Project Foundation

38. PHOTO Forum

39. Wikimedians of Bulgaria

CROATIA

40. Code for Croatia

CYPRUS

41. Startup Cyprus

CZECH REPUBLIC

42. Alliance pro otevrene vzdelavani (Alliance for Open Education)

43. Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic

44. Czech Fintech Association

45. Ecumenical Academy

46. EDUin

DENMARK

47. Danish Association of Independent Internet Media (Prauda) ESTONIA

48. Wikimedia Eesti

FINLAND

49. Creative Commons Finland

50. Open Knowledge Finland

51. Wikimedia Suomi

FRANCE

52. Abilian

53. Alliance Libre

54. April

55. Aquinetic

56. Conseil National du Logiciel Libre (CNLL)

57. France Digitale

58. l’ASIC

59. Ploss Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (PLOSS-RA)

60. Renaissance Numérique

61. Syntec Numérique

62. Tech in France

63. Wikimédia France

GERMANY

64. Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Medieneinrichtungen an Hochschulen e.V. (AMH)

65. Bundesverband Deutsche Startups

66. Deutscher Bibliotheksverband e.V. (dbv)

67. eco – Association of the Internet Industry

68. Factory Berlin

69. Initiative gegen ein Leistungsschutzrecht (IGEL)

70. Jade Hochschule Wilhelmshaven/Oldenburg/Elsfleth

71. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

72. Landesbibliothekszentrum Rheinland-Pfalz

73. Silicon Allee

74. Staatsbibliothek Bamberg

75. Ubermetrics Technologies

76. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg)

77. University Library of Kaiserslautern (Technische Universität Kaiserslautern)

78. Verein Deutscher Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare e.V. (VDB)

79. ZB MED – Information Centre for Life Sciences

GREECE

80. Greek Free Open Source Software Society (GFOSS)

HUNGARY

81. Hungarian Civil Liberties Union

82. ICT Association of Hungary – IVSZ

83. K-Monitor

IRELAND

84. Technology Ireland

ITALY

85. Hermes Center for Transparency and Digital Human Rights

86. Istituto Italiano per la Privacy e la Valorizzazione dei Dati

87. Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD)

88. National Online Printing Association (ANSO)

LATVIA

89. Startin.LV (Latvian Startup Association)

90. Wikimedians of Latvia User Group

LITHUANIA

91. Aresi Labs

LUXEMBOURG

92. Frënn vun der Ënn

MALTA

93. Commonwealth Centre for Connected Learning

NETHERLANDS

94. Dutch Association of Public Libraries (VOB)

95. Kennisland

POLAND

96. Centrum Cyfrowe

97. Coalition for Open Education (KOED)

98. Creative Commons Polska

99. Elektroniczna BIBlioteka (EBIB Association)

100. ePaństwo Foundation

101. Fundacja Szkoła z Klasą (School with Class Foundation)

102. Modern Poland Foundation

103. Ośrodek Edukacji Informatycznej i Zastosowań Komputerów w Warszawie (OEIiZK)

104. Panoptykon Foundation

105. Startup Poland

106. ZIPSEE

PORTUGAL

107. Associação D3 – Defesa dos Direitos Digitais (D3)

108. Associação Ensino Livre

109. Associação Nacional para o Software Livre (ANSOL)

110. Associação para a Promoção e Desenvolvimento da Sociedade da Informação (APDSI)

ROMANIA

111. ActiveWatch

112. APADOR-CH (Romanian Helsinki Committee)

113. Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI)

114. Association of Producers and Dealers of IT&C equipment (APDETIC)

115. Center for Public Innovation

116. Digital Citizens Romania

117. Kosson.ro Initiative

118. Mediawise Society

119. National Association of Public Librarians and Libraries in Romania (ANBPR)

SLOVAKIA

120. Creative Commons Slovakia

121. Slovak Alliance for Innovation Economy (SAPIE)

SLOVENIA

122. Digitas Institute

123. Forum za digitalno družbo (Digital Society Forum)

SPAIN

124. Asociación de Internautas

125. Asociación Española de Startups (Spanish Startup Association)

126. MaadiX

127. Sugus

128. Xnet

SWEDEN

129. Wikimedia Sverige

UK

130. Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance (LACA)

131. Open Rights Group (ORG)

132. techUK

GLOBAL

133. ARTICLE 19

134. Association for Progressive Communications (APC)

135. Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)

136. COMMUNIA Association

137. Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA)

138. Copy-Me

139. Creative Commons

140. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

141. Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL)

142. Index on Censorship

143. International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)

144. Media and Learning Association (MEDEA)

145. Open Knowledge International (OKI)

146. OpenMedia

147. Software Heritage

The signatories below represent human and digital rights organisations, media freedom organisations, publishers, journalists, libraries, scientific and research institutions, educational institutions including universities, creator representatives, consumers, software developers, start-ups, technology businesses and Internet service providers.

Vienna, 15/04/2018

The Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) calls authorities in Turkey to drop all charges in the case against journalist Can Dundar.

Can Dundar (Can Dündar) born 1961, is a Turkish journalist, columnist and editor-in-chief of critical center-left Cumhuriyet daily until August 2016, after he stepped down from his position of editor-in-chief. Since June 2016 he has lived in Germany in exile. He was arrested in November 2015 after his newspaper published footage showing the Turkish National Intelligence Organization MİT sending weapons to Syrian Islamists. After 92 days in prison, Dundar was released on 26 February 2016 after a decision by Supreme Court. On 6 May 2016, there was an assassination attempt on Dundar in front of a court in Turkey. Dündar was unhurt, but another person suffered an injury. Dündar moved to Germany in June 2016.

First arrest warrant was issued on 31 October 2016 and on 2 April 2018 a court in Istanbul issued a new arrest warrant and a red notice.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe.

Vienna, 13/04/2018

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), is extremely concerned about a decision by a District Court in Moscow to block messaging and social networking application Telegram in Russia.

One day earlier on 12 April the State Duma adopted amendments to the Law on Information, Information Technologies and Protection of Information which is a new step against freedom of information in Russia. According to this decision, social media among other things must prevent and remove publication of content that aims revealing state and any other secrets protected by law and also remove any unverified publicly significant information presented as reliable information upon authorities’ demand.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe

Vienna, 12 April 2018

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is very concerned about recent developments in Hungary.

According to information from Hungary, the independent conservative newspaper Magyar Nemzet, its online version https://mno.hu/ and Lánchíd Rádió Kft. have shut down.

The daily Magyar Nemzet was 80 years on the market. Lánchíd Rádió Kft. was the last independent private national radio station .

At the same time a pro-government magazine published a list of names of hundreds of prime minister Viktor Orban critics, including journalists, academics, including academics who teach at the Central European University (CEU) and civil rights activists, who are according to this magazine paid by US-Hungarian billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros and a part of Soros’ Hungarian network. The list included staff of investigative platform Direkt36, which reported on corruption cases involving individuals close to the leading party.

“This is a new step against democracy. Diversity and pluralism are important for democracy”, said Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe.

Vienna, 05/04/2018

In Montenegro, police are investigating an explosion that destroyed a hired car parked outside the home of TV journalist Sead Sakinović. Two men have been arrested. ECPMF spoke to the journalist.

“This is a worrying development in Montenegro, an EU candidate country where the protection of journalists and their right to broadcast critical stories should be taken seriously. We urge the authorities to carry out a swift and thorough investigation,“ says ECPMF’s managing director Lutz Kinkel.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the late-night bombing on April 1st. They have been detained for thirty days. The local police spokesperson said in a statement that the incident is connected to Sead Sadiković’s satirical report on his TV Vijesti series “Bez Granica” (No Limits) about a private museum. The broadcast had provoked strong reactions in social media.

Assistant Director of the Police Administration, Enis Bakovic, said the motive for attacking Sadikovic was his work on the “Načisto” (clear) episode of the show about the museum in the town of Rozaj.

A statement on the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia’s Safety of Journalists platform says:

Montenegrin journalists and media workers have been a vulnerable category for a long time and the state has not done enough to prevent attacks or resolve some of the most serious cases of attacks on journalists and media assets. SMCG has repeatedly warned that some of these cases will become time-barred if there is not a timely reaction. Therefore it is important to quickly and efficiently investigate last night’s explosion in Bijelo Polje in order to prevent this incident from becoming ‘forgotten’.”

“Hoping that our colleague Sadiković was not the target of the last night’s attack, although we fear that he was, once again we request from the authorities to inform the public as soon as possible about all circumstances of the explosion.”

Oliver Vujovic, general secretary of ECPMF’s partner organisation the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), said: “We need a transparent investigation of this case by the authorities in Montenegro. I hope also that the authorities will re-open investigations of cases of attacks on journalists in Montenegro in the past, where we still do not have answers on who attacked the journalists or ordered the attacks”.

A wave of bombings and killings – believed to be connected to drug deals and some other criminal activities – has swept across Montenegro in recent weeks and years. Pokice chief Slavko Stoyanovic resigned on 31st March after two people were shot dead in Podgorica. On 4 April members of civil society organisations demonstrated outside the Ministry of the Interior. The protest was organised by the Network of Non-Governmental Organisations Open Platform. Further demonstrations are planned.

Journalist Sead Sadiković spoke to the ECPMF through his son Seid who translated from Croatian into English:

Why do you think your were the target for this bomb?

For political reasons. The police said they [the alleged perpetrators] were motivated by the TV broadcast he made. But he thinks the attack has a political background, not caused by the TV show.

Before the bomb, were there any other warnings or threats?

There were, but not too serious. They only said the would avenge their uncle.

What ist he general situation like for your father and journalists in Montenegro?

Very dangerous, like for most journalists, they are not safe here. There was cases like Tufic Softic and Dusko Jovanovic. In this situation now everything can be used as a reason for an attack on journalists.

What would you like to say to the police and the authorities about this situation?

It is necessary to find the person who ordered the attack. The persons arrested are only being manipulated. They are just pawns. They are casualties, too.

Do you know who ordered the attack?

That is someone in the local government.

What effect has it had on your family?

We are not scared. We are in danger but we are not scared, because if we were scared by this attack, the attack would succeed. We are, I can say, brave. We are holding on in this situation.

What about police protection?

We reported the earlier threats. The police also work with the persons who attacked us. So there is no point in police protection. Especially the agency for national security. They are doing a political, not a national job.

How could we help in the international media community?

You could help by presenting this situation to the world, saying how this situation is bad and journalists are threatened every day, and showing the world what happened here.

Vienna, 05/04/2018

The Vienna South East Europe Media Organistion (SEEMO) called on authorities in Praha to ensure free and independent work of journalists.

Three Czech investigative journalists, Sabina Slonková from the news website Neovlivní . Jaroslav Kmenta from the monthly publication Reportér and Janek Kroupa, from Czech public radio station issued a joint statement that said the police and the General Inspection of Security Corps (GIBS) tried in the past few months to intimidate them by repeatedly bringing in for questioning in connection to reports on Prime Minister Andrej Babis (Andrej Babiš).

“We are convinced that these investigations are to confuse and intimidate us and our sources and prevent us from further work,” the journalists wrote.

Police denied in a statement over social media that they tried to intimidate the journalists. According to the police they were following criminal proceedings supervised by the state attorney’s office.

SEEMO is alarmed about this case and clear violation of media freedom and is asking for an urgent and transparent investigation of all what happened.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe.