08/10/2017: ROMANIA – SEEMO CONCERNED AFTER DETAILS OF PROBLEMATIC DRAFT LAW SURFACE IN ROMANIA

Vienna, 08/10/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern regarding the recently proposed draft law in Romania, which allegedly has the intent to regulate the national news agency AGERPRES.

The law proposal is set to be discussed by the Romanian Parliament on 11 October and was put forth by the newly elected Minister of Culture Lucian Romascanu while he was still president of the Culture Committee of the Romanian Senate. Along with Romascanu, the draft was signed by four other senators.

Unlike the current law, which prohibits bias by any political party towards the head of the news agency, this draft law proposes that a political majority has the right to decide to dismiss the director general of Agerpres. The same provisions would stand for the administration boards of both Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation (SRR) and the Romanian National Television Corporation (SRTV), allowing them to be dismissed before the end of their mandates in order to align with the prevailing political forces.

SEEMO expressed deep concern for this draft law and called on the minister of culture and others who proposed it to immediately revoke the document, since it clearly presents a threat to the independence and free functioning of Agerpres and other relevant outlets in Romania. It is unacceptable for political parties to have a regulated method of censorship and filtration of information, and thus SEEMO urges members of the Romanian Parliament to dismiss this proposal at once.

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.

Vienna, 05/10/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) voiced concern after the sudden dismissal of a Latvian Radio Board member by the broadcast body, the National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP), was announced and became effective on 28 September.

<p>After NEPLP expressed non-confidence against board member Sigita Roke (Sigita Roķe), two new members were installed yesterday, 4 October. Una Klapkalne was appointed as the Chairwoman of the Management Board of Latvian Radio and Marite Tukisa (Mārīte Tukiša) as a Management Board member for financial management for five year terms.

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

Vienna, 05/10/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed condemnation for the recent physical attack on a journalist in Armenia.

On 28 September, Narine Avetisyan, editor-in-chief of Lori TV station, was attacked while performing her professional duties in the city of Vanadzor. While filming the asphalting of a road in heavy rain, the journalist was physically attacked by Tigran Nazaryan, head of the Shinplus construction company, and several of his employees. Avetisyan’s mobile was taken away by force and she was pushed to the ground.

“SEEMO condemns this attack on the safety and wellbeing of Narine Avetisyan, a journalist who has already been attacked several times while reporting on other corruption cases” Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General said today. “This is a clear indicator that not only is press freedom endangered by citizens in Armenia, the government also sees the censorship of media workers as a normal occurrence. The fact that no investigation was started against the perpetrators proves this point once more. We urge authorities in the country to react and penalize those involved in the attack on this journalist and protect Avetisyan from potential future attacks” Vujovic added.

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

Vienna, 05/10/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed condemnation for the recent physical attack on a journalist in Armenia. </p>

On 28 September, Narine Avetisyan, editor-in-chief of Lori TV station, was attacked while performing her professional duties in the city of Vanadzor. While filming the asphalting of a road in heavy rain, the journalist was physically attacked by Tigran Nazaryan, head of the Shinplus construction company, and several of his employees. Avetisyan’s mobile was taken away by force and she was pushed to the ground.

“SEEMO condemns this attack on the safety and wellbeing of Narine Avetisyan, a journalist who has already been attacked several times while reporting on other corruption cases” Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General said today. “This is a clear indicator that not only is press freedom endangered by citizens in Armenia, the government also sees the censorship of media workers as a normal occurrence. The fact that no investigation was started against the perpetrators proves this point once more. We urge authorities in the country to react and penalize those involved in the attack on this journalist and protect Avetisyan from potential future attacks” Vujovic added.

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

Vienna, 03/10/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern and detest for the current state of media ownership and rights in Hungary.

According to local and international watchdogs, the Hungarian PM Viktor Orban’s (Viktor Orbán) government and his affiliates have allegedly bought most of the regional newspapers in the country.

Until recently, 18 newspapers belonging to different counties in Hungary had varying ownership, spanning from small local businesses to large media conglomerates. These regional outlets were sold to Mediaworks, a company controlled by a businessman, who then sold the company to a close friend of Orban.

Through various cronies and government-friendly businessmen, the remainder of the independent media was sold. In August of this year, the national tabloid Bors and two other outlets were sold to Avalue Befektetési Ltd which is controlled by Andy Vajna, the owner of commercial broadcaster TV2 and a member of Orbán’s small circle of trusted businessmen.

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.

Vienna, 01/10/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed condemnation after freelance journalist Islam Shikhali was attacked and beaten by members of the police while covering an event in the city of Lankaran, Azerbaijan.

On 30 September, Shikhali was held by police forces for an hour. During that time, he was beaten and his equipment was examined. The journalist stated that after this, the police took him back to the capital Baku overnight. The Lankaran police department later negated claims that he had been held there illegally for an hour or that he was sent back to the capital.

SEEMO sees such attacks on journalists and censorship attempts as a clear signal that media freedom and human rights in Azerbaijan have reached a new low, and that mediation between media workers and state institutions is necessary. It is unacceptable for authorities and institutions belonging to the government to attack, interrogate and intimidate journalists simply because they are doing their job.

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

Vienna, 29/09/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed deep concern for the human rights and media freedom violations committed against imprisoned human rights activist and lawyer Buzurgmehr Yorov.

According to his family and other sources, Yorov has been repeatedly beaten and abused by police officials in prison. The lawyer was convicted last year to 17 years of incarceration for alleged fraud and “insulting the leader of the nation”. Yorov was initially arrested in September 2015 when Tajik authorities accused him and another lawyer, Nuriddin Mahkamov, of fraud and forgery. This was followed by additional charges of allegedly inciting ethnic enmity, calling for the overthrow of the government, and support of extremist activity.

SEEMO expresses deep concern for the state of human rights and basic freedoms in Tajikistan and calls on authorities to immediately release Buzurgmehr Yorov. SEEMO also urges institutions in Tajikistan to release all other political prisoners, activists and journalists currently behind bars. The damaging position Yorov was put in is not only undemocratic but also highly dangerous for other free thinkers in the country.

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

Vienna, 29/09/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern for the recent number of appalling media freedom and human rights violations occurring in Russia. </p>

On 22 September, Sergey Samoilenko, editor-in-chief of the news website Sib.fm, announced his resignation after the website’s owner deleted a news story published earlier that day. The website, based in Novosibirsk, published an article about the rally planned by lawyer, anti-corruption blogger, and leading opposition politician Alexei Navalny, which was afterwards deleted at the owner’s request. The website had recently been sold to Viktor Ignatov, a Duma deputy from the pro-Kremlin political party United Russia.

Samoilenko shared a Facebook status where he announced that he would be retiring in October and stated that in his view, “the owner made a meaningless and even idiotic decision”.

On 23 September, unknown perpetrators set the motorcycle of Aleksei Milovanov, editor-in-chief of independent news agency Novyi Kaliningrad, on fire. After noticing a fire outside his building, Milovanov called the police and fire department and it was established that his motorcycle was purposefully destroyed. On the same day, police forces detained Aleksandr Pavlov, a correspondent of the independent website Open Russia, during an anti-capitalist protest in Moscow. Despite having shown the policemen his press ID, Pavlov was detained in the Krasnoselski station and accused of disobeying police orders. He was released after one hour.

Today, 29 September, the headquarters of the news website Lenta.ru were vandalized in southern Moscow. According to the police, assailants threw an incendiary grenade into the building earlier today. The outlet claims office windows were smashed and Nazi symbols scribbled on the walls, as well as the statement “You lie, Lenta”.

Lenta.ru was a known independent outlet in Russia, until its longtime editor-in-chief Galina Timochenko was replaced by a pro-Kremlin editor in 2014.

“SEEMO is deeply disturbed by these horrific occurrences and sends full support to all media workers and outlets in Russia that face intimidation and attacks” Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General said today. “We call on authorities in the country to react in a transparent, democratic manner and help protect journalists and the outlets they work for, regardless of their political affiliations or positions. It is unacceptable for so many violations to happen in such a short time frame without a proper and fair reaction” Vujovic added.

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

Vienna, 28/09/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) criticized the actions of Belarus institutions, after it was revealed that several journalists in the country received arbitrary financial fines as an apparent attempt at censorship. </p>

On 27 September, freelance journalist from Homiel Kastus Zhukouski was found guilty of alleged “illegal production of mass media products” by a judge in Petrykau District. This is the journalists eighth penalty for freelance journalism; the sum of his fines since the beginning of 2017 totals almost 130 Belarusian rubles (approx. 3,100 EUR). His colleague Andrei Tolchyn was also fined for assisting Zhukouski in producing video footage. The two had been filming the state of a run-down residential building in a former military settlement.

“We harshly condemn the actions and behavior of Belarus institutions towards media workers in the country” SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic stated. “It is unacceptable for legislative authorities to practice such blatant, continuous and precise pressure against freelance or oppositionist journalists. Marginalization of critical media outlets and journalists through high fines and attempts at censorship only bring to focus the overall lack of democracy in Belarus, which we, along with the international media community, are monitoring closely” Vujovic added.

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