16/07/2017: HUNGARY – SEEMO CALLS ON AUTHORITIES TO IN HUNGARY TO CEASE PERSECUTION OF NGOS

Vienna, 16/07/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) called on authorities in Hungary to cease their recent attempts to institutionally vilify the role and actions of civil society organisations in the country.

The government of Hungary has put into action a nationwide advertising campaign consisting of billboard and television ads that disparage the role and importance of civil society organisations which protect and stand for the rights of refugees and humane immigration policies. The government behind Prime Minister Viktor Orban aims to disenfranchise non-governmental human rights organisations in the country, especially those that are aided by Hungarian-American businessman and investor George Soros.

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, 15/07/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed their deep concern after it was revealed that the Polish Defense Minister filed a criminal complaint against investigative journalist Tomasz Piatek, also the author of a new book dealing with the Minister’s alleged network of “questionable Russian contacts”.

Piatek, who works for the daily Gazeta Wyborcza, potentially faces a trial before a military court, after the defense minister filed a complaint accusing the journalist of using “force or threats against a public official” as well as “public insults or humiliation of a constitutional body”. The accusations come after Piatek’s latest book was published, which deals in depth with the minister’s alleged ties with individuals close to the Kremlin, the Russian secret service as well as criminal groups.

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, 15/07/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was concerned to learn that the government in Ukraine introduced two new bill proposals to the Parliament (Rada) which would require non-governmental organisations in the country to submit detailed financial reports. If accepted, law proposals 6674 and 6675 would withdraw the status of NGOs and seriously put in danger their independence and proper functioning.

In addition to the NGOs themselves, individuals and groups working with the NGOs would also have to provide similar financial evidence. If they failed to comply, both the organisations and their partners would face heavy fees, as well as potentially lose their non-profit status.

Additional, SEEMO members were informed that on 14 July the offices of Vesti media group in Kyiv had been raided, including Radio Vesti, newspaper Vesti and the web portal Vesti-ukr.com. It was later explained by the Chair of the Board of Directors Media Holding Vesti Ukraine that special police units halted all broadcasting and rounded up journalists in a single room in order to question them and search the contents of their mobile phones.

The raid, according to Vesti employees, came potentially as retaliation for a recent article investigating the Chief Military Prosecutor’s income and expenses. In early 2017, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting revoked the license of the media group.

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

Vienna, 29/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was dismayed to learn that several new prison sentences have been approved by courts in Turkey, in cases of journalistic prosecutions.

On 22 June, a court in Istanbul held a hearing for the cases of media workers and writers Asli Erdogan (Aslı Erdoğan), Filiz Kocali (Filiz Koçali), Inan Kizilkaya (İnan Kızılkaya), Zana Kaya, Necmiye Alpay, Ragip Duran, Eren Keskin, Bilge Oykut, and Keman Sancili (Kemal Sancılı). All of them are on trial for one or several cases of alleged dissemination of terrorist propaganda, belonging to a terrorist organization and similar charges. Over 50 other media workers have been investigated and charged on several counts as well.

Since the failed coup attempt in 2016, investigations in Turkey have been launched against thousands of public servants, academic, public intellectuals, writers, journalists and others. Hundreds of local and national media outlets have been forced into closure, either through incarceration, financial fines or censorship attempts – both Turkish and Kurdish. Writers have been put in jail and sentenced for publishing work about the difficult living conditions of Kurds and Kurdish women. Attorneys have been prohibited from seeing and talking to their clients, even during hearings and trials. Many media workers are kept in detention for months on end, with no information regarding their charges or beginning of trial.

On 29 June, the Regional Gaziantep Court approved a prison sentence for Ismail Eskin. Eskin was prosecuted after being charged of allegedly “spreading terrorist propaganda” and being “a part of an illegal terrorist organization”, after he reported about multiple human rights violations committed during curfews in Amed and ISIS attacks on Kobane (Kobanê). Eskin was sentenced to three years, one month and fifteen days of imprisonment.

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, 29/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) welcomed the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after it published that the state of Romania infringed upon the freedom of expression of a local journalist in 2007.

Feri Predescu, a journalist from Constanta, Romania, was sued in 2007 by the former mayor of the city, who she mentioned in a series of statements a year prior (August 2006) during a TV show. Despite Constanta Court’s initial ruling against the former mayor’s accusations, a later appeal was accepted and Predescu was ordered to write a public letter of apology to the former mayor, publish it in the local daily at her own cost, and pay him financially for moral damages (~11,000 EUR), as also legal expenses (~1,550 EUR).

However, it was decided on 27 June 2017 that this decision from 2007 violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Romanian state was ordered to pay the journalist a sum of 14,000 EUR for material damages, as well as 4,500 EUR for moral damages.

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, 29/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed harsh criticism after recent developments in Hungary allow for further repression and censorship against human rights organisations.

On Tuesday, 13 June, the Hungarian parliament passed new legislation on NGOs which forces civil society groups that receive foreign funding to register separately and label all of their publications and initiatives pejoratively as “foreign-funded”. If they fail to comply, NGOs risk sanctions such as financial fines of up to 3,000 EUR or forced closure and dissolution of the organisation in Hungary.

The law requires all NGOs that receive more than 24,000 EUR per year to re-register as a civil society group “from abroad”. For several years, Hungarian officials have been targeting organisations in the country that are beyond their control – those funded from foreign and international sources. It has repeatedly been suggested that Hungarian-US billionaire George Soros whose foundation funds dozens of NGOs throughout the Balkans region is “endangering sovereignty and national security of Hungary”.

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, 28/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was concerned after hearing about another case of threats aimed at a journalist in Serbia.

Journalist Marija Vucic (Marija Vučić) received death threats via an anonymous Facebook page, telling her she will soon go “under a knife”. This comes after an article was published in which she revealed how several hooligan extremists violently stopped a movie projection in the city of Nis (Niš). The movie’s title was “Albanians are our sisters”.

Anonymous death threats must be immediately and transparently investigated by police authorities, SEEMO reminds institutions in Serbia. It is of utmost importance for the authorities to react quickly and send a clear message that threats against journalists will not be tolerated and prosecuted in all cases.

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, 28/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was concerned to learn about the recent culmination of threats against Croatian journalist Hassan Diab.

Diab is a reporter for the daily Vecernji list and regularly publishes pieces concerning the wars in Libya, Iraq and Syria. In early June, he published an article that contained classified documents, including names of jihadists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia who have gone to Syrian and Iraqi battlefields. Aside from being the recipient of hate speech, physical and death threats from multiple anonymous individuals through social media, Diab was also put under public scrutiny by certain media outlets and public figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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, 26/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned the calls from several nations and governments to shut down the Al Jazeera network.

By shutting down this media network, Al Jazeera Balkans would also be shut down. This international news chanell is based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but broadcasts and covers news throughout the Balkans region.

“The idea of shutting down such an important media network is ludicrous. The demand itself shows the detrimental state of human rights and press freedom in some countries” Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General stated.

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, 22/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed deep criticism after it was revealed that an appellate court in the city of Almaty issued a large financial fine against the International Legal Initiative, a well known legal society organization facing pressures in the country.

In 2016, the government began targeting several prominent human rights NGOs based in Almaty after they had been engaged during the trials of local political and human rights activists. The pressure experienced by the organizations included snap tax inspections, which forced the organizations to pay fines of several thousand dollars.

This most recent fine against an NGO came on 21 June and generated a strong outcry from the international community.

SEEMO members condemn the treatment of activists and civil society groups in Kazakhstan, and call on institutions in the country to cease their baseless legislative pursuit against them.

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