28/04/2017: SERBIA – SEEMO CRITICAL OF POTENTIAL MEDIA FREEDOM VIOLATIONS IN SERBIA

Vienna, 28/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was concerned to learn the claims of TV station N1 that a new media law and amendments soon to be proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Information will aim to wipe out the outlet.

According to N1, the Ministry is preparing a new media strategy and a set of media laws that would include a proposal though which cable distributors of TV channels are banned from producing channels of their own.

SEEMO asks the Serbian autorities to confirm if this informatio is true, and transparently show their future initiatives and proposals regarding media legislature. The Ministry and all other institutions that deal with media in Serbia must respect their freedoms and show that none of their work is aimed at hurting freedom of speech and survival of media outlets.

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, 28/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) criticized the alleged stipulations demanded by Russia regarding journalistic reporting during the World Cup warm-up tournament – Confederations Cup, which is to be held this summer in several cities in the country.

German daily Bild stated that it will boycott the event if journalists aren’t allowed to report freely, after guidelines issued by Russian authorities specify that journalists can cover solely “FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and related events”, limiting them to the “territory of host cities and cultural sites nearby”. Reporting about events unrelated to the Cup or in other territories is said to require a separate visa, and that condition is not included in the guidelines for broadcasters with approved accreditations.

SEEMO is concerned regarding restrictive policies of Russian authorities towards journalists and ask that no restraints are put upon them and their work. We call on institutions in the country and FIFA to allow all media workers democratic, professional and free conditions in order to carry out their reporting ethically.

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

Vienna, 26/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) harshly condemned the behavior exhibited by representatives of the ruling party in Serbia (SNS) after their crude and aggressive conduct towards journalists on 23 April.

During local elections in the town of Zajecar, suspicious groups were noticed near voting centers and appeared to communicate with members of the voting boards. CRTA, a committee of voting observers, reported that there were alleged voting irregularities in more than 7 voting centers, including Zajecar as well as the municipalities of Kosjeric, Vrbas, Kovin and Odzaci.

Throughout the day, filming was prohibited even in the vicinity of the SNS party headquarters where voting took place, and an unknown individual pushed out TV N1 journalist Gordana Bjeletic from the premises. A member of CRTA attempted to take pictures of the entrance of the voting center and party headquarters but was violently stopped after several individuals took his phone, deleted the pictures and told him there wouldn’t be any trouble if he stopped trying to photograph the scene. Other crews from media outlets, including B92, Istinomer and N1, were also sent out of the premises and prohibited from filming and reporting there.

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, 19/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned the brutal physical attack committed on journalist Sinisa Vickov (Siniša Vickov) in Split, Croatia.

On 18 April, Vickov left a county assembly meeting to temporarily report from another event. Once that event finished, Vickov wanted to re-enter the local government building and follow the session which was still in motion but was stopped by two private security employees. Despite him letting them know he was a journalist and trying to get through, he was then shuffled and punched, causing him to fall to the floor, after which the security persons continued kicking him. He received medical treatment and has two broken ribs.

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, 19/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was horrified to learn about the threats and pressures daily paper Novaya Gazeta has been receiving after publishing details of an investigative story revealing serious human rights violations.

In early April, Novaya Gazeta published several articles detailing the horrific practices of Chechen police members who round up persons rumored or perceived to be gay, and detain them for days and even weeks. The men in question are commonly tortured, humiliated and outed to their families. Three have been killed so far due to these practices.

On 3 April, a gathering was organized in the capital Grozny, with more than 15,000 people in attendance to “protest against the articles”, and included religious leaders, public figures and officials. An advisor to the head of the Chechen Republic held a speech during which he deemed journalists of this daily as “enemies to our faith and motherland” and accused the paper of defamation. Following this, threats directed to Novaya Gazeta and the author of the investigative piece, Elena Milashina, reached dangerous levels, and were mentioned by the daily itself in a statement published on 14 April.

On 15 April, Chechnya’s press and information Minister posted a public letter in which he demanded that the “newspaper apologize to the Chechen people” and reprimanded them for even suggesting the possibility the existence of gay men within their society.

Elena Milashina, renowned investigative journalist, left Moscow following the threats she kept receiving, fearing for her safety. </p>

<p>On 19 April, the headquarters of the Novaya Gazeta received an envelope containing an unidentified white powder-like substance from an unknown sender.

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, 17/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was concerned to learn that during the previous week several cases of threats, attacks and media freedom violations have occurred against media workers in Serbia.

TV journalist and talk show host Tatjana Vojtehovski informed on 10 April via social media that an unknown person left a handwritten threat directed at her, found on a tree in a park in Belgrade. The note claims that the journalist was “being paid by Zaev and Taci* to tear down the wall with Serbian martyrs”*. The note also included insinuations of shooting Vojtehovski. The journalist reported the threat to the police and suspects it is tied to her open support of the ongoing protests in Serbia following the recent presidential elections.

*(Zoran Zaev is the political leader of the opposition party in Macedonia; Hashim Thaçi is the President of Kosovo).

SEEMO members were also disturbed to learn that Nedim Sejdinovic, president of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina, received dozens of death threats through social media in the previous several days. Threats from anonymous individuals began arriving after Aleksandar Martinovic, member of the ruling party SNS, made several slanderous public statements against Sejdinovic, pinning him as allegedly being one of the organizers of the current anti-government protests in several cities in Serbia.

SEEMO also harshly condemns today’s statement of Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, after saying that he will “request the dismissal of the entire board of directors of the public broadcaster RTS”. The reason behind this demand, he stated, is that RTS began reporting about the anti-government protests that have been occurring in Serbia in the previous two weeks. RTS was initially criticized by the public after they stayed silent about the demonstrations, but now the Minister claims the managerial board should be dismissed after they giving air time to demonstrators. SEEMO members remind Minister Vulin that RTS is a public broadcaster, meaning that no state interest or opinions should be cast upon what the independent, censorship-free broadcaster should air and report on.

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, 12/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed deep concern after it was revealed that two prominent Kosovo journalists received death threats in the past two days.

Arbana Xhara, investigative journalist and editor-in-chief of daily Zeri, received serious death threats by unknown perpetrators on 10 April. The two cross symbols with blood-like paint were initially discovered by Xhara’s husband, who noticed one of them near the entrance of their apartment, and the other in the journalist’s regular garage parking spot.

The case was reported to the police, and Arbana Xhara stated that an ongoing smear campaign against her has been going on for over a week, coming specifically from religious radicals, anonymous extremists and media outlets close to the opposition party Vetevendosje.

On 11 April, Musa Mustafa, journalist and founder of news website Infojeta.net received death threats via text messages from unknown individuals. The messages contained threats against him, his family, and the Albanian people, “if he continues to write against Serbs”. Mustafa is an ethnic Albanian and recently wrote about alleged Serbian parallel police structures in northern Kosovo, where he resides.

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, 10/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), is concerned about news from Greece from this morning.

As SEEMO was informed, a Greek judge ordered this morning on Monday 10 April, that the award-winning Greek journalist and publisher Kostas Vaxevanis (@KostasVaxevanis) should be arrested, after Vaxevanis published an article in his weekly newspaper «Documento».

SEEMO will monitor the case.

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, 08/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern about the media situation in Serbia after several civil society groups and journalist organisations in Serbia criticized the reporting of several media outlets in the country in connection with the presidential election in Serbia and post-election demonstrations.

Protesters on the streets in Belgrade are claiming that the news editors from different media are “siding with the regime” and that their articles and reports keep giving reduced information about the post-election protests and number of participants.

SEEMO is asking the media in Serbia to respect professional standards in reporting and to present different views as part of the reporting.

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, 04/04/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) criticized the repressive tactics of institutions in Belarus, as well as the organized media persecution that has been happening in the country.

Belsat TV journalist Alyaksandr Barazenka was arrested on 29 March while covering the Freedom Day celebrations and subsequent protests, and had gone on a hunger strike while in detention. He had been kept in detention since the incidents but was released on 31 March, with sources claiming that the detention conditions are difficult for journalists, media workers and activists who have been arrested. Belsat TV is a part of Polish public TV which is broadcasted in Belarus by local journalists and for a local audience.

So far, there have allegedly been over 90 detentions, 6 cases of physical violence and beatings by police members towards journalists, several cases of seized or destroyed equipment, and 40 legal cases. Several journalists have received fines of about 920 BYN (460 EUR), and others have been punished with arrests from 5 to up to 15 days.

SEEMO calls on the authorities in Belarus to respect the right of journalists to report.

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