01/06/2017: RUSSIA – SEEMO URGES AUTHORITIES TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS IN RUSSIA

Vienna, 01/06/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was dismayed to learn that journalist Dmitri Popkov was shot and killed in the town of Minusinsk in Russia on 24 May 2017.

Popkov was editor-in-chief and founder of Minusinsk-based newspaper Ton-M, which took a critical stance towards corruption involving local political officials and police members. The journalist himself stated that the outlet had become “an obstacle” for local authorties, who according to him had been making a practice of threatening and intimidating independent journalists. Popkov was found in his backyard, shot five times by an unknown person. An investigation was opened following his murder.

“We are shocked after hearing the news of this brutal murder” Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO secretary general stated. “We ask for an urgent investigation of the case ” Vujovic added.

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

Vienna, 28/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) harshly condemned the continuing series of arrests of local and foreign journalists in Turkey.

Mathias Depardon, an independent French photo-reporter, was detained by police authorities on 8 May in Hansankyef, in the southeast area of the country. Depardon has been living in Turkey for several years and was in the process of preparing a story for National Geographic when he was arrested. His equipment was seized and he was charged with “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organisation” based on four photographs Depardon shared on his social media three years ago. The photos portray female fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Turkey.

Police authorities sent him to a Migration Department detention center in Gaziantep province, claiming that he will be deported, but despite his deportation order being issued for 11 May, his incarceration continued. On 21 May, the photographer began a hunger strike, but after a public outcry from the international community regarding his case, he ended it on 27 May.

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, 24/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned the actions of authorities in Azerbaijan after freelance journalist Nijat Amiraslanov was detained on 22 May 2017 in the city of Gazakh.

Amiraslanov is known as a critic of local corruption, poverty and media violations, and has reported on these issues extensively in the past. It is believed that his arrest is a form of retaliation for his online posts and reporting so far. On 23 May, a court in Azerbaijan ordered the journalist to spend 30 days in jail for charges of resisting arrest, a charge which Amiraslanov denies.

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

Vienna, 18/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed about the news, that Sedat Kapanoğlu, founder of online portal Ekşi Sözlük, received a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison. Özgür Kuru was sentence to 7 months and 15 days suspended sentence. The charges in both cases are connected to the year 2011, when the web, according to the state prosecutor, published insults to the Prophet Muhammad, what is decsribed in the law as “insulting the religious values shared by a group of society.” Additional 38 members of the website community were detained by the police and charged with insulting religion on the thread, however the court decided to suspend the cases, however suspects would be retried if they commit the same crime within three years

Vienna, 16/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed deep concern after recent developments in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan indicate a new drop in the level of media freedoms and human rights protection.

On 12 May, the Sabail District Court of Baku issued a decision to block five media websites: Meydan TV, Turan TV, Azerbaycan Saati, Azadliq daily and local RWB news outlet Azadliq. The Prosecutor General claimed these outlets present a “threat to Azerbaijan’s national security”. The ruling was a result of a complaint made by the Communications and High Technologies Ministry, which initially limited access to the aforementioned websites on 27 March. In 2016, online defamation was made a criminal offence in Azerbaijan, punishable by imprisonment.

Ramazan Yesergepov, a prominent Kazakh journalist and activist was assaulted and stabbed in the abdomen in the early morning hours of 14 May. The chairman of the media freedom group Journalists in Danger was attacked by two unknown men while he was travelling by train from Almaty to Astana. Yesergepov was on his way to a meeting with foreign diplomats to discuss the position of activists and journalists in Kazakhstan, many of whom are imprisoned, attacked and work in difficult conditions. Another topic of discussion was supposed to be the failure of the Kazakh government to comply with the decisions of the UN Human Rights Committee, including the journalist’s own case. Yesergepov was hospitalized and underwent surgery because of his injuries.

“SEEMO members were horrified by both of these incidents” Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General stated. “We call on authorities in Kazakhstan to immediately launch a transparent and swift investigation and uncover the perpetrators of this brutal attack against Ramazan Yesergepov. As for Azerbaijan, the blatant abuse and censorship expressed against independent and critical media outlets in the country is not only dangerous for freedom of speech, but also basic human rights of media workers and activists. We call on the international community to assist us in sending a strong message to both governments, and help us in improving working and living conditions for free thinkers in the region” Vujovic added.

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

Vienna, 14/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was deeply concerned after it was revealed that on 12 May a local politican in Pozega, a town in Croatia, physically attacked a media worker with the intention to do him harm.

The local politican invited Mladen Mirkovic (Mladen Mirković), a journalist from local portal 034portal.hr, to his office for a meeting, prior to a press conference that was to be held nearby. When Mirkovic arrived, the politican began inquiring about who wrote a specific article published on their website. When Mirkovic responded that he wasn’t the author of the articles in question, the politician began to attack the journalist, pushing the journalist against the wall and hitting him. The journalist ran out of the office.

Following the incident Mirkovic received medical treatment for shock and injuries.

SEEMO condemns this attack, and call not only on the official in question, but also institutions in Croatia to react and investigate 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, 14/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was dismayed to learn that investigative journalist Arbana Xharra suffered a brutal physical attack on Saturday, 13 May.

Xharra recently left her position as editor-in-chief of daily Zeri in order to join the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and will potentially run in parliamentary elections scheduled for next month. Current President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci set up early elections for 11 June, after the government was dismissed in a non-confidence motion on 10 May.

The former journalist was a long time critic of this and other political parties in Kosovo, accusing officials of corruption and nepotism. Xharra was attacked beaten by unknown assaulters in a park near her apartment and received medical care for her injuries.

Vienna, 14/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) harshly condemned the recent statement of Czech President Milos Zeman (Miloš Zeman) on 14 May, in which he, during a verbal exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin, jokingly suggested journalists should be “liquidated”.

During an international conference in Beijing, China, President Zeman had a meeting with Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Following the event, and as the two heads of state walked together, Zeman commented to Putin in front of the media that there are “too many journalists” and that “we should liquidate them”.

SEEMO is condemning this abhorrent statement made by the political leader of a EU member state. SEEMO also asks the Czech President to issue an official apology following his clumsy, vulgar and highly offensive statement.

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, 14/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was alarmed to learn about yet another series of arrests, censorship and media freedom violations in Turkey.

On 11 May, Caglar Ozbilgin (Çağlar Özbilgin), editor for Sendika.org, was detained in an Istanbul courthouse, where he initially came to testify in an investigation which accused him of “insulting the President”. However, when he arrived he was detained and told that yet another investigation is being brought up against him; he then testified before a prosecutor and was held for several hours before finally being released.

Early on the morning of 12 May, editor-in-chief of daily news portal Cumhuriyet, Oguz Guven (Oğuz Güven) was taken into custody to the Istanbul Security Directorate to give a statement to the police, however the precise reason for his detention was not revealed.

Also on 12 May, several statements surfaced in which German officials claim that they have been unable to contact journalist Mesale Tolu (Meşale Tolu) since she was arrested by Turkish authorities on 30 April. Tolu, a German citizen whose work was published by the private ETHA news agency, was accused by Turkish authorities of “disseminating propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organisation ”. This referred to her work for Netherlands-based Firat News Agency (ANF), which is accused by the government in Turkey of having ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The journalist’s husband is also under arrest and facing similar charges.

It was revealed today, 14 May, that the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) banned all access to the website of Rojeva Medya, the only daily published in Kurdish in Turkey.

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, 11/05/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was deeply concerned to hear about several deeply problematic and undemocratic cases of media freedom and human rights violations in Turkey.

Aysenur Parildak (Ayşenur Parıldak), a 27 year old journalist and law student at the Ankara University was arrested in August 2016 and charged under the Turkish anti-terror law because of her tweets and stories she was covering at the time for the (now closed) daily Zaman. Parildak was also accused of using a phone app called ByLock to communicate, which is publicly available messaging software; all of this was claimed by the prosecutor as criminal evidence against her. According to the journalist, during her nine month long detention she has been a victim to violence and sexual harassment.

On 2 May, while friends and family awaited her release after a trial hearing, the Ankara No.14 High Criminal Court decided to re-arrest Parildak before she was even released. The public prosecutor claimed that “all evidence” against the journalist had already “been collected” and that the state regulatory body Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) was sending “new evidence” from her phone at that very time. The prosecutor claimed that Parildak needed to be put under arrest again in order to not “tamper with said evidence” and asked for a prison sentenced of up to 15 years.

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.