16/06/2016: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – SEEMO CONDEMNS ATTACK ON JOURNALIST IN TREBINJE

Vienna, 16/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned the verbal attack on Dragisa Sikimic, editor-in-chief of Moja Herzegovina news portal in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Sikimic explained that he was verbally abused by a local politician. Allegedly, the politician was dissatisfied with the content of two articles posted on the portal, after which he called Sikimic, threatening to sue him for defamation and to ‘destroy him financially’ by asking the court for a 50,000 EUR fine.

‘SEEMO condemns attempts by public figures to threaten or intimidate journalists for simply doing their jobs by reporting on matters that are in the public interest’, SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic, said. ‘Public figures must be aware that they are subject to a higher level of scrutiny than private individuals as a result of the trust that has been placed in them by the public that elected them to office. Threats of this kind are simply unacceptable.’

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, 09/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) has called for the government of Kosovo to release an official statement about cases covered in Serbian media, alleging that institutions in Kosovo have prohibited the import of books and other materials written in Serbian.

Allegedly institutions in Kosovo prohibited the import of books written in Serbian beginning 2 June, according to information published in Serbian media. Serbian media are reporting that books and other materials distributed from Serbia have been confiscated at the border.

‘SEEMO calls for a response to these allegations from authorities and an investigation if necessary’, said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic ‘Prohibiting reading material in this way may be considered censorship and interfere with the public’s right to receive information’.

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, 08/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed deep concern after three journalists were injured during a shooting in the Midyat district in Southeast Turkey on 8 June.

The shooting followed a car bomb attack that occurred that morning in the city, in the close proximity to the police station and Security Directorate. Journalists Sertaç Kayar, Hatice Kamer and Mahmut Bozarslan were taken to the hospital due to their injuries.

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, 07/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) called on Turkish authorities to release Hayri Tunc, a journalist sentenced to two years of in prison on 7 June.

Tunc was arrested in February 2016 and charged with conducting ‘propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization’ based on his social media posts. Prior to that, he was detained in October 2015 and questioned about his articles on the news portal Jiyan.org, as well as his social network presence. After his release at the time, the government suspended Jiyan portal as well as Tunc’s Twitter account.

The 13th High Criminal Court in Istanbul initially sentenced the journalist to one year and two months in prison for propaganda, after which they prolonged his sentence to two years because his posts were a ‘series of crimes’ and committed through the press.

‘SEEMO is appalled by the conviction of Hayri Tunc and calls for his immediate release’ said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. ‘Prison is never an acceptable response to the exercise of free expression’.

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, 03/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) called on the international community to combat continuous media freedom violations in Turkey, after a troubling number of recent arrests and attacks.

On 1 June, ANF journalist Ali Baris Kurt was taken into custody in Corum, a province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Kurt was called to the local police headquarters in order to give his testimony, allegedly because of his activity and posts on social media.

In addition to poor working conditions; and torture committed by state forces against journalists, the Turkish Association of Free Journalists (OGC) issued its a report in May that showed a significant increase in the number of incidents, human rights violations and oppression of media workers. A total of 18 journalists were detained during this month (May 2016) only, and six were jailed. Four journalists were attacked, two were threatened and a number of others faced dismissals, arbitrary obstructions, suspensions and raids.

SEEMO supports media workers in Turkey and once again calls on authorities to respect human rights, freedom of speech and expression.

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, 02/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was alarmed by the latest developments following the personal data breach incident in Ukraine.

The website Myrotvorets recently disclosed personal data about several hundred journalists that were targeted as contributors to Russian media outlets without their consent. After an international and public outcry, the Ukrainian government failed to seriously condemn this act or protect the journalists in question.

Additional, on 27 May, a decree was issued that imposes personal sanctions against 19 Russian Federation media executives for broadcasting propaganda, and allegedly ‘being a threat to national interest, facilitating terrorist activity and violating citizens’. The decree prevents the named individuals from entering Ukraine until December 31, 2017. The ban was simultaneously lifted for 29 other journalists.

‘SEEMO is deeply concerned by this recent development in Ukraine’, said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic, ‘We call on authorities to refrain from using such oppressive methods against journalists and media workers, and urge them to immediately lift all bans of this kind’.

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, 30/05/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed deep concern regarding information that state public broadcaster of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) will stop airing its program starting 30 June 2016. The reason behind this temporary closure is said to be the difficult financial situation the broadcaster has been facing.

Falling revenues were mentioned as the primary argument for this decision made by the BHRT board of directors. Tax revenues have been decreasing yearly, mainly because of low income rates among the population. According to the board, entity television networks RTRS (Radio-Television Republika Srpska) and FTV (Radio-Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) allegedly failed to transfer some of their own tax revenues to BHRT.

“We are deeply concerned about this unfortunate turn of events” SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said earlier. “We must insist that authorities in BiH in charge of the public broadcaster and its subdivisions come up with a stable and long-term solution for the network. Public broadcasters play an important role in democratic societies, and shutting BHRT down will prevent the public from receiving vital information even if the closure is temporary. BHRT was the only public broadcasting service for all parts of the country, as RTRS and FTV are public broadcasters covering parts of the country,” Vujovic added.

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, 26/05/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern over the potential lawsuit against journalist Liviu Avram, issued by a high-ranking court official in Romania. Avram published an op-ed in the daily Adevarlul about political bias in the Constitutional Court. A court official responded by criticising the journalist, claiming that ‘no one can do this’ and ‘having a newspaper at hand does not mean you can write whatever you want’.

‘Public officials should be aware that they are subject to a higher level of scrutiny that private individuals as a result of the trust that the public has placed in them,’ said SEEMO General Secretary Oliver Vujovic. ‘Additionally, they should be aware of the role of critical journalism in a democratic society. The article in question was clearly identified as an opinion piece, and Avram has the right to explore important issues in a critical way through the media. We urge authorities to drop the charges against Liviu Avram.’

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, 30/12/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed its disapproval of a new bill proposal in Poland regarding media freedom. On 29 December, the majority party introduced the bill rather suddenly, claiming that it was the first stage of a public media reform.

Under consideration for immediate adoption by the government, the bill proposal would transfer control over management and supervisory board member appointments at the public broadcaster from the National Broadcasting Council to the Minister of the Treasury.

If the bill is passed, it will be effective immediately and all current management would be dismissed.

“The proposed changes seem to be a powerful weapon for the government. Unfortunately, I have little faith that politicians want to increase the power and freedom of media. Usually bills like this are a blatant attempt to diminish freedom of speech and curb critical journalism. We call on authorities in Poland to revoke this proposal and focus more on other issues”, SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East and Central Europe. SEEMO’s 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, 30/12/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was dismayed by new details regarding the recent lawsuit against Hurriyet daily Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin.

Ergin was charged with insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan through alleged offensive and false reports by incorrectly paraphrasing Erdogan in the daily’s reports on an attack on 6 September. In the attack, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) killed 16 Turkish soldiers during a confrontation in Daglica, near the Iraqi border.

The prosecution demanded five years and four months in jail for Sedat Ergin. His lawsuit has been merged with that of Ekrem Dumanli, former editor-in-chief of Zaman daily, which paraphrased the same speech of the President.

“We are deeply concerned regarding these allegations and charges”, SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic stated.

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