19/06/2016: SERBIA – SEEMO CALLS ON SERB AUTHORITIES TO WORK ON SOLVING MEDIA FREEDOM VIOLATIONS

Vienna, 19/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) again expressed deep concern regarding recent developments in the public broadcaster Radio Televizija Vojvodina (RTV) in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Last month, SEEMO helped raise awareness about hasty dismissals that occurred within the regional public broadcaster. The managerial board laid off several editors in a non-transparent manner. The changes may have been political in nature.

‘It is a primary concern of ours to see media issues in RTV resolved as soon as possible’, Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General said.

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, 16/06/2016

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) protested against the latest worsening of conditions for journalists working in Turkey.

On 12 June, Syrian journalist and reporter Ahmed al-Qader was attacked for the second time in only three months, in the Turkish town of Urfa. It was reported that al-Qader was shot three times by gunmen that rode a motorbike. Their identities are yet to be revealed.The journalist is hospitalized and in stable condition.

Earlier in June, journalists held a protest in front of a courthouse in Istanbul against the imprisonment of dozens of their colleagues. The latest addition were tens of Kurdish editor-in-chiefs and journalists put ‘under watch’ for their potentially critical reporting, several of them in connection to the Turkish daily Ozgur Gundem (Free Agenda).

In a separate development, authorities dismissed Professor Zeynep Sayın Balikcioglu from Bilgi University after allegedly insulting the President during one of her lectures’. A statement issued by the University said that all ties were severed with Balikcioglu because she insulted national values and the President, by mentioning and defaming Turkishness in her lecture and suggesting to students that they could read the Bible and Torah.

‘Crackdowns on journalists and free-thinkers in Turkey have reached a critical and dangerous level’ SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said. ‘We send our support to journalists, media workers, academics and public intellectuals in Turkey that face grave punishments for their freedom of thought and expression. We call on authorities to release all journalists currently imprisoned as a result of their journalistic work, and we hope that the university will allow Professor Zeynep Sayin Balikciouglu to regain her position in that institution’, 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, 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.