13/09/2015: SERBIA – SEEMO CONDEMNS THREATS MADE AGAINST MEDIA WORKER IN SERBIA

Vienna, 13/09/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is calling for an investigation into threats that were allegedly made over social media against journalist Dusan Vojvodic, who works for public broadcaster RTS.

A local political activist in East Serbia recently made comments using his private Facebook page that referenced a lawsuit the journalist brought against him, saying that another “Crystal night” would occur the day after his party won local elections. The alleged threats have been understood as referring to potential violence directed against Vojvodic and others.

“We all know what happened during the Crystal Night in November 1938, so using it in such a comment is both unacceptable and in bad taste. Additionally, it should be investigated whether the elements of a threat were present in this incident”, SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said.

The press freedom work of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.

Vienna, 10/09/2015

Turkish authorities must take steps to bring those responsible for attacks on media outlets to justice, the International Press Institute (IPI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) said today after mobs converged on the offices of daily newspapers and a broadcaster in a second night of violence this week.

Daily Hürriyet was attacked again on Tuesday night by stone-throwing demonstrators protesting deadly attacks on Turkish security forces by the outlawed Kurdistan’s Workers Party (PKK), while a separate group of demonstrators pelted the combined offices of pro-government daily Sabah and broadcaster ATV with stones and water bottles, and tried to enter the building.

“The repeat attacks on media outlets by violent mobs clearly demonstrates the principle that impunity breeds more violence,” IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis said, noting that only six suspects had reportedly been taken into custody in connection with the first attack on Hürriyet and reportedly were detained for possessing firearms.

“We urge authorities not only to condemn these attacks, but to take concrete action to hold the perpetrators accountable and show that they will not be tolerated.”

Tuesday’s attacks came amid a night of violent demonstrations by nationalists after 14 police officers were killed hours earlier in a suspected PKK bomb attack in eastern Turkey. Thousands of protestors attacked more than 100 offices of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) across the country, party officials said, torching some of them.

In separate news, IPI today also condemned an order to deport Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink, who Turkish authorities accuse of aiding Kurdish militants. Geerdink, who has spent years covering Kurdish issues in Turkey, was detained on Sunday in Hakkari while covering clashes between Turkish security forces and the PKK.

Authorities initially said Geerdink’s detention was for her own security and she was released from custody pending trial. However, her lawyer told Reuters, the provincial governor in Hakkari ordered her expelled under a rule that allows foreigners suspected of wrongdoing to be deported.

Vienna, 04/09/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is concerned about a physical attack on Predrag Azdejkovic that occurred in Belgrade on 3 September.

Predrag Azdejkovic, an LGBT activist and editor-in-chief of the magazine Optimist: a guide through gay Serbia, was allegedly attacked while exiting public transportation in Belgrade. Azdejkovic was assaulted by two men who kicked him in the stomach and verbally threatened him. The case was reported to the police.

SEEMO calls once again on authorities in Serbia to protect all media workers and work against the country’s anti-LGBT atmosphere.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East 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, 07/09/2015

The International Press Institute (IPI) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) today called on members of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) to condemn yesterday night’s destructive attack on the headquarters of daily newspaper Hürriyet by a crowd of stone-throwing AKP supporters angered by its reporting on a comment by the president.

The groups similarly called for prosecutors to drop a criminal probe initiated against Hürriyet following the attack, which claimed that the daily’s reporting of a controversial remark by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insulted him and “twisted [his] words to conduct a perception operation” against him.

IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis said today that “the events of the last 24 hours mark a dangerous escalation in an already troubling campaign of harassment and intimidation targeting independent media in Turkey ahead of the Nov. 1 election.”

He explained: “An important line has been crossed: an online campaign of intimidation targeting a media outlet in Turkey is linked with subsequent actual, physical violence against that outlet in the real world. It’s fortunate that no one was injured yesterday, but the next time we may not be so lucky. AKP leaders should denounce this attack and all those involved, and they should state clearly and strongly that violence is not an acceptable response.”

Ellis also said that the criminal case initiated against Hürriyet made it more likely that Turkey’s voters might not receive the news they need to make fully informed decisions at the polls.

“If this case continues, it sends the message that any journalist in Turkey who reports on something the president says publicly can face criminal charges if the president or his supporters decide they don’t like the manner in which it was presented,” he commented. “That is a chilling message, particularly ahead of an election, and extremely harmful to democracy. We urge prosecutors to drop this case and to focus their attention on real threats: those who use violence to silence people with whom they disagree and those who use technology to incite such attacks.”

Turkish media reported that approximately 150 to 200 protestors who had gathered in front of Hürriyet’s offices in western Istanbul yesterday evening attacked security guards and forced their way through the complex’s outer gate before pelting the front of the office with stones while chanting pro-AKP slogans. The protestors dispersed after riot police arrived, but some sources accused police on the scene of initially failing to intervene.

The attack came after AKP supporters, including one MP, began an online campaign against Hürriyet, claiming the paper misquoted Erdoğan. Threats posted on Twitter reportedly included calls for Hürriyet’s offices to be burned down, referencing the 1993 Sivas attack in which 35 were killed when a mob set fire to a hotel in which an Alevi group had gathered for a cultural festival.

The president, in an interview televised yesterday, said Turkey would not be facing the unrest it has recently experienced had 400 AKP deputies been elected in the June 7 parliamentary election in which the AKP failed to retain its majority. The November polls were called after no government could be formed in the wake of last June’s election and the 400-deputy threshold would pave the way for sweeping constitutional changes Erdoğan has demanded that would centralise much greater power in his office.

Turkey has seen intensifying clashes in recent months between government forces and the outlawed Kurdistan’s Workers Party (PKK) – which Turkey, the United States and the EU label a terrorist organisation – following the collapse of negotiations to end the PKK’s three-decade-long insurgency. Erdoğan’s comment came in an interview discussing a recent PKK attack on a government convoy in Dağlıca in Turkey’s east, in which 16 soldiers were reportedly killed

Hürriyet published the full text of the interview online and posted on Twitter: “Dağlıca comment from Erdoğan: ‘This would not have happened if 400 deputies had been given.’ ” The newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Sedat Ergin defended the accuracy of paper’s reporting today, although he said the incident had led to an internal discussion on the context in which the report was presented. However, he added: “Let’s assume that our web editor made a mistake. Should the response be to break glass and windows with stones and clubs?”

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East 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, 05/09/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the crude behaviour of Hungarian police forces towards members of international media outlets reporting on the refugee situation at a train station in Hungary on 4 September.

James Mates, the Europe editor of ITV News, tweeted about the treatment journalists were receiving from Hungarian authorities at the Bicske train station, where Syrian refugees were being escorted from trains. Mates stated that members of the media were being “shepherded away” in an alleged attempt to prevent the international community from seeing what was happening.

Journalists were forced off the rail station where incidents between the police and refugees were taking place, as the police declared the area an “operational zone”.

“We call on Hungarian authorities to protect the media and secure the free work of journalists”, SEEMO secretary General Oliver Vujovic stated.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East 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, 04/09/2015

Turkey’s recent detention of two British VICE News journalists and their fixer on terrorism accusations was troubling, but perhaps the most disquieting development was prosecutors’ assertion that the use of an encryption system provided proof that the three were “engaging in terrorist activity” and “aiding a terrorist organisation”.

In a recent article, Al Jazeera quoted a Turkish official who said that one of the main pieces of evidence against the two journalists, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, and local fixer Mohammed Ismael Rasool “seems to be that the fixer uses a complex encryption system on his personal computer that a lot of [Islamic State group] militants also utilise for strategic communications”.

The VICE journalists and their fixer were arrested on Aug. 27, 2015 in front of their hotel in Diyarbakır, where they had been reporting on clashes between Turkish security forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan’s Workers Party (PKK). Turkey, the United States and the EU label the PKK a terrorist organisation, and fighting between government troops and the group has intensified in recent months following the collapse of negotiations to end the PKK’s three-decade-long insurgency.

Hanrahan and Pendlebury were released yesterday and transferred to a deportation centre. However, Rasool, who has worked for international news organisations such the Associated Press (AP) and Al Jazeera, remains behind bars.

If the use of encryption is confirmed to be one of the reasons for their arrest, it would mean that Turkish authorities are willing to criminalise the use of tools that are essential to the free practice of journalism. Even if such tools can also be used for malicious purposes by terrorists or criminals, encryption is essential to protect anonymity of sources and their communications with journalists. Criminalising its use will hamper the work of journalists and mark yet one more threat to the already troubled state of media freedom in the country.

International observers have increasingly noted the importance of encryption and anonymity in digital communications. David Kaye, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression, wrote in a recent report: “Journalists, researchers, lawyers and civil society rely on encryption and anonymity to shield themselves (and their sources, clients and partners) from surveillance and harassment.”

Prominent Turkish journalist Kadri Gürsel, who heads the International Press Institute (IPI)’s Turkish National Committee, said the arrest of the two foreign journalists and their fixer on terrorism accusations was an “alarming violation of press freedom in Turkey”.

He continued: “The onslaught against freedom of the press in Turkey has reached new dimensions with this new aggression, which aims to prevent members of international media outlets from reporting from this new conflict zone.”

Gürsel explained that the arrests revealed that Turkish authorities have effectively criminalised the use of encryption systems. He argued: “We have to press home to authorities that the use of such tools in conflict zones is considered legitimate in the free world on the ground of a journalist’s right to protect his or her resources and contacts from hostilities”.

Journalists in Turkey have faced a number of deeply entrenched challenges, as an IPI special report released earlier this year noted, and the country has witnessed a sharp escalation in the climate of hostility against journalists as a new parliamentary election set for Nov. 1 approaches.

Those challenges have long included criminal penalties for daring to report on certain topics. But now, Turkey’s government seems to be saying, journalists should fear that the very tools they need to carry out their profession can be used to arrest and imprison them.

That development is unacceptable. Prosecutors should drop all charges in this case immediately and release Mr. Rasool. And Turkish authorities must stand up and unequivocally state that the use of legitimate tools to conduct journalism is not a crime.

The press freedom work of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.

Vienna, 02/09/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) was alarmed to learn about police raids that occurred in the Koza İpek holding headquarters in Ankara on 1 September 2015.

The Koza İpek Media Group, İpek University, Koza İpek Holding, Kanal Türk and the home of CEO Akın İpek were raided by MASAK teams (the Financial Crimes Investigation Board, a part of the Ministry of Finance) and a police escort.

Simultaneous raids were carried out in the offices of Turkish dailies Bugün and Millet, television channels Bugün TV and Kanaltürk, and the BGNNews.com website, all of which are subsidiaries of the İpek Media Group, part of Koza İpek Holding.

Detention orders were issued against five members of the Board of Directors and the Chairman at İpek, according to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

“The state has the right to investigate the financial and other legal work of every company, including media companies. However, if the investigations are selective, and only critical media companies are singled out, these acts could represent an attempt to silence and intimidate critical reporting”, Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General said.

The press freedom work of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.

Vienna, 01/09/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) express concern over a recent case of media freedom interference in Turkey.

Two VICE journalists and their fixer were arrested on 27 August 2015 in front of their hotel in Diyarbakır in the south-east of the country, where they had been reporting on clashes between Turkish security forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan’s Workers Party (PKK). They were charged by a Turkish court for “working on behalf of a terrorist group”.

Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, and local fixer Mohammed Ismael Rasool were filming clashes between police authorities and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in a region where journalist access has been limited. The media workers were interrogated and accused of having links to the PKK and the Islamic State.

SEEMO protests strongly against such accusations and urges the authorities in Turkey to secure conditions that allow journalists to freely report on all public interest events in the country.

The press freedom work of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.

Vienna, 01/09/2015

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned a today court decision in Azerbaijan sentencing famous investigative journalist Khadija Rovshan qizi Ismayilova, born 1976, to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

Ismayilova, former head of the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from Prague, who has been arrested in December 2014, was also barred from holding public office for three years. Prosecutors in the case had requested a nine-year sentence.

The court acquitted Ismayilova of a charge of inciting an individual to attempt suicide. SEEMO is reporting about lack of transparency in this case. In 2010 a series of her articles caused controversy as they explicitly named Azerbaijan’s current President and his family as engaging in corruption.

The press freedom work of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is supported by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) project, as part of a grant by the European Commission.

Vienna, 31/08/2015

Journalists from several media outlets were injured during a demonstration, when a group of people attacked the police in front of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) building in Ukrainian capital Kiev.

SEEMO is asking the authorities in Ukraine to protect better journalists and investigate this case.

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