Vienna, 19 July 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation welcomed today’s decision by a court in Minsk to lift the restrictions imposed on Belarusian journalist, Irina Khalip.
Khalip, a journalist for Novaya gazeta, received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011. Khalip . Khalip got in 2010 a Special Mention for her work as part of the annual CEI SEEMO investigative journalism award.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is worried about developments in Bulgaria.
On 5 July 2103 a television crew of SKAT TV with five jorunalists was verbally and physically assaulted by members of Ataka Party in Bourgas while trying to interview the parliamentarian.
On 27 June 2013 during a meeting Ataka president Volen Siderov announced that he would visit all the state and privately-owned TV stations to obtain “more positive” and “balanced” coverage of his activities. “We are going to throw stones, tomatoes and eggs at the offices of BNT, bTV, Nova TV and Canal 3,” he announced. After this announcment Siderov arrived outside BNT with a group of party members and occupied the BNT premises for several hours.
BNT is Bulgarian public TV broadcaster.
Vienna, 25 June 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern over the new initiative in the Russian Parliament – Duma – to criminalize speech which sheds a negative light on the role of the Soviet Army in World War II. According to reports, the draft law introduces punishment of “intentionally false accusations” against the armed forces of the anti-Hitler coalition of having committed crimes during the II world war.
Vienna, 16 June 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns all police actions against journalists and other media workers covering protests in Gezi Park in Istanbul. Numerous journalists and other media workers had been detained in the past days. According to information before SEEMO journalists have also been injured. Police also allegedly targeted with water cannons journalists and TV crews trying to broadcast live.
Today Ferhat Uludağlar and Uğur Can from Doğan News Agency, as also Okan Altunkara and Gökhan Biçici of IMC TV were detained for some hours by the Istanbul police.
Also today journalists Eylem Düziyol and Fulya Atalay were beaten by the police while taking photos.
Yesterday on 15 June near the Istanbul Taksim Square police forced photoreporter Cem Türkel working for the daily Akşam to delete all photos.
Additional cases in the past days are:
Ismail Afacan, a reporter for newspaper Günlük Evrensel and Hayat TV, was injured in the eye and his video camera damaged.
Onur Emre, working for Sol, was injured by tear gas.
Russian reporter Arkady Babchenko was beaten and detained and
Mesut Ciftçi, a reporter for TV station ATV, and cameraman Ismail Velioglu were injured by rubber bullets.
Fatos Kalaçay was assaulted by police.
Canadian journalists Sasa Petricic and Derek Stoffel were detained;
Ugur Can of the Dogan News Agency and Tugba Tekerek of the Taraf newspaper were physicly and verbally abuse by police.
Olgu Kundakçi, working for newspaper Birgün was also hit by a rubber bullet.
Erhan Karadag, reporter for Kanal D, was questioned by police in Ankara and spent one nice in the police.
Journalist Ahmet Sik was hit on the head
Bulgarian journalist Elena Yoncheva was injured by a tear gas;
Photoreporter Selçuk Samiloglu working for the national daily Hürriyet was hit by a rubber bullet, wounding him on the right hand. Additional he was injured on the head by a projectile.
Vienna, 31 May 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the detention of journalist Tomislav Kezerovski in Skopje. Tomislav Kezarovski, an investigative journalist working for Nova Makedonija daily, is currently being detained for 30 days in relation to a text he wrote in 2008 for the magazine Reporter 92. Kezerovski came in jail on 28 May. It is unacceptable that a journalist is detained for his reporting”, said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic
Vienna, 27 May 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns prison sentences handed down to journalists in Italy for libel. To send a journalist to jail for what she or he is writing is not acceptable – libel for journalists should be removed from the legal regulations in Italy.
Journalists Andrea Marcenaro, Giorgio Mulé and Riccardo Arena were sentenced to prison by a court in Milan on defamation charges after they published an report in the weekly Panorama in 2010 about Palermo adiministration.
Vienna, 8 May 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the arresting of journalists Dzmitry Halko (Дмитрий Галко), who works as a freelancher and Alyaksandr Yarashevich (Александр Ярошевич), correspondent for Radio Racyja. Both were arrested in Minsk, Belarus, on 6 May 2013 when they reported about a demonstration.
Vienna, 1 May 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed after several members of the judiciary, among them the acting General Prosecutor and four Supreme Court judges, are seeking damages totaling 940,000 EUR from the daily newspaper Nový Čas and its publisher for photos and videos published in June 2011
Additional Judge Michal Truban is asking from the newspaper SME 150,000 EUR. He claims that an investigative article published by the newspaper in September 2012 had impugned his honour.
Vienna, 1 May 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned today the attack on Mufail Limani, editor in chief of Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK).
The attack on the journalist working for the public radio and TV in Kosovo happened when the entrance door to the his family house was set on fire this morning. Fortunately no one was injured.
Vienna, 25 April 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed about campaigns of intimidation against two of Radio Azadliq journalists, Khadija Ismayilova and Yafez Hasanov. Ismayilova’s investigative reports are international well known.
Today, on 25 April, a pro-government website posted a pornographic video that was fabricated to portray Ismayilova engaging in sexual acts.
Some weeks earlier, on 4 April a package was sent to Hasanov’s home with papers that suggested he was having relationships with several women.
Hasanov also received a call from a man who identified himself as an agent of the Ministry of National Security (MNS), and asked Hasanov to cooperate with MNS. The caller also warned that if Hasanov reported about one politician he would be exposed and his life and the lives of his family members would be for ever in danger.