18/03/2014: SLOVENIA – CASE OF ANUSKA DELIC AND CASE OF DEJAN KALOH

Vienna, 18/03/2014

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is monitoring the case of Anuska Delic, journalist working for the Slovenian daily Delo. The office of the state prosecutor has indicted Delic for allegedly published classified information. According to the Article 260 of the Criminal Law she could face up to three years of prison.

In November 2011 Anuska Delic, published three stories. In April 2013 she was indicted for publishing classified information on the basis of charges made by the intelligence service SOVA.

SEEMO is also monitoring in Slovenia the case Dejan Kaloh. His house was seached by police in January 2014. Kaloh is journalist and editor on the website www.politikis.si and author of the book Od partije do Patrie.

Vienna, 12 March 2014

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), said today that it was worried about a number of recent incidents of pressure on journalists and media in Croatia.

Ante Tomic, a writer and columnist with the daily Jutarnji List, reported that he was attacked on Feb. 23 while sitting in a cafe in the centre of the town of Split by an unknown man who dumped a bucket of faeces over Tomic’s head. Tomic said the man told him: “Now you can write about me again.”

SEEMO said it supported the Croatian Journalists Association (Hrvatsko novinarsko drustvo) in its calls for police to apprehend the assailant as soon as possible.

In another case, SEEMO expressed shock at reports that Carnival participants in the town of Omis burned an effigy symbolising Vinko Vukovic, a journalist from the daily Slobodna Dalmacija who has reported on corruption in the town. Local sources attributed the incident to supporters of a local politician.

SEEMO also said that it was surprised by accounts of pressure from Croatian financial authorities on the critical news portal Index.hr, which in recent years has reported on financial and other affairs in Croatia and in neighbouring countries.

“Every company, including Index, must respect all legal and financial regulations,” SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said. “But what is astonishing is that other companies in Croatia that have bigger financial problems were not under similar pressure by the financial authorities. Authorities must hold all companies to an equal obligation to respect legal and financial regulations.”

Vujovic said that SEEMO would continue to monitor developments in the three cases, commenting: “All of these cases could have a negative influence on media freedom in Croatia.”

Vienna, 12/03/2014

Since the beginning of this week six journalists have been released from jail in Turkey: Tuncay Özkan, Merdan Yanardağ, Yalçın Küçük, Hikmet Çiçek, Deniz Yıldırım and Turhan Özlü. The South East Europe Media Organisation has today welcomed the release of all six journalists.

Vienna, 12/03/2014

The International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), today welcomed news that the last journalist imprisoned in Turkey in connection with the alleged Ergenekon coup plot case has been released and they reiterated calls for the release of 50 other journalists still behind bars in the country.

Local sources reported that journalist Turhan Ozlu emerged from the Silivri Prison today. His release caps off a dramatic week that also saw the release of a number of other individuals convicted in the Ergenekon case, including journalists Deniz Yildirim, Tuncay Ozkan, Merdan Yanardag and Hikmet Cicek, as well as academic Yalcin Kucuk.

“We are extremely pleased to hear of these journalists’ release and to learn that no more journalists are currently behind bars in connection with the Ergenekon case,” IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said. “However, Turkey still appears to be the top jailer of journalists in the world. We urge Turkish authorities to take this week’s progress a step further and release all journalists detained in connection with their work. We similarly call on authorities to drop criminal cases against journalists connected with their work, such as the charges presented in the OdaTV case.”

According to the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Turkish Journalists Syndicate (TGS), 50 journalists remain imprisoned in Turkey, most for alleged links to the “Press Committee” of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), a group that the government labels the “urban wing” of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Others are behind bars for alleged connections to banned leftist or Marxist groups.

Many journalists in Turkey also continue to face potential prison time, notably those in the OdaTV case, which is named for a news website that has been fiercely critical of Turkish authorities’ pursuit of investigations into various alleged coup plots. Authorities accuse the 13 defendants in that case – who include Kucuk as well as investigative reporter Ahmet Sik and IPI World Press Freedom Hero Nedim Sener – of having acted as the media wing of the Ergenekon plot, allegedly advancing it by questioning the government’s investigations.

The next hearing in the OdaTV case is scheduled for April 1.

Vienna, 04/03/2014

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is worried about he news that the Today’s Zaman columnist Mumtaz’er Türköne has been sentenced to one year in prison. According to the court, sentences he wrote were highly critical of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Türköne was found guilty of “openly insulting the memory of Atatürk”.

Vienna, 6 October 2013

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) today condemned the delivery of a parcel bomb to the daily newspaper La Stampa in Turin. The parcel bomb, received on 3 October 2013 was detected before it exploded. The bomb was addressed to journalist Massimo Numa.

Vienna, 23 September 2013

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern about the disappearance of journalist Sergej Naumov in Uzbekistan, a journalist who got several awards for his reporting.

According to infromation before SEEMO two days ago, on 21 September, Naumov called his colleagues to inform them that the police had detained him. Since then there are no information from Naumov.

Vienna, 18 September 2013

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), today expressed concern about a reported attack on a vehicle owned by Genka Shikerova, co-host of the morning show “Tazi Sutrin” (This Morning) on bTV, a private national television channel in Bulgaria.
Shikerova’s car was set on fire on Monday evening in what is suspected to have been arson. Shikerova told viewers of her show on Tuesday morning that the vehicle was parked in front of her home in the Geo Milev district of Sofia when it was set ablaze and that the vehicle was destroyed.
SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said: “This is not the first time that the car of a journalist or a media company has been damaged in Bulgaria. Such incidents are used in the country as a means of threatening journalists. I urge the state authorities to investigate this case.”
He added: “I also call on authorities in Sofia to solve the cases of previous attacks on journalists. As we know, no one has been charged in relation to a number of cases of violence against journalists in Bulgaria in recent years. Further, I urge all EU institutions in Brussels to do more to protect the security of journalists in Bulgaria. Attacks and pressure on journalists in any EU country, including Bulgaria, are not acceptable.”

Vienna, 17 September 2013

The South East Europe Media Organisation condemns a suspected arson attack on a vehicle owned by Bulgarian television journalist Genka Shikerova . Shikerova’s car, a Peugeot 308, was parked in front of her home when it burst into flames yesterday, on Monday 16 September, evening.

Shikerova is co-host of a popular morning show on bTV.

Vienna, 29 August 2013

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alramed about the continued detention of journalist Tomislav Kezarovski for another 30 days in Skopje. He is in jail since 28 May. Connected to this case SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic sent a letter to authorities in Skopje and to Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.