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.
Vienna, 22 April 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned the today attack on Gezim Bimbashi, a reporter with public broadcaster RTK.
Bimbashi was beaten while filming protests in Mitrovica.
Vienna, 17/04/2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned at the number of press freedom violations, and the pressure directed at the media, in South East Europe in recent weeks.
In Albania on 7 April 2013, a cameraman for one of the countrys leading TV channels, Top Channel, who covered a football match between Tirana and Skenderbeu, was allegedly beaten by police, stopped from filming and taken to a Tirana police station where he was allegedly beaten by high-ranking police officers. This happened after an incident involving the football fans and police, when the Top Channel cameraman was waiting fans who had been detained to come out. According to the police, the cameraman was taken to the police office because he refused to identify himself, no violence was used, and after he was identified he was immediately released. Top Channel rejects these declarations as untrue.
SEEMO notes that this is not the first attack on Top Channel. In March this year the studios of the channel were surrounded by police as a result of a state decision, without prior notice, to terminate a rental contract with Top Channel. Top Channel received a letter from a minister with a one-sided termination of the rent contract – which had in theory been valid until 2025.
Meanwhile, in Trebinje, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 14 April 2013, a bishop from the Serbian Orthodox Church verbally attacked Nebojsa Vukanovic, a correspondent for the BN TV channel, apparently because he was displeased by the journalists reporting. If I were to judge you, it would be a knockout, so it is better that you be judged by Saint Vasilije, the bishop said, according to media reports. The bishop also suggested that journalists were maligning Trebinje, naming Vukanovic as an example.
SEEMO is also concerned at the threats, including death threats, against the journalist Predrag Lucic made on various web portals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is not the first time that web portals in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been used for death threats against journalists.
In another development, SEEMO is surprised to hear that Bulgarian journalist Boris Mitov, who works for Mediapool, was summoned on 5 April 2013 to the prosecutor’s office for questioning over one of his reports. This appears to be a clear-cut case of pressure directed at a journalist.
SEEMO is also surprised to hear that on 11 April 2013,without prior announcement, cable platform IPKO moved national licensed broadcaster Kohavision (KTV) from Pristina from the position of channel three to that of channel 83 in the cable system, in addition preventing viewers from rearranging and listing the channels as they wish. KTV, one of the only three national broadcasters, has thus been reclassified in the category of local broadcasters.
SEEMO calls on the Kosovo authorities to investigate an attack with automatic weapons on the building and studio of the radio station Kolasin in Zubin Potok in Kosovo, which occurred on 16 April 2013 in the morning hours.
SEEMO welcomes the police investigation into, and criminal charges brought against, the chief of the heating plant of the City of Nis in Serbia, and two other persons, after death threats against Predrag Blagojevic, a journalist and web editor of Juzne vesti.
SEEMO Secretary- General Oliver Vujovic urges Serbian authorities to keep the promise they made to investigate the three unsolved killings of journalists in Serbia: Radislava Dada Vulasinovic; Slavko Curuvija; and Milan Pantic. The authorities in Belgrade must ensure that both the perpetrators and masterminds are prosecuted after so many years. Vujasinovic was killed in 1994, Curuvija in1999 and Pantic in 2001.
Finally, SEEMO is concerned at the circumstances under which Denis Latin, Ruzica Renic and Katja Kusec were relieved of their positions within the Croatian public broadcaster Hrvatska Radio Televiija (HRT) in March this year. Vujovic calls on the government and the HRT management to refrain from any action that could lead to censorship and threaten editorial independence.
Speaking of the regional surge in press freedom violations as a whole, Vujovic said: “I urge the authorities to create a safe environment for journalists, to investigate all forms of attacks and threats against journalists, and to cease activities that could make the work of journalists harder. Different views, and investigative reporting, need to be accepted, promoted and supported by state authorities, including through transparent investigations into all forms of attacks on journalists”.
Vienna, 16 April 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed concern about threats and attack on the Greek journalist George Tselika.
Tselika works as a sport reporter at Greek TV station SKAI and he was attacked in the near of the Giorgos Karaiskakis football stadium in Athens on 14 April 2013. Tselika is a well known sport reporter and he was severely beaten. As result of the attack he had fractured pelvis and broken ribs.
Vienna, 16 April 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is concerned about attacks on media in Kosovo. Today gun shots were fired at the radio station Kolašin in Zubin Potok. It is the second attack against this radio station in one year. Since the first attack, the radio station has stopped broadcasting its news programme and is broadcasting only music.
Vienna, 16 April 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned today threats against journalists Nebojša Vukanović and Predrag Lucić in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Vienna, 10 April 2013
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemned today the sending of a package bomb to the Turin-based headquarters of the daily La Stampa.
Vienna, 8 April 2013
The Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expresses deep sorrow at reports of the death of Mikhail Beketov (Михаил Бекетов). Beketov, who was former editor in chief of Khimkinskaya Pravda in the city of Khimki never fully recovered from injuries after a violent attack in 2008.
On 13 November 2008, Beketov was beaten and spent months in a coma. Head injuries left Beketov unable to speak. His leg and several fingers were amputated.
Beketov covered the construction of the motorway Moscow–Saint Petersburg and its potential damage to the environment before he was attacked.
Vienna, 6 March 2013
Yesterday on 5 March, three unidentified men attacked Taras Chornoivan, editor in chief of Tarasova Pravda. The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns this brutal attack on a journalist.
The journalist believes that the attack had been prompted by his articles accusing a former official of vote rigging