11/06/2004: GREECE – RECENT MEDIA DEVELOPMENT IN GREECE

Vienna, 11/06/2004

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about a recent media development in Greece.

According to information before SEEMO, on Friday, 4 June 2004, police entered the premises of the private radio station Makedonikos Ichos (“Macedonian Sound”) in Naoussa, seizing transmitting equipment and arresting the owner, Aris Vottaris. The official explanation for the action was that the radio station did not have a licence for local or regional transmissions.

Vottaris was released after a few hours, but charged with illegal transmissions and a lack of the appropriate documents. His radio station broadcasts in the Macedonian (Slavo-Macedonian) language and frequently transmits traditional songs in Macedonian (Slavo-Macedonian).

SEEMO is concerned that the authorities singled out this particular radio station, despite the fact that other radio stations in the districts of Imathia and Pella in northern Greece operate under similar conditions.

SEEMO urges the Greek authorities to speed up the process of issuing broadcasting licences, especially for alternative radio stations such as Makedonikos Ichos, which work on a regional or local level, and to guarantee everyone’s right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” as indicated by Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We would further like to stress that it is crucial for journalists to exercise their profession freely and that the independent media are fundamental to the democratic development of any country.

SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI).

Vienna, 12/05/2004

To:

His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle

Hieromonk Irinej Dobrijevic

Consultant to the Holy Synod of Bishops on International and Interchurch Affairs and Editor-in-Charge of the Information Service Serbian Orthodox Church

Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

Your Holiness,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the treatment of a journalist working for the Belgrade daily, Danas.

According to information before SEEMO, on 7 May 2004, Jelena Tasic, a reporter for Danas wished to cover the celebrations of “200 Years of the Modern Serbian State”, organised by the Serbian Orthodox Church. Tasic asked for accreditation and after calling the Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was informed that the accreditation was ready. But when she arrived at the press conference and took a seat in the conference room, a person from the security approached her and requested her to leave the premises because she did not have the accreditation. He did not check whether she had the document, but just told her that she had to leave because those were the orders he got from the Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

SEEMO was informed that Danas issued a public statement about this case, that was published in several media in Serbia on 8 May, but did not receive any reaction from the Church.

SEEMO condemns the treatment of Jelena Tasic and Danas. We remind you that all media should be treated equally and that the Church, with its important public role, needs to be open to all media.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

SEEMO Secretary General

Vienna, 04/08/2004

To:

Vladimir Voronin

President of the Republic of Moldova

Chisinau, Moldova

Your Excellency,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe, and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), wishes to express its concern over recent developments at Teleradio Moldova (TRM).

According to information before SEEMO, on 27 July 2004, a group of employees at TRM launched a protest following growing discontent with the Selection Committee’s procedure for selecting staff at the broadcaster. On the evening of the same day, the evening broadcasts of the 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. news were banned by the State Company’s administration. In reaction to the protest, 19 TRM employees were also suspended from their duties. Moreover, police force was used in order to put down the peaceful protests.

SEEMO shares the concerns of Moldovan journalists that these actions were just a further step in the government’s attempt to seize control of the mass media in Moldova, after temporarily suspending the activity of several independent media outlets in Chisinau and re-establishing the state newspapers in the regions.

SEEMO condemns the recent measures taken against the TRM employees and the use of police force. We urge the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to do everything in their power to ensure transparent and non-discriminatory staff selection procedures at the broadcaster, and to fully respect the provisions of the 2002 Law on the National Public Broadcaster, which would ensure the transformation of TRM into a true public service broadcaster.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

SEEMO Secretary General

Vienna, 19/02/2004

To:

Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha

Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria

Georgi Petrov Petkanov

Minister of Interior Affairs

Sofia, Bulgaria

Your Excellencies,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned over the threats against the Sofia-based Roma weekly, Defacto, and the Roma news agency, Roma Information Agency (RIA).

According to information before SEEMO, on 17 February, the offices of Defacto and RIA received four telephone calls between 12 noon and 1 p.m., in which an unknown male voice threatened the staff. It is believed that the threats were connected with the reporting of Defacto.

SEEMO is informed that Defacto and RIA decided to temporarily stop their work, until this case is solved by the police. For this reason, we urge Your Excellencies to do everything in your power to protect the staff of both media outlets. Furthermore, we ask you to resolve this case and to bring to justice the person or persons behind these threats. We remind you that the duty of every state is to enable journalists to work freely.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

SEEMO Secretary General

Vienna, 11/02/2004

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about recent media developments in Moldova. “What happened in the past weeks is alarming and I hope that the officials in Moldova will respect in future the important position of independent and critical media,” said Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General.

According to information before SEEMO, on 3 February 2004, the Broadcasting Coordinating Council (CCA) decided to suspend broadcasting of two critical media, the municipal radio station Radio Antena C and the TV station Euro TV Chisinau.

Also, SEEMO is informed that on 25 January 2004, at a meeting of an opposition party in Chisinau, officials restricted journalistic activities. Valeriu Saharneanu, President of the Moldovan Journalists Union, who gave a speech at the 25 January meeting on the necessity to defend media independence and freedoms, was summoned by the police and charged with disturbing the public order. A date for his trial was immediately established. SEEMO has already reacted to an incident that happened on the same day, when Valeriu Timus, cameraman of the independent station PRO TV, was forced by unknown persons to stop filming the meeting, without any reaction by policemen who were present.

Finally, on 9 February the bank account of the critical Moldovan weekly Timpul was blocked by a court order. This is the result of a decision of a company to sue the weekly for defamation. The trial against the paper should start in some days.

SEEMO expresses its deep concern about all these cases and urges the officials of the Broadcasting Coordinating Council to cancel the decision of the suspensions. SEEMO would also like to remind Your Excellency that freedom of expression is of vital importance for democratic development in any country.

Vienna, 30/01/2004

To:

Ivo Sanader

Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia

Marjan Mlinaric

Minister of Interior Affairs

Zagreb, Croatia

Your Excellencies,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is alarmed by threats received by Sasa Jadrijevic Tomas, a journalist for the Croatian daily newspaper, Slobodna Dalmacija, since Friday, 23 January 2004.

According to information before SEEMO, on 23 January, Sasa Jadrijevic Tomas received threats from an unknown person one day before Slobodna Dalmacija planned to publish an article about Stipe Cacija, Assistant to the Croatian Minister of Interior Affairs, entitled “Cacija has not paid alimony to his son for 18 years”. Although under pressure, Slobodna Dalmacija published the article on Saturday, 24 January.

SEEMO is also informed that on Thursday, 29 January, an unknown person called the office of the newspaper saying he had information that Jadrijevic Tomas would be killed. After this latest telephone call, the journalist received police protection.

In SEEMO’s opinion, the threat against Jadrijevic Tomas constitutes a serious attack on freedom of expression in Croatia and hinders journalists from freely exercising their profession. Therefore, SEEMO urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to protect Jadrijevic Tomas and to bring to justice the person or persons behind these threats.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

SEEMO Secretary General

Vienna, 15/01/2004

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about the verbal threats directed against editors and journalists working at Hrvatska riječ, a magazine for the Croatian minority, which is published in Subotica, Serbia.

On 13 January 2004, Hrvatske rijeci received three threatening telephone calls. According to SEEMO’s sources, the threats were clearly anti-Croatian in content. In the first call, the voice said that if the magazine continued to publish, he would kill the staff. In the second call, the same voice said, “You are all dead.” In the third call, he used swearwords. On 14 January, the magazine received two further anonymous threatening phone calls.

As SEEMO has been informed, these threats against Hrvatske rijeci are part of a campaign of intimidation carried out against the Croatian minority in Vojvodina, Serbia, over the past two weeks. Until now, no one has been arrested by police. SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic expressed alarm “that all of these cases happened in a multi-ethnic region, such as Vojvodina, and after the December elections in Serbia.”

SEEMO calls upon the authorities in Serbia, as well as the local authorities in Vojvodina, to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation and to bring to justice those responsible. We further urge the authorities to do everything possible to ensure that journalists and other media workers in Serbia are able to safely carry out their profession.

Vienna, 07/01/2004

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about the brutal attack on Greek journalist Antonis Papadopoulos.

On 28 December 2003, the TV station Alter sent its reporter Antonis Papadopoulos, a member of the Athens Union of Daily Newspapers (ESIEA), along with a camera crew, to the public Nikea General Hospital, after it received several telephone calls from relatives of patients hospitalized there. They claimed that due to the large number of patients needing medical treatment and a shortage of appropriate rooms, the patients were put in so-called “rantza” beds in the corridors of the hospital, where they were kept under poor conditions.

Papadopoulos and his crew went to investigate and were able to enter the hospital without any problems. They even filmed the situation, which proved to correspond to the accusations of the patients’ relatives. Soon people from a private security company, who are responsible for order in the hospital, arrived and attacked Papadopoulos and his crew. Papadopoulos was beaten repeatedly. His clothes were torn, his bag taken, and he was forced to go to the basement of the building where he was questioned by people with no authority to do so.

The police arrived later and took Papadopoulos and the persons who had beaten him to the neighbouring police station, where they all testified about the incident. After Papadopoulos complained, the tape on which the beginning of the incident was filmed, was returned to Alter and shown nationwide.

SEEMO calls upon the authorities in Greece to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation and to bring to justice those responsible for this attacks against journalists. We further urge the authorities to do everything possible to ensure that journalists and other media workers in Greece are able to safely carry out their profession.

ALBANIA, 16/10/2003
To:

Fatos Nano

Prime Minister of Albania

Tirana, Albania

Your Excellency,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South Eastern Europe, and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the violent attack on TV Vizioni Plus news-editor, Ilir Babarama.

According to SEEMO´s sources, on 14 October 2003, Luan Rama, Minister of Public Order, and his bodyguards allegedly attacked Babarama in public while the journalist was attending Your Excellency´s celebrations at the successful conclusion of the local Albanian elections.

SEEMO urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to bring to justice those responsible for this incident. We also respectfully remind you that it is the duty of the state to provide an environment in which media professionals are able to carry out their duties without fear of attack.

Therefore, we ask you to ensure the safety of all journalists working in Albania.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

Secretary General