28/02/2002 – RUSSIA: ATTACK

Vienna, 28 February 2002

The South East Europe Media Organisation is concerned about a new attack on a journalist in Russia.

Marina Popova, a correspondent for the daily Moskovsky Komsomolets vo Vladivostoke, was assaulted in the middle of the day by two unknown assailants while she was walking through the courtyard of a hospital. Popova suffered head injuries. The attackers did not take valuables a gold watch.

In a article published in her newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets vo Vladivostok she alleging that some local police officers were protecting some persons.

Vienna, 10 February 2002

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed regarding the problems that Denis Latin and his TV show Latinica (on public broadcaster Hrvatska radio i televizija – HRT) have in Croatia.

According to official information, the State Prosecutor plans to file charges against Denis Latin under Article 309 of the Croatian Criminal Code. SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic described all as “clear state pressure on press freedom and journalist Latin”.

Vienna, 8 February 2002

His Excellency Rexhep Meidani
President
Tirana
Albania
Fax: + 355 42 236 925

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, and its affiliate, the South East European Media Organisation (SEEMO), are deeply concerned about recent threats made against the newspaper Albania and its publisher Ylli Rakipi. According to SEEMO’s sources, over the past few months unidentified persons have attempted to prevent Rakipi and his newspaper from writing critical articles about Fatos Nano, chairman of the Albanian Socialist Party. On 3 February, Fatos Nano allegedly asked a journalist to mediate an agreement with Rakipi under which Albania would stop writing critical articles about the chairman. When Rakipi categorically rejected this offer, he received anonymous death threats from persons who also threatened to bomb the newspaper’s offices.

IPI and SEEMO urge Your Excellency to do everything in your power to bring to justice those responsible for threatening Ylli Rakipi and his newspaper, and to ensure the safety of all journalists working in Albania. Only three months ago, on 8 November 2001, another publisher, Nikolle Lesi of the independent Albanian newspaper Koha Jone, was physically assaulted in Tirana by an unidentified assailant, who also threatened him with a gun. We 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. We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
IPI Director

Oliver Vujovic
SEEMO Secretary General

Vienna, 30 January 2002

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is worried about the developments connected to the critical TV channel TV6 (ТВ-6) in Russia. TV6 was one of Russia’s first commercial television stations and it began broadcasting on 1 January 1993. The station was closed on 22 January 2002. The electricity was shut off in the middle of the “Nightingale’s Night” show while a guest was singing.

Vienna, 31 December 2001.

According to information before the Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), at the end of December 2001 two journalists were sentenced in Russia to prison terms.

Olga Kitova , 47-year-old investigative journalist from Belgorod , a reporter for Belgorodskaya Pravda, who reported about local corruption, was detained on 21 March 2001, and arrested in May 2001, but released on the orders of the District Court. That decision was reversed on 27 June as a result of a successful appeal to Belgorod Regional Court by the prosecutor. In March the police beat her unconscious. In December 2001 a local court sentenced Kitova to a suspended sentence of two and a half years for libel and using force against state authorities.

After several re-trials a court ultimately acquitted Grigory Mikhailovich Pasko on all counts except espionage, sentencing him on 25 December 2001 to four years of imprisonment for treason, for providing a Japanese television company with footage of the Russian navy dumping nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean, He was arrested in the case during 1997. Pasko formerly was a military journalist for the newspaper, Boyevaya Vakhta. Pasko was convicted of treason by a military court in Vladivostok.

The South East Europe Media Organisation is alarmed about both court cases and urges the authorities to respect the work of journalists and freedom of media in Russia.

Vienna, 26 December 2001

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) protests strongly against yesterday attack on Radio Belgrade 202 journalist and anchor Vojin Vojinovic.

Vojinovic was attacked in fron of his house in Belgrade by two unknown assailants in the evening on 25 December 2001. As result of this attack Vojnovic had serious injuries.

Vojin Vojinovic is a journalist on an entertainment program and is not a member of any political party. In a press release today, Radio Belgrade 202 said that the editorial staff had received a telegram containing a warning prior to the attack on Vojinovic.

Vienna, 12 December 2001

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the jailing for three months of Vladislav Asanin, the former editor-in-chief of Podgorica daily Dan.

Asanin was jailed after being convicted on private libel charges brought by the President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic.

SEEMO is calling the Government and Parliament of Montenegro to amend the criminal legislation in order to prevent the criminal code from being used as an instrument to repress journalists and media.

Vienna, 30 November 2001

Ildar Zhandaryov host of the TV show “Bez Protokola” (Without Protocol), and of the movie TV review program “Interesnoye Kino” (Interesting Movie), both broadcasted on TV-6, was beaten and robbed by three unknown persons in the early morning hours today on 30 November when he entered his apartment building in Moscow. He was taken to a hospital.

TV-6 is an independent Russian television station with a national reach. TV 6 began broadcasting on 1 January 1993.

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is asking for a fast and transperent investigation of this attack.

Vienna, 21/11/2001

To: Zoran Djindjic
Prime Minister
Republic of Serbia
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: + 381 11 3617 – 609

CC:

Dragisa Pesic
Prime Minister, FR Yugoslavia

Slobodan Orlic
Federal Secretary of Information, FR Yugoslavia

Dragan Domazet
Minister of Science and Technology, Serbia, FRY

Ljubisa Papic
Vice-Minister of Science and Technology, Serbia, FRY

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), is deeply concerned about the case of the independent economic magazine, Ekonomist magazin.

According to the information before SEEMO, on 17 January 2000, Ekonomist was declared a “publication of special interest for science” and therefore exempt from general circulation tax, in accordance with Serbian law. However, a decision signed on 12 September 2001 by the Vice Minister for Science and Technology, Professor Dr. Ljubisa Papic, has led to Ekonomist magazin losing this status. As a result, the magazine now has to pay the general circulation tax.

In SEEMO’s opinion, this change in the status of Ekonomist magazin is unusual, because the concept of the magazine has not changed since January 2000. In addition, we find it strange that an independent publication, which has always been critical of economic developments and policy in Serbia, enjoyed a better position during the Milosevic regime than it does today.

SEEMO urges Your Excellency to find a legal way to help professional and independent media that play an important role in scientific development in Serbia. For this specific group of media, every new financial load is an extra burden. We are sure that you also understand that the existence of the scientific media is very important for the economic development and democratisation of Serbia.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic
Secretary General