14/11/2001: ALBANIA – ATTACK ON NIKOLLE LESI, PUBLISHER OF THE INDEPENDENT ALBANIAN NEWSPAPER, KOHA JONE

Vienna, 14/11/2001

Ilir Meta
Prime Minister
Tirana
Albania

CC:
Ilir Gjoni
Minister of Public Order, 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 Nikolle Lesi, publisher of the independent Albanian newspaper, Koha Jone.

According to SEEMO’s sources, on 8 November, Lesi was assaulted in Tirana by an unidentified assailant, who physically assaulted the publisher and threatened him with a gun. We understand that the attack was related to articles published in Koha Jone.

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. We ask you to ensure the safety of all journalists working in Albania.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

Secretary General

Vienna, 12/11/2001

To: Zoran Djindjic
Prime Minister
Republic of Serbia
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: + 381 11 3617 730

CC:

Zoran Zivkovic
Minister of Internal Affairs, FR Yugoslavia. Fax: +381 11 636 314

Dusan Mihajlovic
Minister of Internal Affairs, Republic of Serbia (+ 381 11 – 361 76 98)

Your Excellency,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South Eastern Europe, is deeply concerned about a recent violation of press freedom in Serbia.

According to the information before SEEMO, on 10 November 2001, Serbian plainclothes policemen confiscated a tape belonging to a TV B92 television crew that contained exclusive footage of a protest staged by the Serbian police Special Operations Unit, known as the Red Berets. During the protest, about 30 members of the elite police unit, dressed in full combat gear, had erected a blockade on the Belgrade-Subotica highway, near Vrbas, between 2.00 and 3.00 p.m. on 10 November.

In SEEMO’s opinion, the confiscation of tape is evidence that the Serbian police is intent on continuing its old practice of preventing journalists from exercising their profession.

SEEMO urges Your Excellency to ensure that the tape is returned immediately and that a thorough investigation into the incident is launched. We further urge you to do everything in your power to end the harassment of Serbia’s journalists.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic
Secretary General

Vienna, 31/10/2001

To:

Stipe Mesic
President of Croatia
Zagreb
Fax: + 385 1 45 65 159

Milo Djukanovic
President of Montenegro
Podgorica
FRY
Fax: + 381 81 245 849

CC:

Sime Lucin
Minister of Internal Affairs, Croatia. Fax: +385 1 6122 771

Andrija Jovicevic
Minister of Internal Affairs, Montenegro. Fax: +381 81 246 779

Vesna Perovic
President of the Parlament, Montenegro. Fax: + 381 81 242 641

Zoran Zivkovic
Minister of Internal Affairs, FR Yugoslavia. Fax: +381 11 636 314

Your Excellencies,

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 for the safety of Ivo Pukanic, director of theleading Croatian news magazine, Nacional.

According to different information before SEEMO, several groups are preparing Pukanic’s assassination. The threat is the result of several investigative reports published in Nacional about the connection between Montenegrin officials and cigarette smugglers in the Balkans. SEEMO has also been informed that there was an attempt to bribe Nacional into halting the investigation of the so-called “Balkan tobacco mafia”.

In addition, according to SEEMO’s sources, Vladislav Asanin, the former editor-in-chief of the Montenegrin daily, Dan, is being charged with libel by the Montenegrin president after his newspaper reprinted articles first published in Nacional about the cigarette smugglers.

Asanin’s trial is due to take place on 2 November 2001 in Podgorica. It is the second trial against Asanin since Dan started reprinting articles from Nacional. In the first trial, on 3 September 2001, Asanin was given a five-month suspended sentence for criminal defamation.SEEMO notes that, prior to May 2001, Dan had reprinted some 60 articles from various foreign media about the link between the Balkan tobacco mafia and Montenegrin officials and that there had been no reaction from the officials in Podgorica before Dan began reprinting articles from Nacional.

SEEMO therefore urges Your Excellencies to do everything in your powers to ensure the safety of Ivo Pukanic and all other journalists working in your countries. We further urge Your Excellency, the President of Montenegro, to authorise an immediate and thorough investigation into the alleged plans to assassinate Ivo Pukanic and to bring those responsible to justice. Finally, SEEMO urges the authorities in Montenegro to stop their harassment of journalists working for Dan and to recognise that journalists have an essential role to play in any democratic society.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

Secretary General

Vienna, 25 November 2001

The daily newspaper Bota Sot was sanctioned by the Election Complaints and Appeals Commission of Kosovo for a second time during the election campaign.

On 15 November, of a photograph of the political candidate Flora Brovina was publlished in Bota Sot. The photo was captioned “Do You Know the People in the Photo?” and the text of the article identified those with her as members of the Serbian secret service. The implication, according to the Election Complaints and Appeals sub-Commission, is that Brovina was complicit with the former Serbian regime.

Bota Sot is being ordered to publish an apology to Ms. Brovina. Each day that goes by without the apology being published will mean a further 1,000 DM fine, to a maximum of 10,000 DM.

Vienna, 20 October 2001

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed and expresses its deep concern over the attack which took place on 19 October in the evening in which Bekim Kastrati, a journalist who worked for Bota Sot daily was shot. The attacked happened in a village in the west of the Kosovo capital Pristina, Additional to Kastrati Besim Dajaku, former bodyguard of Kosovo politician Ibrahim Rugova was also killed.

Vienna, 02/10/2001

Milan Kucan
President of Slovenia

CC:

Janez Drnovsek
Prime Minister, Slovenia

Rado Bohinc
Minister of Internal Affairs, Slovenia

Ljubljana
Slovenia

Your Excellency,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South Eastern Europe,is deeply concerned about recent developments in the Republic of Slovenia.

In particular, SEEMO is worried that more than seven months after Miro Petek, an investigative reporter for the Slovene daily, Vecer, was attacked in front of his house in Mezica, the attackers have still not been apprehended.

Petek, who reports on the connection between politicians and criminals, was attacked on 28 February. The attackers broke his nose, and his skull, jaw and cheek-bones were fractured. As a result of the attack, he lost his sense of smell, his eyesight is poor, and he was unable to work for five months.

In SEEMO’s opinion, the fact that the Slovene police, in a press conference on 3 September, attacked the country’s journalists for claiming that the investigation into the case was ineffective and even blamed the media for the inefficiency of the police, is proof that the authorities are investigating the case in an unprofessional manner.

SEEMO urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to find the attackers of Petek and to ensure the safety of journalists working in Slovenia. We also urge the authorities to end the intimidation of Slovenia´s journalists, who have an important observer role in SEEMO, and remind you that journalists play an essential role in any democratic society.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

Secretary General

Vienna, 31/08/2001

To: Vojislav Kostunica

President

Belgrade

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

By Fax: + 381 11 – 301 50 55

Your Excellency,

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about recent developments in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In particular, SEEMO is concerned that the new authorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia are still inclined to treat the media in the way that their predecessors did during the Slobodan Milosevic regime.

According to SEEMO’s sources, the independent Belgrade daily Danas has been verbally attacked on several occasions by officials because of its critical reporting about the president. On 22 August, you personally attacked Danas during a public meeting in the city of Kraljevo, claiming that Danas was constantly portraying you as an “arch-devil”. You were also reported as saying that the dailytreated you “far worse than it treated Milosevic in his days.”

This type of communication is reminiscent of the former Milosevic regime and incompatible with a democratic society, where public officials are necessarily subject to closer scrutiny than ordinary citizens. Attacks such as this are especially dangerous in a young democracy like the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, where in the past verbal harassment against journalists has resulted in physical attacks.

SEEMO would like to remind the Yugoslav authorities that they have yet to find the killers of Milan Pantic, Slavko Curuvija and Dada Vujasinovic, journalists who were murdered in Serbia over the past years. We have also learned that there was a recent attempt to kill the general manager of a prominent Belgrade weekly, who prefers to remain anonymous. In addition, several journalists from the Belgrade daily Blic, including editor-in-chief Veselin Simonovic, have been summoned for questioning by the police during the past two months. Finally, despite continued international protest, the Criminal Defamation Law still represents a threat for journalists in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

SEEMO urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to end the harassment and intimidation of journalists in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and reminds you that journalists play an essential role in any democratic society.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

Secretary General

Vienna, 24/07/2001

Vojislav Kostunica

President

Belgrade

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Your Excellency,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is writing to express its concern over a number of press freedom violations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia.

On 12 July, Predrag Radojevic, a regional correspondent of the Belgrade daily Blic, was invited by the police in the town of Valjevo to engage in an “informative talk” about his work as a journalist. Prior to his meeting with the police, Radojevic had written a number of articles on local political affairs.

On 17 July, Dusanka Novkovic, a regional correspondent of the Belgrade daily Blic, was also invited by the police to discuss her work as a journalist. In previous articles, Novkovic had reported on the financial problems of a local company.

SEEMO urges Your Excellency to guarantee that the actions of the police force will not be repeated and to ensure that all journalists working in FR Yugoslavia have the right to practise their profession without fear of harassment or intimidation.

SEEMO is also concerned for the security of Milica Ivanovic, a reporter for the Belgrade news agency Beta and a contributor to the Belgrade daily Blic in the town of Leskovac. On 19 July, Ivanovic received a death threat in response to articles she had written concerning the expulsion by local authorities of an Albanian craftsman from his shop in Leskovac.

In the same period, SEEMO has been informed that several threats were made against Petar Milinov, correspondent for the Greek Ionian TV in Belgrade. Such threats are deeply worrying as they appear to originate from a neighbour of Milinov´s, who is working for the police force. Since the threats started in August 2000, Milinov has made five complaints to the local police in Belgrade.

SEEMO has also received information, from its partners in the region and the SEEMO HELP LINE for South East Europe, that there are a number of other cases involving threats made to journalists in FR Yugoslavia.

SEEMO urges the Belgrade authorities to do everything possible to ensure the safety of journalists in the FR Yugoslavia and Serbia.

SEEMO further urges the Yugoslav and Serbian authorities to bring to justice the killers of Serbian journalist Milan Pantic, shot dead on 11 June in the town of Jagodina. In addition, the Belgrade authorities must carry out full and proper investigations into the murder of Slavko Curuvija, director and owner of daily Dnevni telegraf and the magazine Evropljanin, shot dead in April 1999, and the unexplained death of journalist Dada Vujasinovic in 1994, a freelancer and contributor to the Belgrade magazine Duga.

SEEMO would remind Your Excellency that journalists play an essential role in any democratic society and that the murderers of journalists should not be allowed to escape with impunity.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic

Secretary General

South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)

International Press Institute (IPI)

Vienna, 12 July 2001

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed about the attack on Ruslan Sharipov, president of the Union of Independent Journalists of Uzbekistan and correspondent for the Russian news agency Prima. He , was attacked today on 12 July 2001 by a group of eight persons. SEEMO is asking for an investigation of this attack.