Vienna, 13 June 2001
Belarus journalist and Soviet Deputy, Valeriy Shukin was sent yesterday to jail for 3 months. He was sentenced on 15 March for a failed attempt to get into a press conference held by the Belarus government and Ministry of Interior. He was obstructed by the police for not having the right document to attend. After exhausting the appeal process he had to report to prison to start serving his sentence.
Vienna, 13/06/2001
Boris Trajkovski
President
Office of the President
Skopje
Macedonia
Your Excellency,
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the Vienna-based International Press Institute, is deeply concerned about the security of journalists in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
SEEMO condemns the harassment of Veton Latifi, regular contributor to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting – Balkan Crisis Report, by the police in FYROM. Latifi, who also works for the Albanian-language programme of the Macedonian public television, was arrested at a police checkpoint on the road to Kumanovo on 9 June 2001. Police pointed guns at him, and he was threatened verbally. After about two hours, Latifi was released without explanation. Some of his computer disks were retained by the police.
This was the second time that Latifi has had trouble with the Macedonian authorities since the crisis erupted in the country. A month ago, police in Kumanovo arrested his father and detained him for one night without charges. In addition, SEEMO is informed about other disturbing incidents that journalists have experienced with the Macedonian authorities during past months. Most recently, Agence-France-Presse (AFP) correspondent Colin Neacsu and his interpreter, Lumni Murseli, were arrested on 8 June and beaten for several hours at a Skopje police station.
SEEMO urges Your Excellency to ensure that such actions do not reoccur and that all journalists working in Macedonia are allowed to carry out their profession without fear of harassment.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Oliver Vujovic
Secretary General
Vienna, 11 June 2001
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the assassination of Milan Pantic, a journalist of the daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti, today on 11 June 2001 in the morning in Jagodina (former Svetozarevo), a small town in central Serbia. Pantic, born on 18 December 1954, was killed by an unknown person when he was entering his apartment building. Pantic was reporting particularly on local crimes and trials. He received according to information before SEEMO several telephone threats.
Vienna, 24 May 2001
The South East Europe Media Organistion (SEEMO) from Vienna is alarmed about today attack against the independent daily newspaper Avrupa in the northern part of Cyprus (not international recognised TRNC). As a result of a bomb explosion, the newspaper’s offices were badly damaged.
Vienna, 6 May 2001
The Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed connected to a restriction of press freedom in Hungary.
According to information before SEEMO, Magyar Hirlap journalists were unable to cover a FIDESZ congress in the southern Hungarian city of Szeged on 5 and 6 May.
Vienna, 5 April 2001
Idrak Abbasov, a journalist from Impuls newspaper, was beaten by police and taken to Baku’s Police Department on 3 April 2001. Abbasov reported about a police activity in Baku.
The Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns this attack.
Vienna, 30 March 2001
Kerem Lawton, Associated Press Television News (APTN) producer and journalist was killed yesterday on 29 March 2001 in Kosovo when when a mortar shell hit his car in Krivenik, close to the Kosovo-FYROM border. All happened 1,1 km inside Kosovo. At least two other persons were killed and 10 wounded in the assault. Lawton came to report about the conflict between official troops of FYROM – Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Albanian rebels. Both the army of FYROM – Republic of Macedonia and the rebels denied that they were responsible for the attack and killing of the journalist.
Sylejman `Suki Kllokoqi, an APTN cameraman who was with Lawton, left the car to photograph refugees, so he was uninjured.
The Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the killing and is asking for an open and transparent investigation of the case.
Vienna, 26/03/2001
The South East European Media Organisation (SEEMO) today released a report entitled “Articles in Bad Faith: Criminal Defamation Laws in Serbia”. The report highlights the repressive nature of criminal laws in this area and urges the Serbian government to review and amend articles in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia concerning freedom of expression.
IPI and SEEMO said that these articles should be repealed, noting that defamation should be dealt with under civil law and that so-called insult laws have been used by repressive regimes to silence journalists reporting critically on the management of government affairs. The two organisations pointed to the importance of repealing these articles since they were used by the previous administration to stifle dissident views. In their letter to Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, IPI and SEEMO stressed the need to establish a free and independent media which is “the foundation on which to build a democratic society”.
The Secretary General of SEEMO, Oliver Vujovic, said that “the first and most important step for the new administration is to create a climate in which a free and independent media can flourish.” He added, “the lack of freedom of the media during the Milosovic regime shows the importance of establishing such a climate since a repressive regime can only survive by limiting the free flow of information.”
The Director of IPI, Johann P. Fritz, said that “unfortunately, in many parts of the world defamation is still treated as a criminal offence forcing many journalists to resort to self-censorship”. The Director added that “as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia moves towards taking their rightful place among Europe’s democracies, the decision to repeal these laws would not only bring legislation into line with international standards but it would also send a strong message to other countries that there is no place for these repressive laws in a democracy, irrespective of the frequency of their application.”
Vienna, 21 March 2001
The Vienna South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is alarmed about the information, that yesterday on 21 March 2001 the Bulgarian police entered the premises of Bulgarian National Radio, as also that the police barred the journalists from their studios and newsrooms.
The police action started after the journalists were protesting the appointment of a new executive director who they believed to be politically biased.
Today on 22 March 2001 seven radio journalists, including the protest leaders, were dismissed.
The South East Europe Media Organisation welcomes the decision adopted by the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan at its plenary sitting on 14 March 2001 to return for further elaboration amendments to the draft law on mass media