09.05.2023 – Unprofessional Reporting Harms Victims and Incites Further Violence

On Wednesday 26 April 2023 Bogdan Bitik (Богдан Битик), born 1977, an Ukrainian fixer for the Italian daily La Repubblica, was killed in a Russian attack in the Kherson Raion(Херсонський район) in Ukraine. La Repubblica correspondent Corrado Zunino, was injured in the same attack.

Fixers are local media workers who assist foreign journalists with translation, guidance, and other tasks.

Bitik and Zunino were targeted near the Antonivsky bridge (Антонівський міст – Antoniwskyj mist), where they were hoping to speak with members of the Ukrainian forces. Both men were wearing blue bulletproof vests marked with “PRESS” when they were attacked.

According to Corrado Zunino, they passed three checkpoints and spoke to the Ukrainian military before the incident occurred. Suddenly, they heard a hissing sound, and Bogdan fell to the ground and was motionless. Zunino crawled away from the gunfire and ran until he came across a car. He was full of blood and had four wounds, but he was treated well at the hospital in Kherson. Despite trying to contact Bogdan multiple times, Zunino received no answer.

Additional to Bitik, at least 12 journalists and media workers, mostly from Ukraine, have been killed and 18 injured since March 2022. List of killed journalist is visible on www.seemo.org .

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On Friday 21 April, 2023 Belarusian prosecutor has demanded a 10-year prison sentence for journalist Raman Pratasevich (Раман Дзмітрыевіч Пратасевіч), along with a 19-year and a 20-year sentence in absentia for journalists Yan Rudzik (Ян Рудзік) and Stsypan Putsila (Сьцяпан Пуціла) respectively.

More than 10 separate charges, including organizing mass unrest, conspiracy to seize power, and incitement to hatred, have been filed against the journalists by authorities since the trial began on 16 February, 2023. They are also accused of insulting the president and creating an extremist group. In addition, the prosecutor has demanded a total compensation of 30 million BYN (around 11.9 million USD) from the journalists for the damage caused to the country.

The journalists were associated with the Telegram channels NEXTA and Belarus Golovnogo Mozga, which covered the protests against President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s (Аляксандр Лукашэнка).

Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested on 23 May 2021 after a Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania was diverted and forced to land in Belarus. Putsila and Rudzik are reportedly in Poland.

According to the independent Viasna rights group, there were on 27 April this year 1495 political prisoners in the country.

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On 19 April, 2023 a court of appeal in Belgrade has invalidated the “house arrest” for Milan Radojičić and Ratko Romić, former employees of the Serbian State Security, accused of organizing (Radojičić) and participating (Romić) in the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija. . Ćuruvija, a journalist and owner of the print media Dnevni telegraf and Evropljanin, was killed on 11 April 1999 in center of Belgrad.

On 4 April, 2023 the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling stating that the extended detention of Radojicic and Romic violated the rights safeguarded by the European Convention on Human Rights. The court also ordered Serbia to pay Radojicic and Romic 1,000 EUR each in non-material damages.

In addition to Radonjić and Romić, the then head of the State Security, Radomir Marković, and the staff member of the State Security, Miroslav Kurak, who escaped out of Serbia, were also accused of participating in the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija.

It is expected that a final verdict will be issued soon. The prosecution suggested that the court declares the accused persons guilty and sentence them to a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, while the defense pointed out that there was no evidence and suggested that the court issue a release.

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A group of international human rights and press freedom organizations have written to Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili (სალომე ზურაბიშვილი), urging her to release journalist Nikoloz Nika Gvaramia (ნიკოლოზ [ნიკა] გვარამია) from prison. Gvaramia born 1976, a Georgian politician, businessman, and TV host who previously held the positions o First Deputy Prosecutor General and f Minister of Justice and Minister of Education and Science.

Gvaramia, founder and director of independent broadcaster Mtavari Arkhi, is serving a 3.5-year prison sentence since 16 May, 2022, for alleged abuse of office and embezzlement during his previous role as broadcaster director in one other media company . He was also fined 50,000 GEL (around 16,000 USD).

His conviction has been criticized by several international organizations and human rights groups for being politically motivated. The release of Gvaramia from prison would represent a significant step towards fulfilling Georgia’s European aspirations. According to the letter “as a presenter for Mtavari Arkhi, Gvaramia was known for his trenchant criticism of Georgia’s ruling party.”

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After seven years, in February 2023, the state investigation involving Turkish photo reporter t Bilal Seçkin ( @bilalseckin), who was a correspondent of the Dicle News Agency (DİHA),and works now as a freelancer, has been closed as BIANET informed. Seçkin was facing charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” due to his reporting from a protest. The prosecutor’s office stated after 7 years that there was not enough evidence to support the accusations. The journalist was taken into custody in a police raid on his house in Kars, Turkey in January, 2016. The police released Seçkin a day later and took his statement. After five months in 2016 the police returned his computer and hard discs. However, the investigation was not closed for seven years.

#fyp #mediafreedom #seemo #freespeech #southeasteuropemediaorganisation #ngo #journalist #journalistunerattack #turkey #diha #BilalSeçkin