26/02/2012: TURKEY – IPI’S TURKISH NATIONAL COMMITTEE WELCOMES RELEASE OF JOURNALIST IN ODA TV CASE

Vienna, 26/02/2012

he International Press Institute (IPI)’s Turkish National Committee today welcomed the release of one of the defendants in the Oda TV trial and called for the release of other journalists the group said had been jailed because of their work.

News website Bianet reported Wednesday that an Istanbul court ordered the release of journalist and author Doğan Yurdakul, 66, for health reasons.

The journalist is said to suffer from hypertension and problems with his heart and his renal system. He also reportedly developed diabetes and a cyst on one of his kidneys in the 11 months since his detention on Mar. 3, 2011.

Yurdakul’s lawyers reportedly told the court that Yurdakul’s continued incarceration could cause a further deterioration in his condition that could possibly lead to his death.

IPI’s Turkish National Committee said in a statement:

“We welcome the release of Doğan Yurdakul in consideration of his health problems….We look forward to the release, pending trial, of those other journalists who are detained and who are being prosecuted for having done their job.”

Yurdakul was formally arrested on March 6 and until his release this week shared a prison cell at the Silivri Prison west of Istanbul with IPI World Press Freedom Hero Nedim Şener and journalist Ahmet Şık.

The three are part of a group of 10 journalists and others charged with various crimes related to the government’s claim that they and nationalist news website Oda TV served as the media wing of the alleged “Ergenekon” plot. They deny accusations that their role was to use their positions to discredit a probe into the alleged plot by secularists and ultra-nationalists to use terrorism to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led government.

IPI’s Turkish National Committee in its statement today also urged the government to reform “all articles [of Turkish law] blocking press freedom and the freedom of speech” and it called for full “implementation of the people’s right to obtain information.”

Over 100 journalists are currently imprisoned in Turkey, most in pre-trial detention. Most of those detained are alleged to have violated criminal or anti-terrorism laws banning membership or support in armed criminal organisations. Approximately one third of those imprisoned reportedly were taken into custody in connection with the Ergenekon probe, while the others were detained on charges stemming from alleged ties to banned Kurdish and leftist groups.

IPI and its subsidiary, the South and East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), have criticised Turkey’s treatment of journalists in the past year, including the conditions under which journalists are imprisoned. Suzan Zengin – a human rights activist, journalist and translator who spent two years in pre-trial detention for alleged ties to an illegal Marxist organisation – died last October of an undisclosed ailment, four months after she was released. Critics attributed her death to the government’s alleged failure to provide adequate medical care for chronic health problems during her incarceration.

Vienna, 05/03/2012

Journalists Around the World Call for Nedim Şener’s Release

Journalists around the world today joined the International Press Institute (IPI) in condemning Turkey’s continued imprisonment of investigative journalist and IPI World Press Freedom Hero Nedim Şener, one year after he was detained in connection with an alleged coup plot.

IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: “The fact that Nedim Şener has been taken away from his family and locked up for a year on allegations that his journalism was a sham designed to protect those whose wrongdoing it exposed is both tragic and absurd. We call on Turkey’s authorities to immediately release Mr. Şener and his co-defendants in the Oda TV case pending trial, and to ensure that their trial is fair and fully in line with international standards of due process.”

Police detained Şener Mar. 3, 2011 in a raid targeting journalists and others connected with nationalist news website Oda TV. Authorities say the website acted as the media wing for the so-called “Ergenekon” plot, in which secularists and ultra-nationalists allegedly planned to use terrorism to overthrow the government of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Prosecutors accuse the defendants of seeking to advance the plot by using media to discredit the government’s probe into it.

Şener and his fellow defendants in the Oda TV case – including investigative journalist Ahmet Şik, writer Yalçin Küçük, Oda TV executive Soner Yalçin and six other journalists –were not informed about the specific charges against them until nearly seven months after they were detained. Şener was originally accused of membership in an armed terrorist organisation, but he was ultimately charged with aiding such an organisation. He faces seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison if convicted.

According to a recent report by news website Bianet.org, the Oda TV defendants are among 104 journalists imprisoned in Turkey as of Jan. 1, 2012, all for alleged violations of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law and the Turkish Penal Code.

Dr. Carl-Eugen Eberle, chair of IPI’s Executive Board and the former director of legal affairs for German Broadcaster ZDF, and Ferai Tinç, also a member of IPI’s Executive Board and the chair of IPI’s Turkish National Committee, both expressed strong support for Şener and the other detained journalists.

Fellow IPI Executive Board member and BBC Scotland Director Ken MacQuarrie noted that Şener has now been imprisoned for more than half of the time that has passed since he received his IPI World Press Freedom Hero award at a ceremony in Vienna in September 2010.

“Given the anniversary of Mr. Şener’s incarceration is upon us, it is essential that those of us who can, mark such a dark day by highlighting as widely as possible the appalling nature of his detention,” MacQuarrie said. “With more than 100 other journalists also imprisoned in Turkey and their human rights so completely denied, Mr Şener’s unedifying situation is sadly and shamefully not an isolated case.”

Tinç’s colleague on the board of IPI’s Turkish National Committee, Kadri Gürsel, a columnist for Turkish daily Milliyet, added: “Exactly one year ago, authorities took Nedim Şener into custody claiming that he is member of terrorist organization. This claim was dropped in the indictment and now he is accused of aiding and abetting. The judiciary is having great trouble defending and justifying his imprisonment, which has turned into extra-judicial punishment. To free Turkey from this shame, Nedim Şener has to be set free immediately.”

Şener and his co-defendants have argued that they are being targeted for the content of their writings and that purportedly incriminating files found on Oda TV computer hard drives were placed there by hackers. Turkey’s government maintains, however, that the journalists have not been targeted because of their work.

Oliver Vujovic, secretary general of the South and East Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI subsidiary that has also been active in Turkey, said his group was still waiting to see evidence of any wrongdoing.

“If it exists, it should be provided,” Vujovic said. “If it does not, Mr. Şener should be freed. I fully support Mr. Şener and I would like to remind the Turkish authorities that keeping Mr. Şener and dozens of journalists in jail is not the best way to consolidate democracy.”

Şener was an investigative journalist with Milliyet before his arrest and he has written extensively about government corruption in his 20-year career. Recently, he has been active in documenting the “deep state” in Turkey, an alleged group of influential anti-democratic forces within the government purportedly made up of high-level elements within security and intelligence services, the military and the judiciary.

He also has actively criticised the state’s failure to prevent the 2007 murder of his friend and fellow IPI World Press Freedom Hero, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, and he consistently points out the contradiction in the government’s suggestion that he worked on behalf of the shadowy group he blames for Dink’s death. In a letter to IPI last October from the Silivri Prison, Şener wrote that those investigating the Ergenekon plot were “the same police officers who I wrote were involved in the Dink murder with their neglect”.

He added: “Whatever the Turkish state alleges, I’d like to assure you that I didn’t conduct any activity outside the domain of journalism…At the end of the day, the indictment and its appendix show that the prosecution’s only charge against me is journalism. Therefore, it is journalism that will be tried in court.”

Many of Şener’s fellow IPI World Press Freedom Heroes expressed support for their colleague.

Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab, who was honoured in 2000 and who has fought for media freedom in the Palestinian Territories, noted: “Arrest and restrictions on journalists for their work is a violation of the 19th article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

South African editor and publisher Raymond Louw – a 2011 honouree who battled apartheid and censorship in his country – labelled Şener’s detention “unjustified”. Louw urged Turkish authorities “to heed the denials of Mr. Şener and his colleagues of the allegations that have been brought against them and release them.”

Journalist Doan Viet Hoat, a 2000 honouree and one of Vietnam’s most prominent dissidents who was held as a prisoner of conscience for almost 20 years, commented: “I strongly condemn the Turkish government in detaining Mr. Şener and I demand his release immediately and unconditionally.”

Liberian journalist Kenneth Best, who was honoured in 2000 for his work toward media freedom in West Africa, said: “Oppressive governments all over the world would use every opportunity to persecute those, especially journalists, who have the courage to speak and write about injustice and oppression taking place around them…Many are those daring journalistic souls who dare to re-echo the thoughts and feelings of dissidents. Journalists usually become victims of the ‘blame the messenger’ syndrome. That seems to be the fate of our esteemed colleague in Turkey, Nedim Şener.”

Şener’s wife, Vecide, described to IPI the toll her husband’s plight has taken on their family.

“What we have passed through has been a very sad and hurting process,” she said. “I received from the prosecutor a formal letter saying that ‘your husband is detained, he is a member of a terrorist organisation’. But when we finally saw the indictment, it said ‘aiding a terrorist organization’. Now my husband has three identity cards at the prison, two of them are international identity cards for journalists and one identity card says ‘terrorist organization member’ on it. We believed in law, but nothing has changed during this whole year. It is now clear that my husband is a real journalist.”

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Nedim Şener remains incarcerated in the Silivri Prison in Turkey. Tomorrow will mark one year since his detention. Please add your name to this petition calling for his release.

Vienna, 05/03/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), welcomes amendments to the defamation law in Albania. Two sets of reforms, both to the civil and penal code, were voted in on Feb. 17 and Mar. 1, 2012.

The penal code amendments included the full repeal of four offenses that granted special protection to national and foreign government officials. Imprisonment as well as the involvement of the public prosecutor in defamation cases was abolished. However, insult and deliberate publication of defamatory information was maintained as a misdemeanour to be prosecuted privately and subject to a fine.

As for civil code reforms, they provide guidance to judges, and include changes seeking to limit financial fines to proportionate levels that do not jeopardise the financial survival of media outlets.

SEEMO applauds the efforts of the Tirana-based Albanian Media Institute and the Open Society Justice Initiative – which have been advocating for these reforms.

“I welcome the legal reforms approved by the Albanian parliament,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “With these changes, Albania is constructing the legal framework for creating a truly democratic society. However, I also urge the lawmakers to consider repealing criminal libel altogether.”

Vienna, 06/03/2012

Economic difficulties and political pressure are the main challenges faced by the media in the Republic of Macedonia/Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, according to experts who have recently analysed the situation for a webpage specialised in monitoring media developments in the country, www.macedoniapressfreedom.org , run by the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute, and partners.

“The inflammatory language of the top government officials against journalists, the lack of tolerance towards criticism, the use of government advertisement in public and pro-government media ( Macedonia is indisputable champion in this aspect), the record number of trials against journalists, are all worrisome,” wrote Remzi Lani, Executive Director of the Albanian Media Institute.

According to Saso Ordanoski, Director for Media and Public Affairs of the VEVE Group, “The government has pushed the agenda and moved the issues from the problem of freedom of speech into a problem of freedom after speech…It means that problems are not only an issue of (wrong) media policy, but also of very serious structural deficiencies: how the market and industry function, and the transparency of the Government’s media policy.”

Dejan Donev, assistant professor at the Institute for Journalism, Media and Communications in Skopje, focuses on how the “precarious economic situation rendered journalists vulnerable to economic offers and corrupt practices.”

Tamara Causidis, president of the Independent Trade Union of Journalist and Media Workers, explains the economic woes: “In a situation of high unemployment in the country, the number of journalists on the labour market is much higher than what is needed. The media owners are using this situation to decrease the journalist’s labour price, to misuse the journalists and set unfair employment/working conditions. Many colleagues in the media are working illegally, without paid vacation days, overtime hours, sick leave and insurance… Very often Macedonian journalists report about abuses of workers’ rights in other areas of the society, while they cannot achieve the same rights for themselves.”

However, there are some positive developments. Dragan Sekulovski, Project Coordinator at the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), wrote about the organisation’s Action Plan: “This is an open document for further suggestions. Basically, it is a 17-page document where… representatives from the media community identified three main chapters where changes must take place. These chapters are: legislation, quality of journalism and ethical and professional standards.”

Full texts written by these and other experts, in addition to the latest news updates on media developments, SEEMO mission report and other useful links, have been recently included in the SEEMO-run webpage on media developments in the Republic of Macedonia/Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: www.macedoniapressfreedom.org

Vienna, 07/03/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), marked International Women’s Day by calling on media organisations in South, East and Central Europe to increase the participation of women in top-level management positions, guarantee salary equality, improve reporting on gender-related issues, avoid stereotyping and respect ethical standards when reporting on women, in particular as victims of violence.

Although some recent studies indicate that in Eastern European countries women are close to parity with men in terms of overall numbers in the newsrooms, enjoy moderate to excellent participation in all occupational levels, and even exceed the numbers of men at some news-reporting levels, top managerial positions are still reserved for men. Furthermore, differences between countries are significant: in some, women occupy numerous top managerial jobs, in others they occupy no such positions.

Although women are well represented in newsrooms, that representation has not been reflected in the coverage of gender-related issues, gender violence, respect for female victims of violence or forced prostitution (whose names and photos are often published), serious reflections on gender equality, elimination of gender-offensive language, or stereotyping of women, to name a few examples. In addition, young women journalists are often used in media to attract viewers due to their looks rather than skills.

“SEEMO has been very active in reflecting on both the participation as well as the portrayal of women in media,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “We have had several conferences dedicated to this topic and we plan to organise more. I call on media outlets to respect gender equality on all levels, but I also urge media owners and managers to engage in continuous training for journalists on gender-related topics. Dealing with gender issues and especially gender violence should not be a topic covered in a tabloid manner. It calls for serious research, reporting and debates. Media and civil society are essential in tackling this and other gender-sensitive problems. Both female and male journalists should be trained.”

Vienna, 07/03/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), condemns alleged attempts by the authorities of the municipality of Becej, 110 kilometres north of Belgrade, to prevent Nened Jovovic, a journalist with the regional public broadcaster Radio Televizija Vojvodine (RTV), from attending a municipal meeting. City councillors were discussing local security issues.

“I call on the Becej authorities to allow all journalists to attend their meetings,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “What is discussed there is of public interest, and banning the public broadcaster from covering the event violates press freedom.”

Vienna, 08/03/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the brutal physical attack on Olivera Lakic, an investigative reporter with the Podgorica-based daily Vijesti. When she opened the door of her apartment building, at 9:30 PM on Mar. 7, 2012, a man approached Lakic and hit her several times in the head. The journalist was hospitalised. Her life is not in danger. The perpetrator escaped.

This was not the first time that Lakic had been threatened. In February 2011, she reported on illegal labelling of tobacco products. Both she and her family received threats. Two men are currently on trial for threatening her.

While SEEMO applauds the fact that the director of the Montenegrin police, Bozidar Vuksanovic, has taken a personal interest in the case, and arrived on the scene of the attack, the organisation recalls that this is not the first attack against Vijesti. Most previous cases remain unsolved.

As SEEMO wrote in July and August 2011, four clearly marked cars belonging to Vijesti were set ablaze, in three separate attacks. The perpetrators have not been found.

On Sep. 24, 2010, Zeljko Ivanovic, one of Vijesti’s founders, and several other journalists, received death threats by mail.

On Aug. 5, 2009, Mihailo Jovovic, editor of Vijesti, and Boris Pejovic, a photojournalist, were physically attacked by the mayor of Podgorica and his son while documenting their alleged illegal parking in town. The mayor’s son used his gun to threaten the journalist. Jovovic was treated in hospital for a head injury.

On Sep. 1, 2007, Zeljko Ivanovic was physically attacked by several assailants near a restaurant, where the newspaper was celebrating its 10th anniversary. Ivanovic was injured and received medical treatment. Although the perpetrators of this attack were found, the masterminds remain at large.

Despite the prompt condemnations of the previous attacks, Montenegrin authorities have not been effective in creating an environment in which journalists can work free from pressure.

“Considering the frequency of attacks against Vijesti journalists and property, I am led to believe that this daily is a direct target,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “I call on the authorities to find the person who beat Olivera Lakic as well as all those responsible for the previous attacks. Montenegro aspires to join the European Union. In a democracy, journalists should not be beaten or threatened, and any perpetrators should be found and prosecuted.

Vienna, 12/03/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), observes increasing pressure on local media in Serbia. On March 9, 2012, the president of the city council in Zagubica, (170 kilometers southeast of Belgrade) reportedly decided that the local TV broadcaster As should not film a municipal gathering and allegedly expelled the crew by hitting the camera, as a video appears to show. Asked why the reporters were not allowed to film, he apparently replied: “Because I say so,” according to the same video.

In a separate incident, a day earlier, a city councilor in Sremska Mitrovica (76 kilometers northwest of Belgrade), allegedly verbally insulted a local journalist who asked if it was true that she was resigning. “Why do you care?” the councilor, who is in charge of education, culture and sport, reportedly replied. She then proceeded to criticize the local TV station, Sremska Televizija.

On March 7, 2012, SEEMO reported another incident: the authorities of the municipality of Becej (110 kilometres north of Belgrade), allegedly prevented Nened Jovovic, a journalist with the regional public broadcaster Radio Televizija Vojvodine (RTV), from attending a municipal meeting. City councillors were discussing local security issues.

These alleged incidents represent only a fraction of the pressures on reporters. Many reporters do not report what they must go through on a daily basis.

The recurring incidents and pressure on local media coincide with an electoral campaign for parliamentary elections, scheduled for May 6, 2012.

“I observe mounting pressure on local media in Serbia,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “I am led to believe that local politicians are not aware of the role of media, or of the right to information. I call on Serbia’s authorities to protect reporters from the arbitrary behavior of local politicians, and organise training for politicians and civil servants on public information and the role of media in society.”

Vienna, 12/03/2012

Turkish investigative journalist and International Press Institute (IPI) World Press Freedom Hero Nedim Şener was released from prison today pending trial, after spending more than a year behind bars on charges of aiding a terrorist group.

An Istanbul court late this afternoon ordered the release of Şener and three others in the so-called Oda TV trial: investigative journalist Ahmet Şık, Sait Çakır and Coskun Musluk. Details of the court’s order and its reasoning were not immediately available.

IPI Press Freedom Adviser for Europe & North America Steven M. Ellis, who was present with members of IPI’s Turkish National Committee outside Silivri Prison when Şener emerged, said Şener told an assembled crowd: “When they took me to prison, I said, for [slain Turkish journalist] Hrant Dink, for justice.”

The four are accused of involvement with a news website, Oda TV, that authorities allege acted as the media wing for the alleged “Ergenekon” conspiracy, in which ultra-nationalists and elements of the Turkish security services are said to have plotted to use terrorism to bring down the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“I am beyond delighted to hear that Nedim has been released from prison along with Ahmet Şık and two others. IPI continues to support him and all of the journalists confined in Turkish prisons for doing their job. We will not rest until all journalists jailed in Turkey for practicing journalism are released,” said IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie.

“While this latest development is great news, we continue to call on the government to drop all charges against Mr. Şener and to free the journalists who remain in jail,” added Bethel-McKenzie.

Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE’s Representative on Freedom of the Media, joined IPI in celebrating the release of Şener and his co-defendants. “I am very happy that the journalists are free. This is a long-awaited moment not only for them, their families and their loved ones, but for all of us who have been following their trial in and outside of Turkey,” said Mijatović.

Nedim Şener: Timeline of Events

June 2010 – Nedim Şener receives IPI World Press Freedom Hero Award.

3 March 2011 – Detained by police during raid on his home.

6 March 2011 – Turkish court orders Şener’s arrest on charges of aiding an alleged terrorist group.

26 October 2011 – Şener sends IPI letter from prison: “The prosecution’s only charge against me is journalism.”

8 November 2011 – Sener spends his 250th day in prison.

22 November 2011 – First court date; judge orders him and co-defendants back to pre-trial detention

26 November 2011 – IPI World Press Freedom Hero Raymond Louw writes open letter to Turkey’s president to express “horror and shock” at Şener’s arrest and to appeal for his release.

26 December 2011 – Second court date; court reads official indictment against Şener.

3 March 2012 – One-year anniversary of Şener’s detention.

12 March 2012 – Şener released from prison.

Vienna, 14/03/2012

“I strongly condemn pressure on reporters in Bulgaria and urge the authorities of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to respect media freedom,” said Oliver Vujovic, Secretary General of the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI).

On 13 March 2012, Metropolitan Kalinik of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church tried to silence a reporter by threatening her. Eliana Dimitrova, a reporter with the public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT), approached several Orthodox bishops, gathered for a Synod meeting, and asked a question related to recently uncovered files that allegedly reveal collaboration between religious leaders and former security services during the socialist regime in Bulgaria.

Metropolitan Kalinik approached the journalist, according to a BNT video posted on the broadcaster’s website, in order to silence her. He wanted to “shut her mouth,” according to his own words, registered on the video.

“I am surprised that a religious representative behaves in this way. I do hope that the church authorities will take actions against Metropolitan Kalnik and condemn his behavior,” said Oliver Vujovic.