04/07/2012: TURKEY – SECURITY FORCES RAID OFFICES OF TURKISH NEWS AGENCY IPI CONDEMNS USE OF ANTI-TERROR LAWS TO TARGET MEDIA

Vienna, 04/07/2012

Turkish security forces on June 26 conducted a raid at the offices of the Istanbul-based Güneş News Agency as part of a large-scale operation against the underground Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), according to news sources. Police units carried out the search at the news agency, which oversees the technical affairs of Etkin News Agency and weekly newspaper Atılım, at the behest of an Istanbul Court, it was reported.

Security forces allegedly seized notes, archived material and personal belongings while holding 15 or so employees in their offices for several hours, without having produced detention orders. So far, the police have not publicly provided a foundation for the suspected link between the news outlets and the MLKP: according to an IPI media source in Turkey.

Condemning the use of anti-terror laws against journalists, IPI’s Turkish National Committee released a statement saying: “We are hoping for changes to those articles of the law that give way to free speech and press violations. Accusations made against media outlets suggesting links to illegal organisations are nothing but tactics to pressure news agencies, newspapers and journalists into self-restraint.”

In response to the raid, the chairman of the Turkish Journalists’ Union and the Freedom for Journalists Platform, Ercan İpekçi, criticised the increasing use of “anti-democratic measures” in the country. In a statement made on Wednesday he claimed there was no difference between the detention of journalists as terrorists, and the branding of press organisations as mouthpieces for illegal organisations, and he called for the amendment of existing laws.

Earlier this year, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) released a study indicating that the number of journalists imprisoned in Turkey has nearly doubled over the previous year, prompting the group to call for immediate reform of the country’s broadly interpreted anti-terror laws. OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović specifically denounced Articles 5 and 7 of the Anti-Terror Law, relating, in part, to propagandising on behalf of terrorist groups. The interpretative scope of those provisions is so wide, the report noted, that “media outlets reporting about sensitive issues (including terrorism or anti-government activities) are often regarded by the authorities as the publishing organs of illegal organizations”. It added: “Courts often consider reporting about such issues as equal to supporting them.”

Turkey has drawn widespread criticism for its failure to protect press freedom. Last November, a judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Turkey had the worst press freedom record among all 47 member states of the Council of Europe.

The South and East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) supports this statement.

Vienna, 06/07/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), today expressed concern at new threats against Belarusian journalist Iryna Khalip, the Minsk correspondent of Moscow-based daily newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

On 22 June Khalip found a chicken head in a plastic bag placed inside an unstamped envelope left in her mailbox, Belarusian website Charter 97 reported. Khalip told the website: “I see it as a direct life threat.”

According to reports, Khalip has suffered threats and beatings, especially following protests against the disputed December 2010 presidential election, which led to the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko and which many international observers decried as fraudulent.

A court in May 2011 gave Khalip – the wife of Belarusian politician and activist Andrei Sannikov, who challenged Lukashenko in the 2010 election – a suspended two-year prison term. She remains barred from leaving the country.

Earlier that year, authorities attempted to take custody of Khalip and Sannikov’s 3-year-old son after both were arrested following protests against the 2010 election results. Authorities, however, eventually abandoned the effort.

In 2010, the Central European Initiative (CEI) and SEEMO selected Khalip for a special mention in relation to the CEI SEEMO Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism.

SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic commented: “I call on the police authorities to investigate and bring to justice those who have been threatening Iryna Khalip. I also call on the Belarusian authorities to free all detained journalists and to abstain from threats and prosecution of all media professionals.”

In other news, Belarusian authorities last weekend released Andrzej Poczobut, Belarus correspondent for Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a Polish minority activist, who was detained in Grodno on 21 June.

Poczobut reportedly faces up to five years of prison for allegedly defaming Lukashenko, as well as the possibility of further time in prison under a previous, three-year sentence for insulting the president. Poczobut was imprisoned for 91 days under the previous sentence before a court in July 2011 suspended the sentence and ordered him freed.

Vienna, 12/07/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), condemns the July 10, 2012 attack against Kosovo journalist Halil Matoshi who told Kosovo KTV that he was beaten by three unidentified men.

Matoshi, a commentator with the Koha Ditore daily, was attacked as he returned home in Pristina. One of the aggressors pulled out a knife but Matoshi managed to avoid serious injury. He was nonetheless treated in hospital. The police said they were investigating the assault with the aim of identifying those responsible.

“I call on the police to find the perpetrators as soon as possible and bring them to justice,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic.

Vienna, 13/07/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), welcomes the July 11 ruling of Moldova’s Supreme Court dismissing previous court decisions on a defamation lawsuit against the Chisinau-based investigative weekly Ziarul de Garda. The Supreme Court decision quashed an Aug. 1, 2011 ruling by the Central Court of Chisinau as well as a subsequent court decision sentencing the publication to pay 30,000 EUR to two prosecutors who sued the paper. The excessive fine, as SEEMO had warned, imperiled the very existence of the publication.

The case goes back to Feb. 10, 2011, when Ziarul de Garda published a story on two district prosecutors allegedly involved in corruption. The case was investigated by the Centre for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption (CCECC) but later the charges were dropped. The two prosecutors sued the paper and demanded compensation for moral damage.

The Supreme Court decision was welcome by the Ziarul de Garda director, Alina Radu, and the magazine’s staff. “The decision means a lot for us: if the decision of the first court would have been upheld, the newspaper would have gone bankrupt and would have had to be closed,” said Alina Radu in a conversation with SEEMO. “The decision shows that the law can work properly in Moldova that prosecutors as well as other public officials should accept criticism, and that journalists should keep digging on corruption scams.”

On their behalf, the Chisinau-based Independent Journalism Center (IJC) praised the court decision and encouraged Moldovan courts to apply European standards for defamation – especially the provisions on freedom of expression.

“I am very happy that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of press freedom and hope that in the future, defamation and libel will be addressed according to international standards,” said Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General.

Vienna, 17/07/2012

The head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) permanent representation in Greece reacted to a news story published by the Athens-based daily To Vima by summoning the journalist to his office and demanding to know how the journalist had obtained the IMF report used to write his article. When the reporter, Zois Tsolis, refused to reveal his sources, Bob Traa, the Head of the IMF in Greece, warned that To Vima would be denied information in the future and that the IMF would collaborate with other media.

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), an affiliate of the international Press Institute (IPI), expresses concern at the reaction of the IMF representative – which appears to be a violation of press freedom.

On 24 June 2012, Tsolis published an exclusive report, including figures, on how many civil servants were hired by some ministries in 2010 and 2012, despite contrary recommendations in the memorandum of understanding that Greece agreed with the the European Union, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Tsolis stated that 70,000 civil servants were hired.

When Tsolis continued to refuse to provide the information, Traa, as quoted by Tsolis in an article published on 1 July 2012 said: “We will not speak again to To Vima. We thought that you are the official newspaper of Pasok [ Panhellenic Socialist Movement]). We have other newspapers that write our data precisely.” The IMF did not deny the report obtained by To Vima.

“Multilateral organisations cannot threaten journalists by denying them access to information and demanding the revelation of their sources,” said Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General. “The Greek people have to know what is happening in their country, especially at a time of crisis. I hope this will remain an isolated incident and that the IMF representatives will fully respect freedom of expression.

Vienna, 18/07/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute(IPI), condemns the latest insults against journalists launched by Velimir Ilic, leader of the New Serbia party, and potential minister in the upcoming coalition government. Ilic has insulted reporters on several occasions over the past ten years and in 2003 he hit a journalist during an interview.

The latest incident involving Ilic occurred on 17 July 2012 during a press conference. Targeting the host of the high-profile talk show, Olja Beckovic, Ilic said that he would find someone to re-educate the reporter and continued: “I no longer understand Mrs. Olja Beckovic, what it is that she wants from me. Is she normal, is she healthy – and I am asking those responsible people at B92 to send her to analysis,” according to the B92 website. In 2002, Ilic publicly insulted Beckovic with vulgar chauvinist language. B92 is a well-known radio and television broadcaster in Serbia.

Ilic has had a hostile attitude towards the media since he entered public life, first as a mayor of Cacak (1996-2004), a town 140 kilometers south of Belgrade, and then as a government minister (2004-2008). He has insulted, threatened and even hit journalists. In May 2012, the court fined him for hitting Vladimir Jesic from TV Apolo during the interview in 2003.

On 19 August 2005, to note one example, SEEMO sent a public letter to the then prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, demanding an investigation into the alleged threats by Ilic and his media advisor Zoran Lazovic against B92. Ilic said during the press conference that B92 journalists “were sick and needed psychiatric treatment”, and right after the press conference Lazovic approached the reporter Ana Veljkovic and told her to convey to the B92 director, Veran Matic, that he would kill him.

“I call on party leaders in Serbia to stop threatening and insulting journalists. Respecting press freedom is an essential part of democracy and a fundamental criteria for joining the European Union, “said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic.

Vienna, 23/07/2012

More than two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, top politicians and party leaders in South East Europe are still struggling to accept free media and live with criticism. They publicly accuse journalists of undermining national interests, treason, mafia ties, conspiracies, etc.

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), observes with growing concern the way top politicians in South East Europe speak to media and about media. “Press freedom is the basis of democracy,” underlines Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General. “Public figures have to live with criticism in media.”

Numerous recent examples illustrate this trend.

On 17 July 2012, Romanian interim president Crin Antonescu labeled the U.S. daily The Washington Post and the French newspaper Le Monde as “contaminated publications.” Antonescu blamed the papers for Romania’s deteriorated international image. One week earlier, Senator Dan Sova accused the Brussels correspondent of the Romanian public radio of”intoxicating the international public opinion and foreign officials by transmitting false information that compromise the current Romanian government.”

In Bulgaria, on 5 July 2012, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov lost patience with the media that had criticized the work of the Ministry of Interior and said: “Whoever criticizes the Ministry of the Interior serves the mafia.”

President of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, the man who dominated Montenegro’s political scene for two decades, either as a prime minister or a president, said in an interview to the Belgrade magazine Vreme that the objective of the Montenegrin dailies, Vijesti and Dan, and the Monitor weekly was to “destroy and smear Montenegro” and him personally.

Molorad Dodik, president of the Serb-governed territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, declared on 4 June 2012, that press freedom was guaranteed. Two days earlier, as SEEMO reported, on 2 June 2012, Dodik asked Ljiljana Kovacevic, the local correspondent of the Belgrade-based Beta News Agency, to leave a press conference and to not return. Using disrespectful language to address the journalist, Dodik also called her a liar.

On 13 May 2012, Tomislav Nikolic, then presidential candidate and currently Serbia’s president, said during the TV show Rec po Rec (Word by Word), produced by Serbia’s public broadcaster, Radio Television Serbia (RTS), that once elected president, he would call RTS and say: “I am coming to the television tonight, you will inform about everything I do, I am the president of Serbia,” quoted the Association of Serbian Journalists (UNS).

In an interview with the state news agency, MIA, published on 18 October 2011, the prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia/Republic of Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, criticized the journalist Borjan Jovanovski for posing a particular question during a 12 October 2012 press conference in Brussels, Belgium. Gruevski accused the journalist of asking a “prearranged question,” intended “to prepare the terrain” for next year’s “withdrawal of the recommendation [to start accession talks], if the name dispute [with Greece] is not solved by then.” Gruevski asked why Jovanovski was sitting in the press room, and why it was him and not another journalist who had the right to ask a question.

“I call on politicians in South East Europe to stop publicly naming and shaming journalists,” said Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General. “Politicians have to understand that press freedom is the basis of democracy. If media do not comply with ethical standards, there are channels to place complaints. Accusing journalists of being traitors or mafia agents, without any proof, does not contribute to the respect of the rule of law. It can only lead to self censorship, ” he added.

Vienna, 24/07/2012

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI,) condemns the physical and verbal attacks against a Moldovan Prime TV crew and calls on the authorities to prosecute the perpetrators.

On 19 July 19 2012, a Prime TV crew was filming a report in the Soldanesti forest, which is registered as public property by Moldsilva, the country’s agency in charge of administering forests. While filming, the journalists were physically and verbally attacked by two men who claimed to be property owners, according to a press release signed by six journalists’ associations in Moldova. The reporters filmed the attack. It was later broadcast by the Prime TV news.

“I ask the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice and guarantee security for journalists to operate freely, “said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic.

Vienna, 28/07/2012

The International Press Institute (IPI) and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), today urged a commission responsible for writing a new Constitution for Turkey to reject proposed amendments that would severely weaken current language protecting media freedom.

Bianet reported that Turkey’s Constitutional Reconciliation Commission is set to vote Wednesday on a proposal advanced by the Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led government that would, among other effects, carve out numerous exceptions to an existing article on “The Freedom of Press and Publication.”

The news website, citing an article from the daily newspaper Milliyet, said the proposed changes would include a provision that “The freedom of press can be restricted to protect national security, public order, public morals, others’ rights, private and family life; to avert crimes; to ensure the independence and impartiality of the judiciary; to prevent warmongering and the propogation [sic] of every sort of discrimination, hostility or rancor and hatred.”

IPI’s Turkish National Committee, Basin Enstitüsü Dernegi, sharply criticised the proposal, saying the change would represent a step backward for press freedom in the country. “If the new Constitution is going to be issued with this anti-democratic mentality which may create worse conditions than the present Constitution, it is better that [the new Constitution] is not issued,” the group saidin a statement posted on its website.

According to Bianet, other changes proposed by the AKP-led government would include clauses mandating that “No publications intended to violate the presumption of innocence can be issued” and requiring the state to take “measures to protect minors from publications that involve child abuse, sexuality and violence.”

The proposed changes, which would place all provisions related to the press in a single article of the new Constitution, would also reportedly eliminate current language preventing seizures, confiscations and operations bans against printing houses that were lawfully established as press institutions. Bianet said that the proposal, if adopted, would give authorities power to seize all instruments of the press, including printing presses, as “tools of crime”.

The proposed changes would also remove a current guarantee that those who wish to establish a printing house do not need to seek permission or provide financial assurances in order to do so.

Atilla Kart, a member of the commission from the main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP), labelled the proposed changes “unacceptable”, Bianet reported.

IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi echoed that assessment. “Turkey has rightfully received widespread international criticism over the course of the past year as a result of a disturbing deterioration of media freedom. With nearly 100 journalists currently in prison – apparently the most in any country on Earth – on what look to be spurious terrorism charges, the country needs to take strong steps to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of the press and to democratic principles. These proposals, if adopted, would do exactly the opposite.”

Turkey’s Constitutional Reconciliation Commission is working on a new Constitution to replace one adopted by a military government in 1982 following a coup two years earlier.

The South and East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) supports this statement.

Vienna, 01/08/2012

The Vienna-based South European Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI,) is concerned at the use of Article 170 of Serbia’s Criminal Code to prosecute and sentence the author of a comment published in the readers’ section of Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szo, based in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia. The author of the comment, Laszlo Szasz, was fined for insult. Since he could not afford to pay, he must serve a 150-day prison sentence.

On 24 April 2007, Laszlo Szasz, an occasional contributor to Hungarian-language print media in Vojvodina (Serbia), published a commentary in the readers’ section of the Magyar Szo daily. Szasz criticised Laszlo Toroczkai, leader of the 64 Counties Youth Movement in Hungary, an advocate of revision of the 1920 Trianon Treaty, which defined the current borders of the Hungarian state. Toroczkai sued Szasz for insult. The court in Vojvodina (Serbia) declared Szasz guilty of insult according to Article 170 of the Criminal Code of Serbia. Article 170 states:

(1) Whoever insults another person shall be punished with a fine ranging from twenty to one hundred daily amounts or a fine ranging from forty thousand to two hundred thousand dinars.

(2) If the offence specified in Paragraph 1 of this Article is committed through the press, radio, television or other media or at a public gathering, the offender shall be punished with a fine ranging from eighty to two hundred and forty daily amounts or a fine ranging from one hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty thousand dinars.

Szasz was fined 150,000 Dinars (approximately 1,400 Euros). He appealed the decision but without success. Unable to pay the fine, 69-old Szasz has been serving a prison sentence since 20 July 2012.

Under the terms of the sentence, he must remain in prison for 150 days: one day is equivalent to 1,000 dinars.

All journalists’ associations in Serbia have reacted and demanded that Serbia’s president Tomislav Nikolic pardon Szasz.

SEEMO joins Serbia’s professional associations in their quest for the pardon and expresses concern that Article 170 of the Criminal Code may be used again to send a journalist to prison. SEEMO believes that insult should be dealt with in civil courts.

“I call on the Serbian parliament to decriminalise insult and have this offence pursued through the civil code,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “Although the criminal code does not foresee imprisonment for offenses, a person can end up behind bars if he or she cannot pay the fine. One should never go to prison for publishing an opinion. ”