12/04/2011: CYPRUS – SEEMO CONDEMNS ATTACK AGAINST JOURNALIST MUTLU ESENDEMIR IN NORTHERN CYPRUS

Vienna, 12/04/2011

The Vienna-based South and East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), condemns the recent bomb attack targeting Mutlu Esendemir, the news editor of the Turkish-Cypriot Kanal T Television and a reporter for the Turkish language daily Kibris. The explosive device placed underneath Esendemir´s car, parked in front of the Kanal T premises, exploded as he tried to open the car door. The journalist was treated in the hospital for minor injuries.

After the attack, that took place on 5 April 2011, Mutlu Esendemir wrote in Kibris that the attack against him was related to articles written during the past ten days regarding city planning problems in Keryneia.

Political parties and other organizations condemned the attack. Kemal Darbaz, president of the journalist association Basin Sen, said that attacks against journalists have become more frequent.

SEEMO is also concerned with the latest threats against Cenk Mutluyakah, editor of Turkish-Cypriot critical daily Yeniduzen.

As SEEMO reported on 2 March 2011, another Turkish-Cypriot journalist, Sener Levent, editor of the newspaper Afirka, received a death threat. On 25 February 2011, unknown attackers opened gun fire at Afrika’s office door. One bullet hit the wall and the other lodged in the door. The attackers left a note warning that next time the shots would target the journalist, rather than just his office door.

SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic called on the authorities to find the perpetrators of both attacks. “Press freedom has to be guaranteed in a democratic society and different opinions respected,” he said.

Vienna, 16/04/2011

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), expresses its concern about the deteriorating media environment in Serbia, including the government´s delay in formulating the promised Media Development Strategy; unreasonable court sentences; physical threats; and political, economic and legal pressure against journalists. Currently, three journalists live under 24-hour police protection.

The Independent Journalists´ Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Journalists´ Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Electronic Media Association (ANEM), the Independent Journalists´ Association of Vojvodina and the Local Press sent a joint letter to Serbia´s president, Boris Tadic. In the opening statement, the letter states: “This is not the reform that you have promised when coming to power. The situation is utterly alarming; however, the ruling coalition is procrastinating even with the adoption of the Media Development Strategy, despite the firm pledge, made more than a year ago, of its passing in agreement with us and the European Union…We know you are eagerly awaiting the decision from Brussels on the country’s candidacy for EU membership, but please note that at this moment Serbia is not offering any satisfactory answers to our questions, let alone European’s.”

The letter mentions several cases of grave concern. Belgrade-based daily Danas was recently fined 10 000 EUR for reproducing an article from another newspaper in 2006. The original story, published by the Belgrade dailies Kurir and Glas Javnosti, dealt with three policemen accused of beating their two colleagues and fabricating evidence. The policemen allegedly involved in the beatings sued all three newspapers. After five years of legal proceedings, the Appellation Court in Serbia ruled that Danas should pay the fine for all three newspapers as an act of solidarity.

SEEMO finds it inacceptable that one media is obliged to pay a fine for another. According to the media law expert, Slobodan Kamenjak, the court decision was not the result of an inadequate law, but of its wrong interpretation.

Furthermore, the pressure on media is particularly pronounced in small towns; local journalists are vulnerable to economic and political pressure. The economic crisis has exacerbated the already fragile economic basis of local media outlets, and municipal financing seems to be the last chance for their survival. In return, journalists are expected not to publish and/or broadcast critical stories. “Local press is on its deathbed, while financial situation of journalists is deplorable,” states the open letter and recalls that both in Belgrade and in the southern town of Loznica, three journalists live under the 24-hour police protection.

Two journalists from B92 Television- editor- in- chief Veran Matic and star investigative reporter Brankica Stankovic- are permanently protected. Stankovic has revealed several cases of high level corruption.

In Loznica, Vladimir Mitric, the local correspondent for Vecernje Novosti, was severely beaten by a policeman in 2005. He has been living with the round- the- clock police protection ever since. It took five years for the courts to sentence the perpetrator to a six month jail sentence. The mastermind has never been found. Although the court in Sabac has recently refused to pursue the investigation as to who ordered the beating, the police believe Mitric´s life is still under threat and keeps protecting him.

In Serbia, those who organize and order killings and assaults against journalists are usually not brought to justice. The masterminds behind the killings of Slavko Curuvija (1999) and Milan Pantic (2001) have not been found; nor has the death of Dada Vujasinovic (1994) been properly investigated. It was initially assumed that Vujasinovic had committed suicide. However, recent evidence appears to indicate that she was murdered.

The Serbian Journalists´ Association has recently published a long list of public promises related to the cases of murdered journalists. Starting 2001, politicians, ministers, public prosecutors and even President Boris Tadic have promised imminent detentions.

Supporting the demands stated in the public letter, Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General, said:

“I urge Serbia´s authorities to comply with all their promises, i.e., draw a new and transparent media strategy, create a legal framework for transparent press ownership, respect media freedom and above all, bring to justice those responsible for killing, beating and threatening journalists. A free media is the basis of a democratic society.”

Vienna, 18/04/2011

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), expressed concern that the latest amendments adopted by the Bulgarian parliament could affect press freedom.

On 13 April 2011, the parliament adopted changes to the Penal Code and introduced possible incarceration, from one to four years, for journalists and writers who instigate hatred, discrimination or violence. While the previous law covered only racial discrimination, the current one specifies additional forms of discrimination, based on ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, marital and social status, and disability. The amendments encompass all media: print, broadcast and online. Bulgarian laws do not define the concept of discrimination.

Ognian Zlatev, Director of the Sofia-based Media Development Center, told SEEMO that the amendments related to discrimination, could mean an attempt to impose controls on media and internet. He believes the hasty adoption of these amendments, without prior public discussion, might be a result of the forthcoming elections. He considers the new amendments a violation on media freedom.

Ivan Dikov, editor-in-chief of the Bulgarian English-language daily Novinite was surprised by the prompt amendment adoption. He thinks that they can do more harm than good. Dikov admits that discriminatory and hate speech are present in the Bulgarian media, especially in the online fora, but he does not think that the amendments would change the situation. “They might act as a backlash,” he told SEEMO, and be perceived as imposed by western NGOs. How the new prevision will be interpreted by the courts is of vital importance.

SEEMO condemns hate speech and discrimination. However, the organisation is also concerned with the prospect of journalists being jailed and how the courts might interpret possible allegations of discrimination. Experience shows that court rulings in this area could be abused. As a result, journalists could introduce self-censorship. SEEMO advocates journalists to apply self-regulation as a tool to control and prevent discriminatory rhetoric.

In a separate development related to press freedom, the parliament adopted a set of amendments related to the freedom of access to Bulgaria’s Business (Trade) Registry. Prior to these amendments, access to both the Registry’s data bases – the one containing the company’s profile and the second containing information on contracts, protocols and shareholder’s decisions – was unrestricted to all citizens.

As of 2012, the second data base will be available upon a written request by owners of an e-signature. The logs will be monitored. Full access will be provided only to the Court, investigators, personal data operators, lawyers, public notaries, law enforcement officers, legal advisors, and tax agents. As SEEMO stated in its letter of 1 March 2011, unrestricted public access to databases containing company activities have been an essential journalistic tool in uncovering corruption and irregularities. Under the new provisions, journalists will have no free access to a very important source of information, previously used to uncover corruption and irregularities in companies.

SEEMO Secretary General, Oliver Vujovic, said: “I call on the Bulgarian authorities to do their utmost to respect press freedom, and hope that the new amendments will not be used to promote censorship or prevent journalists from writing about the issues which are in the public interest.”

Vienna, 19/04/2011

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI,) on Tuesday condemned the physical attack on Csaba Szögi, a journalist with Képes Ifjúsá, the youth supplement of the Hungarian-language daily Magyar Szó, based in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Szögi was beaten on 15 April 2011 by several individuals who waited for him in front of public rest rooms in Beèej (Óbecsén), a town in Serbia´s multiethnic Vojvodina province. Although bruised, Szögi did not require hospitalisation. The reporter was covering a youth art competition event.

Szögi believes that the attack might have been planned in advance. While hitting him, the attackers repeated the same insults used by the Hungarian nationalist and extreme right-wing internet portal, www.magyarazat.info, where Szógi´s photo is featured. The portal claims the journalist shames Hungarian culture.

Vienna, 20/04/2011

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), condemns the decision of Bulgarian authorities to deny Skopje-based journalists the permission to enter Bulgaria, without an explanation, and cover an event organised in the village of Melnik, where local hero Yane Sandanski was killed in 1872. Sandanski led a resistance movement against the Ottoman Empire. Ethnic Bulgarians and Macedonians disagree over his ethnic origin. Each group claims him as their own hero.

Three media outlets from Skopje – television channels, TV Sonce and Kanal 5, as well as the daily Dnevnik – were prevented from entering Bulgaria on 17 April 2011. They intended to cover the commemoration in Melnik. No explanations were provided. Border police stopped the car with Dnevnik crew and asked about their destination. Once they explained the purpose of the trip, according to a story published on the Dnevnik website, they were asked to turn in their passports. In order to have them returned, they had to sign a document stating that they lacked the proper permission to cover the event. Citizens from the Republic of Macedonia/Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia do not need visas to enter Bulgaria.

TV Sonce had a similar experience in 2010. As reported by SEEMO on 5 May 2010, the broadcaster was turned back at the Bulgarian border due to a lack of proper accreditation. In 2011, they applied ahead of time. On 4 April 2011, the Bulgarian embassy in Skopje sent an official reply: the application was denied. No reasons were stated. SEEMO contacted officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sofia and Bulgarian diplomatic representatives in Skopje. While diplomatic representatives explained that all media permissions are decided on in Sofia, the director of the Directorate for Information in Sofia said that Bulgaria is a sovereign country and does not have to provide any reasons for denying accreditations.

According to Bulgaria´s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all journalists need permission to film in the country. There are several types of permission. The decision on who gets permission is made in Sofia, while applications are submitted to Bulgarian embassies.

The experience of Kanal 5 was different. After applying for accreditation and providing all the required information, including serial numbers for camera equipment and a car engine identification number, embassy representative in Skopje said that there was not enough time to process the application, the broadcaster reported on its website.

The Association of European Journalists-Bulgaria sent an open letter to Bulgarian authorities, asking if journalists from the mainstream European media would be given the same treatment or if there was a deliberate targeting of Skopje-based reporters. When journalists are denied accreditation, they should receive an explanation. Blank rejections are contrary to international standards and clearly violate press freedom.

SEEMO condemns these discriminatory practices and urges Bulgaria´s authorities to let the journalists from Republic of Macedonia/Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia enter the country and report freely. SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic called on Bulgarian authorities “to adhere to international standards of press freedom.”

Vienna, 03/05/2011

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), on Wednesday expressed concern over excessive fines imposed on two Turkish-language minority publications in Greece, Gundem and Millet, which could result in the closure of the papers and even imprisonment for their journalists if they cannot afford to pay the stipulated fines: 150 000EUR for Gundem and 120 000EUR for Millet. On 6 May 2011, the Court of Appeal in Komotini, Western Thrace, is expected to revise both court sentences.

Gundem and Millet are minority publications with three journalists each and a circulation of about one thousand copies. Their readership is the Turkish-speaking minority concentrated in Western Thrace, northeastern Greece, bordering Bulgaria and Turkey.

In January 2011, both weeklies published a story about a local teacher who had volunteered to come from the capital, Athens, and work in the village of Mega Derio (Buyuk Derbent), and who allegedly asked her primary school pupils to draw a picture of God. Many of the children are Muslims, and since Islam prohibits the depiction of God they refused to comply with the teacher’s request, and complained to their parents. Both newspapers reported on the incident and were subsequently sued by the teacher.

The incident gained nationwide publicity because of the excessive fines. Analysing Greek media laws, the Athens-based daily Eleftherotypia newspaper recalled that the court had based its ruling on the fact that the story´s impact went beyond the local community since it was taken up by the Greek national media.

Eleftherotypia noted that the law stipulates that for a national publication the minimum fine is 29,325 EUR while for a local one it is 5,865 EUR. In other words, the fines of 150 000EUR and 120 000 EUR go far beyond the stipulated legal amounts. They could result in up to ten months imprisonment for the journalists if they are unable to pay. In a related development, while waiting for the Court of Appeal session, the teacher´s lawyer asked for a partial advance payment of the fine: 32,600 EUR from Gundem and 22,300EUR from Millet. Since the papers did not pay, in April 2011 the personal bank accounts of four journalists were blocked.

SEEMO is concerned that excessive fines could silence the minority press in Greece.

“As a European Union country, Greece is expected to uphold the highest standards of minority rights and respect cultural diversity,” declared Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General.

Vienna, 11/05/2011

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is disappointed with a Serbian court’s decision to sentence to only ten months house arrest a person who beat up B92 TV cameraman Bosko Brankovic, breaking his leg, injuring his shoulder and destroying his camera. The light sentence has fuelled a widespread sense among journalists’ and other media associations that the law does not protect journalists.

The incident took place in 2008 as Brankovic was filming protests in Belgrade triggered by the detention of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his extradition to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Three protesters struck Brankovic while screaming: “Beat up the journalist”. Brankovic filmed the entire scene, until the aggressors broke his camera.

A court in Belgrade took three years to prosecute the perpetrators and pass the sentence: ten months house arrest for one of the men, and suspended sentences for his two accomplices.

The reaction of journalists´ associations was immediate: The Serbian Journalists Association suggested that the court sentence would not deter future attacks against journalists and noted purportedly attenuating conditions considered by the judges. A psychiatrist who testified during the trial declared that all of the attackers grew up in happy homes and turned violent only because they were part of a crowd.

In an open letter – in which he wrote that he was “ashamed as a citizen” – B92 editor- in -chief Veran Matic, who lives under 24-hour police protection, noted that according to Serbia’s 2009 Criminal Code the penalty for beating up a journalist is lower than for threatening one.
If a journalist is threatened but the threat does not materialise, the perpetrator can be sentenced from one to eight years in prison. If, however, a journalist is beaten and injured, but not killed, the Code foresees a prison sentence of six months to five years.

“In our penal legislation there is no balance whatsoever between the threat to society caused by a criminal act and the legally prescribed penalty. Judges are not to blame for this state of affairs, but the legislators,” Matic wrote.

He demanded that the legislation be changed and called for the training of judges who he said appeared to be unfamiliar with new provisions in the Serbian legal system, such as attenuating circumstances or pleading guilty in exchange for a lower court sentence.

“The ten-month house arrest sentence will not deter future aggression against journalists,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “SEEMO supports the B92 demands for changes in legislation, an end to impunity, and the protection of journalists. So far, the police have been efficient in finding those who assault journalists, but slow court proceedings and disproportionately light sentences raise questions about the state’s commitment to protecting media representatives.”

Vienna, 16/05/2011

Moldovan police have identified a network of communication specialists, translators and printers who produced and distributed fake newspapers. Gheorghe Malic, head of the criminal investigation team that worked on the case, identified two Ukrainian communication specialists as the main implementers of the scheme. According to Malic, the goal was to manipulate public opinion ahead of local elections planned for 5 June 2011. The police refused to divulge the name of the political party suspected of having designed the scheme. The naming of names, the police said, would occur at the end of the election campaign.

The case came to light two weeks ago when Moldovan households received fake copies of the country´s leading newspapers Ziarul de Garda and Timpul. Although the front page logos and layout were identical to those of Ziarul de Garda and Timpul, the tone and content just didn’t seem right. In one case, articles contained attacks on the pro-Western ruling coalition and praised the mayor of Chisinau, country´s capital; another fake copy argued the opposite, criticising the mayor and eulogising the government.

“It would be like a comedy if it were not serious,” said Alina Radu, director of Ziarul deGarda, in a conversation with SEEMO. “Initially, we thought it might be a joke but we soon realized that it was serious,” she added. When the second fake paper was produced and distributed, the issue became public. Radu feared that the next step might be to use journalists’ bylines for articles they had not written. Her concern appeared to have been well-founded: when police entered an apartment in Chisinau rented by the two Ukrainian communication specialists, they discovered another, ready-to-distribute fake issue of Ziarul de Garda including a fake editorial signed by Alina Radu.

Radu is urging the police to reveal the name of the political party allegedly behind the sophisticated campaign – which has damaged the media.

SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said: “The Moldovan police must reveal the names of those who allegedly used fake newspapers, thereby violating copyright, to strike political points. In protecting their names, the police appear to be more interested in protecting politicians than the media.”

In an unrelated development, SEEMO welcomes the release, after one year of imprisonment, of independent journalist Ernest Vardanian. He was unconditionally released in Tirsapol, capital of the internationally unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic (PMR). In a telephone interview with SEEMO, Vardanian said that his release was due to the mediation of the Armenian and Russian patriarchs. Vardanian was arrested on the territory of the internationally unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic, accused of spying for Moldova proper and convicted of treason in a closed trial. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He denied the charges.

Prior to his arrest, Vardanian worked as a staff reporter and political analyst for the Chisinau-based newspaper Puls, freelanced for the Russian Internet news agency Novy Region, and contributed to Europa Libera – the Moldova and Romania service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

After his release, Vardanian moved to Moldova´s capital Chisinau and hopes to return to journalism.

Vienna, 20/05/2011

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute, condemns the continuing violence and attacks against journalists in Northern Cyprus and urges the authorities to find the perpetrators of all the acts of aggression.

On 18 May 2011, police used violence to disperse a protest organized in North Nicosia by laid-off workers of Turkish Airlines. Journalists who covered the event were beaten and their cameras were broken, according to the Press Workers’ Trade Union in Northern Cyprus.

On 12 May 2011, a second bomb was placed in the car of Mutlu Esendemir, the news editor of Turkish-Cypriot Kanal T Television and a reporter for the Turkish language daily Kibris. The journalist suffered minor injuries. On 5 April 2011, a first bomb was placed under Esendemir´s car. One day after the first attack, as reported by SEEMO, Esendemir wrote in Kibris that he believed that the attack was related to articles he had written over the preceding 10 days regarding city planning problems in the town of Keryneia. Despite condemnations by political parties and other organisations, the perpetrators have not been found.

As SEEMO also reported, on 2 March 2011, another Turkish-Cypriot journalist, Sener Levent, editor of the newspaper Afirka, was the victim of an attack. On 25 February 2011, unknown assailants opened fire at Afrika’s office door. One bullet hit the wall and another lodged in the door. The attackers left a note warning that next time the shots would target the journalist, rather than just his office door.

“Journalists seem to be a deliberate target,” said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “The authorities must identify and hold to account those responsible for the attacks on journalists, and must guarantee the safety of journalists.”

SEE, 01/06/2011

The establishment of public service broadcasters has proved to be a very difficult task in some Eastern European countries. Public broadcasters tend to be used as government mouthpieces rather than as sources of information for the public at large.

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation, SEEMO, an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), shares concern expressed by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) that recent changes to the statute of Radio-Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT), the country-wide public broadcaster, may undermine its editorial independence, and called on Parliament to adopt a new statute.

The recent amendments to the BHRT Statute gave its Steering Committee – composed of four appointed members – extraordinary powers to interfere in both editorial and managerial matters. According to an official statement and evaluation by the BHRT legal department, issued on 24 May 2011, the modifications and amendments to the Statute, without consultation with the management, legal department or union representatives, are “in non-conformance with the Law, and even with certain international legal acts and recommendations”. The department suggests that court proceedings should be initiated “in order to determine the legality of the act”.

Public broadcasting in Bosnia and Herzegovina has experienced serious problems for several years, in spite of regulatory changes. In fact, there are several public broadcasters – which reflects the country’s political division into two entities: Serb-controlled Republika Srpska and the Federation, controlled by Bosniaks and Croats. Under the laws adopted from 2005 to 2008, Bosnia’s public service broadcasting system consists of three broadcasters: BHRT, which is a country-wide service, and two separate-entity public broadcasters, Radio and Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Radio-Televizija Federacije BiH -RTFBiH), for the Federation entity, and Radio Television of Republika Srpska (Radio- TElevizija Republike Srpske- RTRS) for Republika Srpska.

The public broadcasters, designed to promote cohesion and tolerance, tend to behave as rivals. They have been used and abused by different political parties, generally organized along ethnic lines. In reality, they barely communicate with each other. The country-wide public broadcaster BHRT has been especially targeted by political parties. In that respect, the proposed amendments to its Statute, designed by the Steering Committee whose members have scant media experience, seem to be focused on reducing the independence of the only broadcaster that makes efforts to be a public service broadcaster rather than a government information channel.

In neighboring Croatia, in March 2011, more than 150 journalists working for the public broadcaster Croatian Television (Hrvatska televizija- HTV) signed a petition asking for one simple thing: respect for professional standards. Political interference and internal bickering have resulted in “the biggest professional and management crisis”, according to the petition. Some sections of the News Program do not speak to each other. The lack of transparency and communication undermine the trust and credibility in HTV which is losing audiences to private channels.

In Hungary, the new Media Law – the implementation of which coincided with the beginning of Hungary´s presidency of the European Union – initiated in January 2011 has seriously undermined the independence of the public broadcaster MTV. Even before the adoption of the internationally criticized Media Law, analysts detected a dramatic shift in political coverage by public television, reflected in the types of issues covered, the politicians and parties featured and the comments made by the anchors. In other words, after the 2010 elections, MTV changed its editorial policy accoding to the changes in the composition of the parliament.

Boris Bergant, President of the SEEMO board said: “It must be clear and transparent what is controlling, and what management in public service is. The management should work in the interest of the company, not in the interest of political representatives. Boards in public services are founded to work in the interest of the publicity and not in the interest of the political groups”.

“Respecting the premise of public broadcasting is the basis of democracy and public information,” said SEEMO Secertary General Oliver Vujovic. “It is high time that governments understand that public information service is not the same as government information service. I urge the authorities to respect and support public bordacasters rather than undermine their independence and credibility.”