22/01/2010: SERBIA – SEEMO: POLITICAL PRESSURE ON SERBIAN WEEKLY VRANJSKE

Vienna, 22/01/2010

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute, is alarmed at the strong political pressure being exercised on the Serbian weekly Vranjske.

Since the weekly published some critical articles, certain members of a local political party are jeopardizing the right of theVranjske journalists to inform the public in a professional and objective way, by prohibiting all public institutions that are managed by the political party from advertising in the Vranjske weekly and by prohibiting the local officials of the political party from communicating with the journalists.

During the end of December 2009, based on an anonymous notification received at the prosecutor’s office, an economic crime inspector came to the editorial office of Vranjske for a sudden inspection. Shortly thereafter, based on another anonymous notification, another inspector arrived looking for potentially clandestine employees at the editorial office.

On Monday 4 January 2010, the first working day after holidays in Serbia, a tax inspector arrived at the editorial office ofVranjske, yet again after receiving an anonymous notification, to inspect the editorial office and to determine whether all taxes had truly been paid.

SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said: “It is remarkable that all of a sudden, within a short time frame, many inspections are being made at the editorial office of Vranjske, as the weekly is a renowned local Serbian weekly which is known for its professional and critical reporting on matters of public interest.”

He added: “SEEMO calls upon the local officials of the political parties to express any dissatisfaction towards journalists in another, democratic way instead of blocking communication. They must keep in mind that in order to have a democratic society, investigative journalism and critical reporting are needed within the country.”

Vienna, 23/01/2010

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the police raid on BN Television in Bijeljina, Bosnia – Herzegovina. The Bosnia-Herzegovina journalists association, BH Novinari, and the Sarajevo-based Linija za pomoc novinara (Free Media Help Line) have also expressed concern about the matter.

According to information received, the police raided the premises of BN Television early on the morning of 13 January, 2010, when the morning program was about to be broadcast. Because of the police raid, which was based on an assumption of grounds related to tax payment, and on an anonymous phone call, the morning program was interrupted. After four hours, regular broadcasting began again.

SEEMO Secretary-General Oliver Vujovic said: “SEEMO strongly condemns the sudden interruption of the morning program caused by the police raid, causing trouble for the media employees of BN Television. The police could have handled the situation in another way instead of blocking the morning program, by going through the papers without blocking the broadcasting. After all, the media employees of the broadcaster have nothing to do with the tax papers themselves and so the blocking of the morning program is considered an attempt to influence the media and public information.”

Vienna, 29/01/2010

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Turkey to pay a total of over 40,000 Euros to 20 Turkish journalists as compensation for having violated their rights.

In two separate cases, the Court ruled on 26 January that Turkey had violated freedom of speech laws when it suspended five newspapers and sentenced a magazine editor to prison over an article criticizing prison brutality.

Welcoming the judgment, IPI Board Member Ferai Tinc, Chairperson of the IPI Turkish National Committee, said: “We would like that the law that allows [such press freedom violations] be abolished. We would like the canceling of prison sentences in cases concerning the media. No one can be imprisoned for what he has written.”

In the first case, the five newspapers concerned are Gündem, Yedinci Gün, Haftaya Bakýþ, Yaþamda Demokrasi and Gerçek Demokrasi. Between 9 October and 15 December 2007, an Istanbul court ordered the suspension of all five newspapers for periods ranging from fifteen days to a month for violating the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Court stated that various articles in the newspapers supported the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organisation that is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community, including the European Union and the United States.

The second case was in connection with two articles published in February 2001 by the Turkish magazine Yeni Dünya Ýçin Çaðr. The articles reportedly criticized a security operation in Turkish prisons which left 30 inmates dead. A graphic cover photo showed prisoners who had been burned or beaten.

Turkish authorities seized all copies of the February 2001 edition of the magazine and sentenced the owner and editor-in-chief, Aziz Ozer, to six months imprisonment for impinging on the moral authority of the state, according to the ECHR judgment. The sentence was later commuted to a fine.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in both cases that Turkey had violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights because “the practice of banning the future publication of entire periodicals went beyond any necessary restraint and amounted to censorship.”

With regard to the criminal sentence handed down to Aziz Ozer, the Court stated that the government should “show restraint in resorting to criminal proceedings, particularly where there are other means to respond to unjustified attacks and criticisms by its adversaries or the media … The authorities of a democratic state should tolerate criticism, even when it may be considered provocative or offensive.”

“IPI welcomes the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights,” said IPI Director David Dadge. Particularly since Turkey is engaged in accession talks with the European Union, it is important that it abides by democratic standards of freedom of expression and the media.”

In March 2009, IPI took its concerns about press freedom in Turkey to the European Commission in Brussels.

It appealed to European Commission leaders to make press freedom a priority in ongoing membership talks with Turkey amid concern over verbal attacks on news organisations and continued legal hurdles to free expression in the country.

IPI Director David Dadge held meetings with EU Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn, and other officials, to emphasize the European Union’s influence in seeking reforms during membership negotiations with Turkey.

“IPI hopes the European Commission can use its influence to encourage Prime Minister Erdogan to take a step back from his position of criticising the media and calling for boycotts,” Dadge said after the meetings. “The EU can play a central role in ensuring free expression and pluralistic media in candidate countries such as Turkey.”

On 23 January Turkish police detained 60 people, including two journalists suspected of belonging to or aiding the PKK, the state-run Anatolian news agency reported.

For more information please contact

Mirjana Milosevic
Press Freedom Coordinator
E-mail: info@seemo.org

Vienna, 29/01/2010

Your Excellencies,

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is very concerned about the safety of the Bulgarian journalist Lidia Pavlova. We would herewith like to call your attention to this case.

Lidia Pavlova, a Bulgarian journalist who currently works for the daily newspaper Struma based in the Southern town of Blagoevgrad, has been living under constant threat since she began reporting the “Galevi” case.

On 16 May 2009, just hours after initial developments in the trial against the two persons involved in the “Galevi” case at the National Investigation Service, the rear windshield of Pavlova’s car was completely smashed. Upon examination, the police found a bullet inside the car.

On 1 January 2010, Pavlova’s son was attacked and severely beaten by a man who entered a local establishment where the 19-year-old man was celebrating New Year’s Eve with his girlfriend. Following the assault, Pavlova’s son, who sustained severe injuries to the head, spent three days in the intensive care unit of the local hospital.

Finally, during the night of 22 January 2010, an unknown person cut the back tires of, and scratched, Pavlov’s company car. Pavlova shared with SEEMO her conviction that this attack like many others was related only to her investigative work as a journalist.

On 29 January 2010 at 10:00am local Bulgarian time, the trial in “Galevi” case will begin. Lidia Pavlova will appear before the court as a private claimant and a witness at the same time. She does not believe that anyone is willing to protect her in Bulgaria. According to her, policemen in the city work at the same time as bodyguards for persons involved in the “Galevi” case.

SEEMO expresses great dismay at these direct physical attacks and at the harassment of Pavlova and her family and urges timely investigations into these matters. We would like to emphasize that physical violence and harassment against journalists are not acceptable, and send potentially dangerous signals regarding the treatment of journalists who are doing their work as investigative journalists.

We call on you to reinvigorate investigative efforts into this case, and so send a strong signal that Bulgarian authorities will not tolerate such violence against a journalist.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic
SEEMO Secretary General

Vienna, 02/02/2010

Almost four decades after Abdi Ipekci, editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily Milliyet, was shot dead in his car on 1 February 1971 by Mehmet Ali Agca, a right-wing militant who later escaped from jail and attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in May 1981, IPI is still calling for justice.

On 18 January, Ali Agca was freed from the Sincan high security prison, near Ankara, after serving his sentence. Many journalists in Turkey feel that Ipekci has been denied justice, since those who collaborated with Ali Agca on the killing of Ipekci, as well as on Agca’s escape from prison are still at large.

“Ipekci’s murder is a ‘Justice Denied’ case for us Turkish journalists,” said IPI Board Member Ferai Tinc, referring to the IPI Justice Denied Campaign against impunity for the murderers of journalists, and the unjust imprisonment of journalists. Tinc, a columnist for the Hurriyet Daily, is also the Chairwoman of the IPI Turkish National Committee. “We call on the authorities not to close the Ipekci case with the release of Agca and to conduct proper investigations in order to clarify all the questions that have not been answered till now,” she added.

An active member of IPI, Ipekci was elected to the IPI Executive Board in 1964 and became Vice Chairman in 1971. He was organizing an international conference on political extremism and the media in Turkey when he was killed. He dedicated his professional life to helping build bridges between Turkish and Greek journalists, and speaking ceaselessly for national unity and reconciliation, and against violence and terrorism.

After his death, Ipekci’s close friend, then Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, said: “The bullets that killed him were intended for Turkey’s democracy and constitutional order.”

IPI Director David Dadge said: “The Turkish government owes it to Abdi Ipekci, and to all journalists, to do everything it can to bring to justice those who planned his killing. Otherwise there can be no closure for his family, friends and colleagues. No unsolved murder of a journalist should ever be forgotten.”

Ipekci was honoured as an IPI World Press Freedom Hero in the year 2000 in recognition of his efforts to protect democratic rights and freedoms.

For more information, please contact:

SEEMO
Mirjana Milosevic
Press Freedom Adviser
Spiegelgasse 2/29
Vienna
E-mail: info@seemo.org

Vienna, 02/02/2010

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) strongly condemns the threat made by the Serbian Orthodox priest Bogdan Simanic against the Serbian journalist Aleksandra Delic, a correspondent for the Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti.

Delic was threatened on 1 February 2010 by Simanic over her critical reporting about the owners of Glas Podrinja. Simanic, who is a co-owner of the Serbian weekly, posed the threat by telephone when talking to another journalist, and said, translated into English: “You can tell her I will break her legs when I see her! She will remember who Priest Bogdan is.”

SEEMO Secretary-General Oliver Vujovic said: “SEEMO strongly condemns the threat against Delic. As the Church plays an important role in moral development within society, SEEMO urges the Serbian Orthodox Priest Bogdan Simanic, as a Church representative and moreover as a co-owner of a weekly himself, to respect freedom of expression and opinion, and not to threaten journalists for exercising their right to freedom of speech. “Vujovic added: “It is essential that journalists are able to report freely and without fear of intimidation or harassment so that they can carry out the vital activity of informing the public.”

Vienna, 03/02/2010

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the pressure applied to Kurirjournalist Milan Ladjevic by Serbian Minister for Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic.

On 2 February 2010, in the hall of the Serbian Parliament, Minister Mrkonjic, according to several sources, assaulted Kurir journalist Ladjevic. Serbian media reported that the Minister slapped the journalist’s face as he talked to fellow journalists. The minister also verbally attacked the journalist with obscene language. Later, when asked about the case, Minister Mrkonjic informed the media that he “only gently stroked the head of Ladjevic.” Today Mrkonjic said he was sorry about everything, and that he”maybe has an unusual way of communication.”

Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General, said: “To be a politician, moreover a Minister who is a member of the government, means to communicate professionally and responsibly with journalists and this must be respected by every politician.”

Vujovic added: “SEEMO welcomes the apology for his behaviour expressed by Minister Mrkonjic. SEEMO hopes that Minister Mrkonjic will change, after this incident, his way of communication with journalists, regardless of the media they represent. SEEMO also hopes that the Minister will respect in future his suggestion today that he does not want any conflict with journalists. As a politician, he must know that he must behave professionally and that critical reporters are important for democratic development in a country.”

SEEMO would like to remind politicians that those with legitimate complaints against the media have a range of different mechanisms through which to pursue these complaints. Any assaults against journalists, whether physical or verbal, are unacceptable

Vienna, 05/02/2010

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) strongly condemns the attack on TV SKAT in Bulgaria.

On 3 February 2010, the premises of the Varna office of Bulgarian TV SKAT were attacked with a Molotov cocktail, following a similar attack on the head office of TV SKAT in Burgas just one day previously, on 2 February 2010. The perpetrators remain unknown so far.

In 2009, TV SKAT journalist Silvija Trendafilova and her colleague, cameraman Peter Georgiev, were beaten by bodyguards of a leader of a political party.

SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said: “SEEMO strongly condemns the threats and attacks on journalists of TV SKAT.”

He added: “SEEMO is concerned about the worsening situation for journalists. SEEMO has registered many attacks and threats in Bulgaria. It is in particular very unfortunate that such incidents are still occurring despite the fact that Bulgaria is a member of the European Union. SEEMO therefore urges the Bulgarian authorities to do everything in their power to provide safe working conditions for journalists.”

Vienna, 10/02/2010

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns recent police pressure on Nezavisna Televizija IC (Independent Television IC) journalist Osman Drina in Zenica, Bosnia Herzegovina.

On 6 February, 2010, Drina was in the town of Zenica, reporting on the first league of women’s basketball in Bosnia Herzegovina, when he was both verbally and physical assaulted by policemen. Despite the fact Drina was a journalist who was reporting while on duty, Drina was taken to the municipal police station of Zenica.

Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General, condemned the police obstruction of the work of Drina: “Both verbal and physical attacks on journalists are unacceptable.” Vujovic added: “It is particularly worrying if these attacks are coming from the municipal police who are supposed to function as a safeguard of rules and order within a society.”

SEEMO therefore welcomes the police investigation announced by the commissar of the municipal police station of Zenica and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. SEEMO supports the Bosnia Herzegovina journalists’ association, BH Novinari, and the Sarajevo-based Linija za pomoc novinara (Free Media Help Line) and urges the Bosnia Herzegovina authorities to take the necessary action against the persons responsible for the attack to ensure that it is appropriately followed up on.

Vienna, 11/02/2010

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the recent physical attack on 23-year-old journalist Dimitar Varbanov, from bTV program Master of Broadcastingin Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

Varbanov has been working as a journalist for bTV for four years.

On 10 February 2010, Varbanov intended to have an interview with a construction entrepreneur after the bTVprogramme Master of Broadcasting received alerts from families living in Veliko Tarnovo who had contracts with the construction entrepreneur for new flats that they have never received even after payment was made. After the construction entrepreneur introduced himself as a common builder, he hit Varbanov with a hammer against the head.

After the hammer attack, Varbanov was directly taken to the local hospital. An ambulance and three police cars arrived soon after they got alerted by the cameraman. The alleged perpetrator was arrested and taken into police custody.

SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said, “SEEMO strongly condemns the physical attack on Varbanov.”

“It is very alarming that journalists in Bulgaria seem to be threatened and attacked at a regular order and within a short time frame, “Vujovic added. SEEMO welcomes the quick reaction of the police who arrested the alleged perpetrator and SEEMO urges the Bulgarian authorities to do everything in their power to secure safe working conditions for journalists and to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.”