Mapping Media Freedom: Turkish editor arrested on terror propaganda charges

19 May 2017 | Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, Mapping Media Freedom, News and features

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Mapping Media Freedom

Each week, Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project verifies threats, violations and limitations faced by the media throughout the European Union and neighbouring countries. Here are five recent reports that give us cause for concern.

Turkey: Cumhuriyet online editor arrested on terror propaganda charges

15 May 2017 – The editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet’s website, Oğuz Güven, was arrested on charges of spreading propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organisation.

The journalist was detained on 12 May when a headline used in the online version of the newspaper about a prosecutor who died in a car crash upset government supporters.

Cumhuriyet reported that Güven was taken to the İstanbul Police Department located on Vatan Street after his detention.

Also read: Turkey: International coalition slams Cumhuriyet arrests and media closures

Ukraine: Authorities ban Russian media outlets and journalists

15 May 2017 – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a National Security and Defence Council decree that bans a number of Russian media and social media sites, including VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, along with search engine Yandex and email service Mail.ru.

The sanctions also apply to antivirus providers Kaspersky Lab and DrWeb. Ukrainian internet service providers will be forced to block access to these sites for three years.

According to Radio Liberty, economic sanctions have also been imposed against major Russian television stations TV Center, RBC, RTR, NTV-Plus, Zvezda, TNT, REN and OTR.

Sanctions have also been imposed against 1,228 individuals how are both citizens of Ukraine, Russia and other countries. According to Detector media, the sanction list includes 13 foreign journalists who are now prohibited from entering the territory of Ukraine for one year.

The list includes five journalists who are citizens of European countries: Magdalena Tasheva (Bulgaria), Novorossia News, Agency blogger David Berezitskyy (Poland), NTV television reporter Maxim Byerozin (Germany), Novorossia News Agency journalist and blogger David Hudzhets (Poland), head of Unified Information and Analytical Center Eurasia inform Vladimir Bukarskyy (citizen of Moldova).

Also the sanction list includes seven: Russian citizens: news agency Ruptly journalist Daniel Anisimov, First Channel CEO of the international network Alexey Efimov, Red Star media holding president Alex Pimanov, Izvestia newspaper editor-in-chief Alexander Potapov, Expert magazine editor-in-chief Valery Fadeev, Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper editor-in-chief Vladislav Fronin, Vzhlyad.ru online news outlet editor-in-chief Alex Sharavskyy.

Ukrainian citizen Olena Berezovska, who lives in Moscow and manages the Internet news outlet Ukraina.ru created by RT, is also on the sanction list. The ban is a continuation of government policies to block the activities of Russian companies in Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s military support of separatist groups in the Donbass region.

Sweden: Crime reporter assaulted in own home

15 May, 2017 – Investigative crime reporter Håkan Slagbrand was assaulted in his home by an unknown man in the early morning. The assailant, who wore overalls, claimed to be a painter and spoke in English.

“I think this could be connected to some of my work from a while back on financial crime,” Slagbrand said.

He sustained injuries to his face during the assault. By the time police arrived, the assailant had vanished. Slagbrand had previously had a firebomb thrown at his car.

Kosovo: Former journalist hospitalised after assault

13 May, 2017- Prominent journalist Arbana Xharra has been assaulted by unknown individuals in a parking lot close to her apartment in the capital Pristina.

Xharra was beaten severely and brought to the hospital where she’s in stable condition, according to the police.

A few days before the attack, Xharra had announced that she was resigning from her work in journalism and joining the largest political party in the country, the PDK. She was the editor-in-chief of Zeri, the biggest newspaper in Kosovo. She is well-known for her investigative reporting on corruption and religious extremism.

 

Russia: Police in Chechnya claims it will sue Novaya Gazeta

12 May, 2017 – Chechen interior minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Interfax that the ministry will sue Novaya Gazeta after police checks the newspaper’s allegations on the detainment of gay people in the republic.

Akhanov said the allegation by Novaya Gazeta that more than 160 men were detained, 50 of which were killed (Novaya Gazeta only reported on three killings), “does not have any grounds and is fictitious”. He said no complaints of harassment were submitted to the police and hotline.

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Mapping Media Freedom


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Raif Badawi’s wife leads calls for his release at Saudi embassy in London

18 May 2017 | Digital Freedom, Middle East and North Africa, News and features, Saudi Arabia

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Raif Badawi #FreeRaif

On 17 May 2017, Index on Censorship joined English Pen, Amnesty International and others in a protest of solidarity outside of the Saudi embassy in London to call for the release of blogger Raif Badawi.

Badawi was detained on 17 June 2012 for creating the website Free Saudi Liberals and “insulting Islam through electronic channels”. Following his arrest, he was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes, the first 50 of which he received in public in January of 2015.

One month away from the five-year anniversary of his arrest, Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, led dozens of protesters at the embassy. Haidar has said her husband’s mental health is worsening. This makes her pleas with world leaders to aid in the release of Badawi even more urgent. She has recently directly petitioned, among others, the governments of the UK, Germany and her new home of Canada.

Many activists have been protesting at the gates of the embassy for a long time to show their support. Cat Lucas of English Pen said: “We’ve been coming here for almost two and a half years on account of Raif.”

Similarly, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: “We’re here once again to support the campaign to release Raif Badawi and we won’t go away until he is free. Saudi Arabia has a duty to honour their commitments to the human rights law, as their crackdown is doing huge harm worldwide.”

Jo Glanville, director of English Pen, urged the British government to put pressure on Saudi Arabia for the release of Badawi: ,“We are approaching five years since Raif was arrested for doing no more than exercising freedom of expression. We call on the Saudi government to release him immediately and also on the British government to use its very close relationship with the kingdom to ensure he receives the justice he deserves.”

Badawi’s situation is not unique, as Imad Iddine Habib of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain CEMB noted: “We’re here to call for the immediate release of Raif Badawi who is unjustly in jail for expressing nothing more than his ideas and beliefs. He represents thousands of others who are in prison for similar reasons.”

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Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab hospitalised and denied bail

17 May 2017 | Bahrain, Bahrain News, Middle East and North Africa, News and features

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Nabeel Rajab

Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab (Photo: The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy)

On Tuesday the detention of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was extended once again when Bahraini courts denied his request for bail and postponed the first of his two trials until 30 May.

Rajab, whose second trial was scheduled for today, was unable to appear in court due to deteriorating health, resulting in him being taken to a hospital.

After being arrested on 13 June 2016 on charges of spreading “rumours and false news” and tweeting about the war in Yemen, Rajab’s two trials have been postponed over ten times in total. He has now spent nearly a year straight in detention, most of which has been in solitary confinement, contributing to a string of serious medical issues including bleeding ulcers.

The treatment of Rajab, who could face up to 18 years in prison if he is convicted in both cases, has been criticised by human rights activists over the last year. On 12 May 2017, the United Nations Torture Committee released a statement strongly criticising Bahrain’s history of torture as well as urging them to “put an end to the solitary confinement of Mr. Nabeel Rajab and ensure that he is provided with adequate medical assistance and redress”.

It continued: “The Committee is deeply concerned by reports that numerous persons who were deprived of their liberty have been subjected to torture or ill-treatment. It is particularly concerned about the situation of Messrs. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Naji Fateel, Nabeel Rajab, Abduljalil Al-Singace, Hussain Jawad, Abdulwahab Hussain, in particular with regard to their access to medical care.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1495019195784-ddbc73bc-d6fb-3″ taxonomies=”716″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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16 May 2017 | Uncategorized

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