01 Apr 22 | Hungary, News and features, Uncategorized
LGBTQI rights. Gender equality. Media freedom. The fate of liberties in Hungary hang in the balance as the nation heads to the polls on Sunday. With a falling currency, a mismanaged response to the pandemic still fresh to mind and a stronger opposition under United For Hungary – a coalition of six parties spanning the political spectrum – the election campaign has been the closest in years. But the war in Ukraine, right on Hungary’s border, has changed its course in unexpected ways. Below we’ve picked the most important things to consider when it comes to the April 2022 elections.
Basic rights could worsen
Since his election in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has whittled away fundamental rights in the country to the extent that Hungarian activist Dora Papp told Index in 2019 free expression had no more space “to worsen”.
Orban’s main targets have been people who identify as LGBTQI. Last year, amid global outcry, he passed a law that bans the dissemination of content in schools deemed to promote homosexuality and gender change. Seeking approval for this legislation, Hungary is holding a referendum on sexual orientation workshops in schools this Sunday alongside the parliamentary elections.
Orban also takes aim at the nation’s Roma and immigrants, and has revived old anti-Semitic tropes in his attacks on George Soros, a Hungarian-born Jewish philanthropist who Orban claims is plotting to flood the country with migrants (an accusation Soros firmly denies).
As for half of the population, Orban’s macho-style leadership manifests in rhetoric on women that is dismissive, insulting and focuses on traditional roles. Asked in 2015 why there were no women in his cabinet, he replied that few women could deal with the stress of politics. That’s just one example. The list goes on.
His populist politics have seeped into every democratic institution and effectively dismantled them. The constitution, the judiciary and municipal councils have all been reorganised to serve the interests of Orban. Education, both higher and lower, has seen huge levels of interference. Progressive teachers and classes have been removed. Even the Billy Elliot musical was cancelled after Orban called the show a propaganda tool for homosexuality.
But the media can’t freely report much of this
In response to claims of media-freedom erosion, the Hungarian government likes to point out that there are no journalists in jail in Hungary, nor have any been murdered on Orban’s watch. But as we know only too well there are many ways to cook an egg. Through gaining control of public media, concentrating private media in the hands of Orban allies and creating a hostile environment for the remaining independent media (think misinformation laws and constant insults), the attacks come from every other angle. Orban has even been accused of using Pegasus, the invasive spyware behind the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi, to target investigative journalists.
It’s little wonder then that in 2021 Reporters Without Borders labelled Orban a “press freedom predator”, the only one to make the list from the EU.
As election day approaches the attacks continue. In February, for example, pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet said it had obtained recordings showing that NGOs linked to Soros were “manipulating” international press coverage of Hungary, a claim instantly rejected by civil society groups.
Ukraine War has shifted the narrative, for better and worse
Given Orban’s track-record on rights, it comes as no surprise that he’s the closest EU ally of Vladimir Putin. This wasn’t a great look before 24 February and it’s even less so today, as the opposition are keen to highlight. They are pushing Orban hard on his neutral stance, which has seen him simultaneously open Hungary’s borders to Ukrainian refugees and oppose sanctions and the sending of weapons.
But Orban is playing his hand well. Fears of becoming embroiled in the war appear to be stronger in Hungary than anger at Putin’s aggression, many analysts says. Orban is claiming a vote for him is a vote for stability and neutrality, while a vote for the opposition is a vote for war. He’s even tried to cast his February visit to Moscow as a “peace mission”.
And though he has condemned the invasion, he has yet to say anything bad about Putin himself. Worse still, Hungarian media is blasting out Russian propaganda. Pundits, TV stations and print outlets are pushing out lines like the war was caused by NATO’s aggressive acts toward Russia, Russian troops have occupied Ukraine’s nuclear plants to protect them and the Ukrainian government is full of Nazis.
Anything else?
Yes. Orban met with a coalition of Europe’s far-right in Spain at the start of the year. They discussed the possibility of a Europe-wide alliance. What that looks like now in a post-Ukraine world is hard to tell. We’d rather not see.
Then there’s the fact that Serbia also goes to the polls Sunday. Like Orban, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), led by president Aleksandar Vučić, has been unnerved by growing opposition. Also like Orban, they’re close to Putin and using the Ukraine war to their advantage – reminding people of the 1999 Kosovo war when NATO launched a three-month air strike. Orban and Vučić have developed close ties and will no doubt be buoyed up by each other’s victories should that happen on Sunday.
So will the Hungary elections be free and fair?
If the 2018 elections are anything to go by, they will be “free but not fair”, the conclusion of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), who partially monitored the 2018 election process. That’s the optimistic take. Others are fearful they will be neither free nor fair, so much so that a grassroots civic initiative called 20K22 has recruited more than 20,000 ballot counters – two for each of Hungary’s voting precincts – to be stationed at polling centres on election day with the aim of stopping any voting irregularities.
News from yesterday isn’t confidence-boosting either. Hungarian election officials reported a suspected case of voter fraud to the police. Bags full of completed ballots were found at a rubbish dump in north-western Romania, home to a large Hungarian minority who have the right to vote in Hungary’s elections. Images and videos shared by the opposition featured partially burnt ballots marked to support them. As of writing, no details have been provided of the actual perpetrators and their motives, and Orban has been quick to accuse the opposition of being behind the incident. Either way, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
25 Feb 22 | Belarus, News and features, Russia, Statements, Ukraine
We, the undersigned organisations, stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but particularly Ukrainian journalists who now find themselves at the frontlines of a large-scale European war.
We unequivocally condemn the violence and aggression that puts thousands of our colleagues all over Ukraine in grave danger.
We call on the international community to provide any possible assistance to those who are taking on the brave role of reporting from the war zone that is now Ukraine.
We condemn the physical violence, the cyberattacks, disinformation and all other weapons employed by the aggressor against the free and democratic Ukrainian press.
We also stand in solidarity with independent Russian media who continue to report the truth in unprecedented conditions.
Join the statement of support for Ukraine by signing it here.
#Журналісти_Важливі
Signed:
- Justice for Journalists Foundation
- Index on Censorship
- International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz”
- International Media Support (IMS)
- Yerevan Press Club
- Turkmen.news
- Free Press Unlimited
- Human Rights Center “Viasna”
- Albanian Helsinki Committee
- Media Rights Group, Azerbaijan
- European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
- Association of European Journalists
- School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia
- Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan
- Reporters Without Borders, RSF
- Association of Independent Press of Moldova, API
- Public Association “Dignity”, Kazakhstan
- PEN International
- Human Rights House Foundation, Norway
- IFEX
- UNITED for Intercultural Action
- Human Rights House Yerevan
- Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor, Armenia
- Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, Norway
- Society of Journalists, Warsaw
- The Swedish OSCE-network
- Hungarian Helsinki Committee
- Legal policy research centre, Kazakhstan
- Public Foundation Notabene – Tajikistan
- HR NGO “Citizens’ Watch – St. Petersburg, Russia
- English PEN
- Public organization “Dawn” – Tajikistan
- International Press Institute (IPI)
- The Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan
- ARTICLE 19
- Human Rights House Tbilisi
- Rights Georgia
- Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, Azerbaijan
- International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
- Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
- Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)
- European Federation of Journalists
- Social Media Development Center, Georgia
- Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia
- OBC Transeuropa
- The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
- Journalists Union YENI NESIL, Azerbaijan
- Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) , Istanbul
- Baku Press Club
- Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development
- Union Sapari
- The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ)
- Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, Armenia
- FEDERATIA SINDICATELOR DIN SOCIETATEA ROMANA DE RADIODIFUZIUNE, Bucharest, ROMANIA
- CD FILMS (FRANCE)
- CFDT-Journalistes
- Belarusian Association of Journalists
- SafeJournalists network
- Association of Journalists of Kosovo
- Association of Journalists of Macedonia
- BH Journalists Association
- Croatian Journalists’ Association
- Independent Journalists Association of Serbia
- Trade Union of Media of Montenegro
- Analytical Center for Central Asia (ACCA)
- Trade Union of Croatian Journalists
- European Press Prize
- Ethical Journalism Network
- European Journalism Centre
- Slovene Association of Journalists
- Investigative Studios
- PEN Belarus
- Public Media Alliance (PMA)
- Estonian Association of Journalists
- Federación de Sindicatos de Periodistas (FeSP) (Spain)
- DJV, German Journalist Federation
- Free Russia Foundation
- Association for Human Rights in Central Asia – AHRCA
- “Human Rights Consulting Group” Public Foundation, Kazakhstan
- Committee to Protect Journalists
- Ski Club of International Journalists (SCIJ)
- Women In Journalism Institute, Canada – associate of CFWIJ
- Romanian Trade Union of Journalists MediaSind
- Romanian Federation Culture and Mass-Media FAIR, MediaSind
- New Generation of Human Rights Defenders Coalition, Kazakhstan
- Coalition for the Security and Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Activists, Kazakhstan
- Legal policy Research Centre, Kazakhstan
- Eurasian Digital Foundation, Kazakhstan
- Legal Analysis and Research Public Union, Azerbaijan
- German Journalists Union
- Digital Rights Expert Group, Kazakhstan
- Bella Fox, LRT/Bellarus Media, Lithuania
- Syndicat national des journalistes CGT (SNJ-CGT), France
- Karin Wenk, Editor in Chief Menschen Machen Medien
- Press Emblem Campaign
- Federacion de Servicios, Consumo y Movilidad (FeSMC) – UGT (Spain)
- Sindicato dos Jornalistas, Portugal
- International media project Август2020/August2020 (august2020.info), Belarus
- Independent Association of Georgian Journalists (journalist.ge)
- Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers, Macedonia
- Adam Hug, Director, Foreign Policy Centre
- Zlatko Herljević, Croatian journalist, lecturer of journalism at University VERN, Zagreb, Croatia
- Independent Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU), Russia
- The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation
- Hungarian Press Union (HPU), Hungary
- Lithuanian Journalists Union
- National Union of Journalists UK & Ireland
- Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (Italy)
- Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ)
- Uzbek Forum for Human Rights
- Association of Journalists, Turkey
- Slovak Syndicate of Journalist, Slovakia
- GAMAG Europe (European Chapter of the Global Alliance for Media and Gender)
- Slovenian Union of Journalists (SNS)
- Federación de Asociaciones de Periodistas de España (FAPE)
- Syndicate of Journalists of Czech Republic
- 360 Degrees, Media outlet, North Macedonia
- Frontline, Skopje, North Macedonia
- Community Media Solutions (UK)
- The Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norway
- Rentgen Media (Kyrgyz Republic)
- Union of Journalists in Finland (UJF)
- Syndicat National des Journalistes (SNJ), France
- The Swedish Union of Journalists, Sweden
- Asociación Nacional de Informadores de la Salud. ANIS. España
- Association Générale des Journalistes professionnels de Belgique (AGJPB/AVBB)
- Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM), North Macedonia
- Lithuanian Journalism Centre, Lithuania
- Club Internacional de Prensa (CIP), España
- Periodical and Electronic Press Union
- Fojo Media Institute, Sweden
- Mediacentar Sarajevo
- Media Diversity Institute
- Impressum – les journalistes suisses
- Agrupación de Periodistas FSC-CCOO
- South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM)
- TGS, Turkey
- Investigative Journalism Center, Croatia
- Verband Albanischer Berufsjournalisten der Diaspora, Schweiz
- IlijašNet
- Journalists Union of Macedonia and Thrace (Greece)
- The Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA)
- Associació de Periodistes Europeus de Catalunya (APEC)
- International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR)
- FREELENS e.V. – German Association of Photojournalists & Photographers
- LawTransform (CMI-UiB Centre on Law & Social Transformation, Bergen, Norway)
- Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio & Communication
- Platform for Independent Journalism (P24), Turkey
- Novi Sad School of Journalism (Serbia)
- Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya (Catalunya)
29 Sep 21 | Malaysia, News and features, Statements
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- Clare Rewcastle Brown fears she will be arrested when she arrives in Spain later this week
- Charities have written to INTERPOL today seeking clarification over whether a Red Notice has been issued for her arrest
- On 23 September 2021, the Malaysian Government issued a warrant for her arrest regarding a book about the 1MDB scandal.
British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown Photograph by Felix Clay
This morning ARTICLE 19, Index on Censorship and Fair Trials wrote to Interpol to request clarification about whether a Red Notice or Diffusion has been issued against the British journalist, Clare Rewcastle Brown. The fourteen undersigned organisations would like to reiterate calls for Interpol to clarify the situation in order to ensure Ms Rewcastle Brown’s unrestricted entry to Spain later this week.
Ms Rewcastle Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Sarawak Report and known for exposing high-level corruption involving the former Prime Minister of Malaysia (popularly known as the ‘1MDB scandal’). In 2015, the Sarawak Report published an article on the diversion of USD 700m into the personal accounts of the prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak. Subsequently, Ms Rewcastle Brown faced charges of ‘activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy’, which formed the basis of a Red Notice request by the Malaysian authorities. In August 2015, Fair Trials wrote to Interpol expressing concerns that the Red Notice would likely violate Interpol’s rules. At the time, they took the unusual step of confirming that although a Red Notice request had been received, it was refused by the General Secretariat.
As of 23 September 2021, Ms Rewcastle Brown has been subject to a new arrest warrant in Malaysia. According to media reports, she is wanted over criminal defamation charges brought by the wife of the Sultan of Terengganu regarding statements made about her in Ms Rewcastle Brown’s 2018 book about the 1MDB scandal.
If a Red Notice has been issued, Ms Rewcastle Brown could be arrested when she travels to Spain later this week to visit an elderly relative who needs her support. There is also a risk that she could be held in detention and face extradition to Malaysia.
The undersigned organisations have serious concerns that the Malaysia National Central Bureau might be trying to use Interpol’s systems to judicially harass Ms Rewcastle Brown. The organisations are calling on Interpol to clarify whether there has been an attempt to issue a Red Notice or Diffusion by Malaysia, and whether such an attempt has been successful.
Clare Rewcastle Brown said: “These criminal charges are linked to a civil defamation case and my lawyers believe they represent an abuse of due process to put pressure on me as the defendant against a politically powerful litigant. When the original criminal complaint was brought in 2018 the police declined to action it. However, last month the political party behind the multi-billion dollar 1MDB sovereign wealth fund theft, which lost an election after I had exposed the scandal, returned to office.
“I am concerned that the same actors who tried to abuse Interpol by having me arrested as a terrorist in 2015 will, having returned to power, attempt to file another Interpol Red Notice alert with the aim of having me detained anywhere in the world. They are seeking to paint me as a criminal for exposing their corrupt practices which is my job as a journalist and they are using a claim of ‘criminal libel’ which is simply not a crime that exists in the UK or most democratic countries where the freedom of journalists to report on the politically powerful is rightly protected. I could be thrown into jail at a border by officials who have no idea about the background to this case or the spurious nature of these charges and then face months of legal action fighting extradition charges to get back to Britain.”
Bruno Min, legal director at Fair Trials said: “Some countries will go to extraordinary lengths to quash dissent, including by abusing Interpol Red Notices and Diffusions to harass and intimidate critics, wherever they might be. Interpol must send a clear message to the world that it will not tolerate the misuse of its systems as a tool of oppression by ensuring that journalists and writers like Clare Rewcastle Brown are protected from abusive Red Notices and Diffusions.”
Sarah Clarke, Head of Europe and Central Asia at ARTICLE 19 said: “This latest act of legal intimidation by the Malaysian authorities against Clare Rewcastle Brown is part of a pattern of serious judicial harassment against the journalist as a direct reprisal for her work in exposing massive corruption. Interpol must recognise this as a vexatious act of intimidation and ensure they are not complicit in the abuse of their system.”
Jessica Ní Mhainín, policy and campaigns manager at Index on Censorship said: “It’s an indictment of international policing that a journalist travelling from one jurisdiction to another should fear an arrest for her work, which is overwhelmingly in the public interest. Interpol should take immediate steps to block any efforts by the Malaysian authorities to abuse its systems to harass Clare Rewcastle Brown, and ensure her unrestricted entry to Spain.”
Read the letter to INTERPOL here
Contact: Jessica Ní Mhainín, policy and campaigns manager, [email protected]
SIGNED:
ARTICLE 19
Blueprint for Free Speech
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation
English PEN
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Fair Trials
IFEX
Index on Censorship
International Press Institute (IPI)
Justice for Journalists Foundation
OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
