01 Jun 19 | Russia, Russia Incident Reports
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”27 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Roskomnadzor organized “prophylactic workshop” for journalists on suicide reporting” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
30 May 2019 – In the Kostromskaya region, Russia’s state media regulator Roskomnadzor organized “a prophylactic workshop” for local journalists on suicide reporting, Zona.Media reported.
About 30 attendees were given a list with examples of what constitutes violations of the 2012 law about information, prohibiting description of means and motives of suicides. Examples included photos that were published on Facebook by Kiril Rubankov, the editor-in-chief of Kostroma.Today.
The examples included suggested distortion of facts. For instance, Roskomnadzor recommended journalists write “fell from a bridge (wanted to swim)” instead of “jumped from a bridge”; “was hit by a train by accident” instead of “jumped in front of a train”; “drown (wanted to swim)” instead of “drowned oneself”; “confused acetic acid with another liquid (for drinking)” or “got poisoned by something unknown” instead of mentioning substances that the person ingested; “suicide was accidental without motive” instead of description of the way one killed himself.
Link(s)
https://www.facebook.com/kyril.rubankov/posts/2235781056514897
https://zona.media/news/2019/05/30/rkn-rkn?fbclid=IwAR2lnpynadRQTWWXE8wxAoR2xz6TGnVPeiz9h_93xG7B71HlwN2BLJSJtAU
https://tjournal.ru/news/99630-roskomnadzor-vydal-kostromskim-zhurnalistam-pamyatki-s-primerami-kak-nelzya-pisat-o-samoubiystvah
http://base.garant.ru/70511892/3/#block_1003
Categories: Soft censorship (government pressure on media groups)
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”St Petersburg governor left news conference without answering a single question” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
29 May 2019 – Alexander Beglov, interim governor of Saint Petersburg left a news conference without answering a single question and avoided journalists, Lenizdat.ru reported.
Lenizdat.ru notes that usually Belgov prefers to invite to only loyal journalists news conferences. This time all media outlets were allowed to attend. However, after an introduction speech, Beglov left the conference hall and canceled planned press questions at the last moment. When some journalists tried to follow him, he ignored their questions and walked away.
Link(s)
https://lenizdat.ru/articles/1155783/
https://porebrik.media/2019/05/29/beglov-zhuranlisty/
http://www.interessant.ru/politics/bieghlov-ushiel-s-priess-ko
Categories: Blocked Access
Source of Violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Roskomnadzor demands E1.RU to delete video streams of Ekaterinburg protests” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
29 May 2019 – Ekaterinburg local news website E1.RU received a letter from Russia’s state media regulator demanding to delete from E1.RU YouTube-channel two online video streams from the protests against construction of a church in a park, because of calls for extremist activity and unsanctioned rallies in users’ comments left below the videos, E1.RU reported.
E1.RU decided to delete all several thousands of comments left by YouTube users.
Link(s)
https://www.e1.ru/news/spool/news_id-66106057.html?utm_source=tme&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=e1
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/05/29/roskomnadzor-potreboval-u-izdaniya-e1ru-udalit-translyacii-protestov-v
Categories: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Moscow police opened administrative case against journalist for filming protest rally” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]29 May 2019 – Moscow police opened a case about administrative offence against Denis Styazhkin, journalist with online media outlet SotaVision for filming an unsanctioned protest action, Stayzhkin said on his YouTube channel. The case is opened under the article “Violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, procession or picketing”
On 30 January, Styazhkin filmed a protest rally Bessrochny Protest, he was live-streaming video of the event and published a news report about it at SotaVision. According to police, the journalist was “filming the rally, therefore he was participating in it”. Styazhking found out about the admistrative case against him by chance, when a human rights activist Irina Yatzenko saw the related documents at Tverskoy district court. The first hearing of the case is planned on 13 June.
Link(s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w0iNHZmlSk&t=
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/05/29/v-moskve-na-zhurnalista-zaveli-administrativnoe-delo-za-videosemku-akcii?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=share&fbclid=IwAR3b4ep5lsuz61roPJOkZeB-TEhUtnCTEd_RQTZiEJAomEqVevHHtQGhe_k
Categories: Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Students talk show cancelled ahead of episode with opposition activist” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]29 May 2019 – The Higher School of Economics shut down a student talk-show V Tochku.Persona ahead of a new episode with Lubov Sobol, a lawyer working with the Anti-corruption Fund and an opposition candidate at Moscow parliament election, MBH Media reported.
According to Sobol, she agreed to participate in the talk-show two weeks in advance and the filming was planned for 30 May. But a day before the agreed date, one of the talk show producers informed her about the project closure. “I was told that the project was shut down specifically by the university management”, Sobol told Medusa.
The editor-in-chief of V Tochku.Persona, Violetta Poludyuk confirmed that the project was closed without any explanations. The head of education programme of HSE and the head of the talk-show project, Sergey Korzun told MBH Media that the project was temporarily closed just for this academic year “because the exams session has started”. According to the official programme, project’s closure was scheduled for 31, May. However, in previous years summer break closure varied in dates, for example in 2018 the project was closed for summer on 17 June.
Sobol believes the closure of the talk show was ordered by HSE dean Yaroslav Kuzmenkov, who is also running for Moscow city parliament. “Dean Kuzminkov is very scared that I would talk about Moscow city parliament election and those who runs with support from the ruling party – a member of HSE academic council Valeria Kasamara and Kuzminkov himself. Kuzminov uses his administrative resource to shut down such show”, Sobol told Medusa, also accusing Kuzmenkov of involving HSE students in his political activity.
Kuzmenkov said that the project was already suspended in spring and the head of the project decided not to resume it in its current form. He also denied that Sobol was invited, saying that HSE did not send her an official invitation, “because inviting a politician running an active campaign for Moscow city parliament would be a violation of the university’s rules, that prohibit political activity inside the university”. The press service of HSE also said that invitation of new guests for the talk show was suspended in March because of the upcoming change of the show’s concept. The head of education programme of HSE and the head of the talk show project, Sergey Korzun told Medusa that the guests invitations are agreed jointly by him and students and Sobol was not invited at all, because the show was suspended. “It reminds me of a informational provocation, which could be stage by the campaign management of Sobol to hype on her plans to run for Moscow city parliament”, Korzun said.
Daria Fomenko, a student of HSE and a producer of the show V Tochku.Persona, told Medusa that despite a break in February caused by problems with the filming studio, the talk show continued to invite guests and publish talks with them on the show’s YouTube channel (the last episode was published on 21 May).
The talk show V Tochku.Persona has been produced for three years. In March 2018 it hosted Dmityr Peskov, the press officer of the president Vladimir Putin. Later the record of the episode with Peskov was deleted on his request.
Link(s)
https://mbk-news.appspot.com/news/v-vshe-zakr/
https://meduza.io/news/2019/05/30/v-vshe-zakryli-studencheskoe-tok-shou-pered-efirom-s-yuristom-fbk-lyubovyu-sobol
https://www.hse.ru/org/hse/pfair/222774552.html
https://vk.com/@hse_university-tok-shou-v-tochku
Categories: Censorship
Source of violation: Employer/Publisher/Colleague(s)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Arkhangelsk journalist fined twice for the same protest coverage” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]28 May 2019 – Dmitry Sekushin, an environmental activist and reporter with local media outlet Svobodnaya Rech, was detained and charged with violation of mass actions rules for the second time for covering the same protest on 7 April 2019, 29.ru reported.
On 14 May Sekushin was detained for the first time and charged with repeated unsanctioned rally participation, punishable with fine of 200,000 roubles (around 3,055 USD). In a police station the journalist felt sick and was hospitalized. Two weeks later, as soon as Sekushin left the hospital, a police major met him outside and demanded he go to a police station again, where Sekushin was charged for the same protest for the second time – for the following demonstration.
All together the journalist has to pay 400,000 roubles (around 6,110 USD) for covering the protest against sanitation reform, despite the fact that he was accredited with Svobodnaya Rech and had a press badge.
Link(s)
https://29.ru/text/politics/66105163/?fbclid=IwAR1uW5tQlhvI07R2DWJlSqEMNRXf0yf_MhFbKRv1pdUzeGGhC28iuqTwvbs
https://29.ru/text/gorod/66088276/
Categories: Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Police seized print copies of regional communist party’s newspaper” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]28 May 2019 – In Novomoskovsk, Tula region, police stopped a car of distributors of Tulskaya Pravda, newspaper of regional communist party, and seized printed copies without any explanations, OVD-Info reported.
According to Vera Serebrovskaya, press-secretary of regional communist party, the incident took place at 2am, when the car was travelling from a printing house in Dzerzhinsk. The car was stopped by traffic patrol service officers. Later other policemen arrived, including the head of the regional criminal search department. He ordered a seizure of the newspaper copies. Police did not seize printed copies of other media oultets that were transported in the same car. Later the seized copies were delivered to the police station in Novomoskovsk. According to Serebrovskaya, the were registered with an inspection protocol, nota seizure protocol.
The seized issue of Tulskaya Pravda was dedicated to sanitation reform and its criticism; it also included a publication of the agreement between Moscow and Tula regions about close cooperation in the field of waste disposal, which suggests that Moscow garbage could potentially be sent to the Tula region.
According to Serebrovskaya, a few days before the seizure, a representative of the local branch of the ruling party United Russia called the printing house and offered money for information on the date of printing of the next issue of Tulskaya Pravda. The printing house’s employees refused to disclose such information.
Earlier in May, police seized Tulskaya Pravda copies several times and accused one of the newspaper’s distributors of “production and distribution of extremists materials”.
Link(s)
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/05/28/v-tulskoy-oblasti-policeyskie-izyali-100-tysyach-ekzemplyarov-gazety?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=share&fbclid=IwAR0kYFBf-rcvW2x4LCCeJGTzpcEXQD8PQFCorD_JkxmtgCGRc6BxXLnsehQ
Categories: Attack to Property
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Banker sues Kommersant for the article about embezzlement” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]28 May 2019 – Russian banker Valdimir Kvasnyuk, who was named by Kommersant as one of the owners of Promsberbank that lost a license in 2015, filed a defamation lawsuit against Kommersant, RNS reported.
Kvasnyuk said the article was false and defamatory. The piece — “Loans written off on Kaluga land. The case about the embezzlement in Taurus bank submitted to the court” — was published on 21 Janury 2019 on the Kommersant website and in the print version of the newspaper. The article described the embezzlement of 235 million roubles (3,5 mln USD) from Taurus bank with fake land deals in the Kaluga region. According to the paper the scheme involved Promsberbank and Kvasnyuk was named as one of the three people, who was giving orders to provide knowingly bad loans to a number of firms for the purchase of land; as a result the deals were not closed and the money disappeared. Officially Kvasnyuk is involved in the case as a witness.
Georgy Ivanov, the head of Kommersant legal department, said that they did not receive notice of a lawsuit by Kvasnyuk, but earlier the banker sent them a complaint demanding to delete the article.
The hearing of the case is planned on 25 June 2019.
Link(s)
https://rns.online/it-and-media/K-Kommersantu-podali-isk-iz-za-stati-o-hischeniyah-v-banke–2019-05-28/
https://mbk-news.appspot.com/news/bankir-vladi/
https://zona.media/news/2019/05/28/taurus
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalists barred again from covering Novoe Velichie trial” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]27 May 2019 – Journalists were barred from covering the trial of the extremist organization Novoe Velichie (“New Greatness”). Defendants claim the charges were fabricated by secret services, Zona.media reported.
According to Zona.Media reporter, the journalists were not allowed to be in the courtroom and the video streaming organized by the court was of a poor quality and the journalists could not hear anything.
Link(s)
https://zona.media/online/2019/05/27/nove-1#24043
Categories: Blocked Access
Source of violation: Court/Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Roskomnadzor demands to delete YouTube video about Ekaterinburg protest” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]27 May 2019 – Nikolay Bondarenko, a member of Saratov regional parliament from Communist party, recieved a request from Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor to delete video about Ekaterinburg protests from his YouTub channel Dnevnik Deputata (Eng: Deputy Dairy), Zona.Media reported.
Bondarenko received a letter, saying that the General Prosecutor’s Office decided on 21, May to restrict access to the video named “Fight with police in Ekaterinburg! Riot police, National Guard”
because of calls for extremist activity in users’ comments left below the video. In the video Bondarenko was speaking about the protests in Ekaterinburg against construction of a church in a park and showing some footage of the scuffles of the activists and policemen.
Bondarenko deleted the video.
Link(s):
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/05/27/roskomnadzor-potreboval-u-saratovskogo-deputata-udalit-video-o-protestah-v
https://zona.media/news/2019/05/27/youtube
https://www.e1.ru/news/spool/news_id-66103993.html
Categories: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Dagestan journalist summoned for questioning, put on “prophylactic” black-list” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]27 May 2019 – Idris Usupov, reporter with Dagestan regional weekly newspaper Novoe Delo, was summoned for questioning due to being registered in “prophylactic” black-list, which existence the Russian authorities deny.
In his Facebook post Usupov said that he was traveling to Saint Petersburg for social media marketing course and already after returning to Makhachkala received a phone call from St Petersburg Center to Counter Extremism: “You were visiting us, while you are registered in prophylactical list in the category “extremist” – we received a document about it from Dagestan colleagues”.
In March, Usupov was also detained for “prophylactical talk” in Moscow airport due to request from “regional colleagues”, as policemen explained it. Earlier he got detained several times for filming mass detention of Muslims near Makhachkala mosques.
Dagestan Ministry of Internal Affairs claim that they do not register people in prophylactic lists and all the order about it from the past were destroyed.
Link(s):
https://www.facebook.com/idris.yusupov/posts/2648486565221682
https://zona.media/news/2019/05/29/jusupov?fbclid=IwAR2o4YFdsbMPkf-aIA5KcGS0wvD529Y39obip0qRq5LW-hfBVlKSGN41Suw
https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/332845/
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of the violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Man with a knife attacks newspaper office after his article about Stalin was not published” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]27 May 2019 – A man with a knife attacked the office of Rodina, official newspaper of Communist party in Stavropol region, the governor of the region Vladimir Vladimirov reported.
The editor-in-chief Nikolay Bondarenko and three employees of the local headquarter of the Communist party were injured, two of them, Viktor Zinovyev and Vladimir Taziy, are members of the editorial council of Rodina newspaper.
The attacker was detained, he turned out to be 72-year old , who has been registered with a local psychiatric institution since 2012. According to Baza, his name is Konstantin Sidneev and he was announced missing on 22,May while disappearing on his way to a library.
The investigators believe, that the motive of the attack was a refusal to publish the attacker’s article. According to Baza, it was dedicated to Josef Stalin, the leader of the Communsit party Gennady Zuganov and the former presidential candidate from the Communist party Pavel Grudinin. Accodring to regional parliament member Viktor Lozovoy, the editors did not refuse to publish it, but postponed discussion of the article until the editorial council meeting.
The attacker pledged guilty.
Link(s):
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx9w86Di5hp/
https://meduza.io/news/2019/05/27/v-stavropole-prestupnik-s-nozhom-napal-na-sotrudnikov-gazety-raneny-chetyre-cheloveka
https://meduza.io/news/2019/05/29/v-stavropole-arestovali-podozrevaemogo-v-napadenii-na-redaktsiyu-gazety-kprf?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=share_fb&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR0DLSdh4MByAWD6VDAK068-O7qAVwUANGYwElnOWUdii1Z7fNRbqYig_fQ
Category: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Khakasia official assaulted TV reporter because of questions on housing for wild fires victims” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]27 May 2019 – Ivan Litomin, reporter of Vesti.Dezhurnaya Chast news programme at state owned Russia 24 channel was physically assaulted and thrown to the ground by Sergey Zaytsev, the head of Shirinsky district in Khakasia region, Russia 24 reported.
Accompanied by a filming crew of two people, Litomin was interviewing Zaytsev, asking questions about the official’s luxurious mansion and about poor-quality houses provided by the government to those, who lost their houses in 2015 wild fires. Zaytsev was talking to the journalist in high voice and then tried to take away Litomin’s microphone, grab him and threw him down to the ground, shouting “Go away, I’m telling you, out from here”. After that aids of Zaytsev pushed the journalist out of the official’s office and were trying to prevent and an accompanying cameraman from filming.
After the video of the incident went viral, Evgeny Revenko, the secretary of the ruling party United Russia, a member of which Zaytsev is, publicly apologized; United Russia excluded Zaytsev. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on obstruction of journalistic activity.
Zaytsev himself called the incident “a planned provocation” of the journalists and claimed that Litomin fell by himself. “They broke into my office outside of working hours and started immediately accusing me, calling me a corrupted thief, telling that I have criminal past and asking if I am ashamed of being the head of the district. It lasted 10 minutes. It was impossible to talk to the journalist. I tried to push him out of my office. He was actively protesting. How can it be an assault, when three big men broke into my office, where I was alone, and two of them were physically stronger than me?”, Zaytsev told RIA Novosti. The official filed a complaint to police, asking to prosecute Litomin under the article “Offence to a representative of the government”.
Link(s):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u46j2RftOUc
https://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=3151444#
https://ria.ru/20190528/1554998919.html
https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-48419964
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury; Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Federal Tax Service threatens to jail Klerk.ru owner, demands to remove caricatures and articles” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]27 May 2019 – Boris Maltsev, the owner of a specialized accounting media outlet Klerk.ru, with a monthly audience of 3 million visitors of mostly accountants and entrepreneurs, reported threats from Federal Tax Service (FNS) because of caricatures on state officials.
Maltsev said that in one day last week three tax inspections came to check his companies and he was summoned to Krasnodar department of Federal Tax Service (FNS) to “provide explanations regarding entrepreneurial activity”. When he came to FNS department the day after, the tax officers started questioning him as a witness, he refused to testify and suggested to send an official subpoena.
Later the same day, he got a call, saying that the tax officers “received an order” to jail Maltsev for a year and they had enough information on him to do so. To prevent this, the caller demanded to remove four caricatures on state officials published by Klerk.ru. Maltsev did so, and then received another demand to remove 96 collages from Klerk.ru and one image published at his personal page at Vkontakte social network. Maltsev did so too, and then received a new demand – to delete at least 5 articles published at Klerk.ru and follow a set of rules.
The rules were: 1) not to publish caricatures on acting state officials, including Federal Tax Service officials, not to use state symbols and officials names of state institutions in such caricatures; 2) not to criticize the work of Federal Tax service’s information systems, including AIS Nalog 3, and not to mention facts about failures in work of such systems, unless it was published in official press-releases by FNS; 3) not to hurt the reputation of state institutions, including FNS, by criticizing their actions and decisions.
At this point, Maltsev realized that following these rules would mean to destroy Klerk.ru. He refused to delete the mentioned articles and follow the mentioned rules. After that he started recieving several calls per day, demanding to delete the articles and follow the rules, and Matsev decided to publish a story about these threats.
According to Maltsev, two years ago the critique of FNS at Klerk.ru already drew the attention of tax officers to his companies and they became a target of a series of a year-long tax checks, however no violations were found.
Link(s):
https://www.klerk.ru/buh/articles/485968/
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/05/28/152044-vladeltsu-izdaniya-dlya-buhgalterov-klerk-ru-prigrozili-tyurmoy-iz-za-karikatur-i-kritiki-fns
https://vc.ru/media/69461-vladelec-izdaniya-klerk-ru-rasskazal-ob-ugrozah-tyurmoy-iz-za-materialov-s-kritikoy-fns-nalogovaya-nachala-proverku
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits; Intimidation
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Telegram founder confirms attempts to hack accounts of four journalists; three more claimed hacking attempts” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]25 May 2019 – The founder of Telegram messenger app, Pavel Durov, accused Russian authorities of attempts to hack the accounts of four journalists, who were covering the mass protests against a church construction in a local park in Ekaterinburg.
“It reminds us that the authoritarian governments will stop at nothing to violate the privacy of their citizens”, Durov wrote, saying that the hacking attempts failed due to the two-steps authentication.
Earlier attempts of hacking Telegram-accounts were reported by Dmitry Kolezev, the editor-in-chief of Ural website Znak.com; Nataliya Vakhonina, the editor-in-chief of news agency Mezhdu Strok’ based in Nizhny Tagil; Anton Olshannikov, the editor-in-chief of Ura.ru; Ludmila Savitskaya, reporter with MBH Media and Radio Svoboda; Andrey Varkentin, the author of Telegram-channel Glavny Kanal Ekaterinburga; Dmitry Andreev, reporter with Medusa website; Platon Mamontov, director of communications agency Magic Inc.
Link(s):
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/05/25/151986-durov-obvinil-rossiyskie-vlasti-v-popytke-vzloma-telegram-akkauntov-zhurnalistov-kotorye-osveschali-protesty-v-ekaterinburge
https://tjournal.ru/news/98863-durov-obvinil-rossiyskie-vlasti-v-popytke-vzloma-telegram-uralskih-zhurnalistov
https://www.the-village.ru/village/city/news-city/351391-telegram-vzlom
Categories: DDoS/Hacking/Doxing
Source of violation: Police/State security; Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Yugorsk local official threatens journalist over article about him” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – Anton Pantin, journalist with Yugorsk local media outlet Tochka News, filed a complaint to police about threats from Alexander Bekker, member of Yugorsk city parliament from the ruling United Russia party, MBH Media reported.
“I believe that these threats are connected to the investigations about members of the city parliament. They do not like that I am publishing these materials”, Pantin said. According to him, Bekker told him in obscene and brutal way that he would rape and injure the journalist, if he does not stop writing about him. Pantin gave MBH Media the record of the call from Bekker, saying “If I hear one more time that you wrote something about me, I will f**k you, I don’t know how, but everything happens”. The deputy also promised to “cut the face” of Pantin.
Pantin said that he takes Bekker’s threats seriously as he is a powerful and affluent man, and asked police to open a case about obstruction of journalistic activity.
Link(s):
https://mbk-news.appspot.com/news/v-xmao-zhurnalist/?fbclid=IwAR1Xk8A1gUbx3vrgcjwk6L2hFYgIf3TQiELr4orRuIMTq3nUlqpRB2n2bwc
Categories: Intimidation
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Lipetsk journalist fined for offending prosecutor” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – Lipetsk court fined Dmitry Pashinov, a journalist with local Pravda newspaper, 30,000 roubles (around 458 USD) for offending prosecutor Andrey Pazhetnykh, OVD-Info reported.
The journalist has also spent 13 days in remand prison, although, he was charged under article 319 of the Criminal Code “Insulting a representative of the goverment” does not imply any detention. Because of jail time, the court said Pashinov did not need to pay the fine.
Pashinov calls his case “an attempt to put pressure on press freedom” and believed that the trial was controlled by prosecution: the judge rejected around 30 defence motions. Pashinov, who pleaded not guilty, said he will appeal the court’s ruling.
Pashinov is known for independent investigations and has had personal conflicts with Pazhetnykov. The journalist believes that the reason of the conflict is that he filed multiple complaint about Pazhetnykov’s actions or inaction related to checks initiated on Pashinov’s reports. When the journalist came to Pazhetnykov’s office to check the progress on one of such checks, the prosecutor tried to push the journalist out of the office and squeezed his hand by the door. Pashinov called the police, but Pazhetnykov said that the journalist insulted him and filed a complaint against him.
Link(s):
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/05/23/v-lipecke-zhurnalista-dmitriya-pashinova-oshtrafovali-na-30-tysyach-po-delu?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=share&fbclid=IwAR3jNuHx-usrOHZY644cZtLiZcUt-blzm-U6SC151P57-w59TKewmD_Mr_Y
Categories: Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Roskomnadzor initiates administrative case against Taiga.Info for ‘profanity'” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]21 May 2019 – Russian state media regulator Roskomnadzor’s department in Siberian Federal District notified local website Tayga.info about an administrative offence report and summoned the media outlet’s editor-in-chief for “explanations and (or) drawing up a report of administrative offence”, Tayga.info reported. It may lead to the loss of the site’s media license.
Roskomnadzor found violations in three articles published after 15 May about a collective beating of a student of a local college, citing the video record of the incident, in which one person said “Kill him, *****”.
Tayga.info published a quote with stars instead of a swear-word and included a hyperlink to a video of the incident. Roskomnadzor accused the media outlet of “production and distribution of media materials containing profanity”.
“It remains unclear what Roskomnadzor saw in the text. Our editorial office meticulously follows the media law and has a right to demand similar behavior from the controlling institutions”, said Vasily Volnukhin, the editor-in-chief of Tayga.info.
Earlier Sergey Averyaskin, a member of pro-government All-Russia People Front and the director of local architectural construction college, where the victim of collective beating was a student, wrote in his Facebook that he would file a complaint to Roskomnadzor about publications on the incident by Tayga.info and another local media outlet NGS.
“Today at the media forum of All-Russia People Front in Sochi, I am meeting the head of Roskomnadzor to talk about over the top actions of some of our regional media. NGS, Tayga.info and some other yellow press… they pissed me off”, Averyaskin wrote. He also published an image of buttocks on legs with a sign “Towards adventures!” and a caption “Greetings to Tayga”.
Link(s):
https://tayga.info/146549
https://novayareg.ru/news/v-smi-doljno-byt-vse-cenzurno
https://roskomsvoboda.org/47287/
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party; Known private individual(s)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Ministry of Interior Affairs sues reporter and media outlets over publication on sexual harassment in police” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]20 May 2019 – The Chelyabinks department of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) sued Lenta.ru, Komsomolskaya Pravda-Chelyabinsk, Sibirsko-Uralskaya Mediacompania and Lenta.ru reporter Larisa Zhukova for an article about sexual harassment in the Chelyabisnk police force.
Zhukova recorded former police officer Lubov Gerasimova, who described how she was sexually harassed by a police regiment commander and then abused and forced to quit after rejecting him. When she reported harassment to higher management, the commander openly threatened her and received a promotion. The recording was published by Lenta.ru on 2 November 2018.
On 8 November 2018 the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that it conducted the check of mentioned facts and found them false. MVD sued Lubov Gerasimova for defamation, demanding 80,000 roubles of compensation (about 1,230 USD). After that Gerasimova publicly apologized and accused Zhukova of making up the story, and MVD decided to sue the reporter herself and media that published or picked up the story.
Zhukova published unedited audio recordings of her talk with Gerasimova on Facebook, claiming that she has other proof of her story too.
Link(s):
https://www.facebook.com/100009825527438/posts/928435794160596/
https://lenta.ru/articles/2018/11/02/harassment/
https://www.chel.kp.ru/daily/26905.4/3950239/
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Two Kommersant journalists fired over publication about Federation Council’s speaker” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]20 May 2019 – Kommersant’s reporter Ivan Safronov and deputy editor of the politics department Maxim Ivanov were fired over a publication about expected changes in the Federation Council, the journalists said in Facebook posts.
The publication “People To Make Speakers From” was published on 17, April and suggested that, according to the sources, the speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko could soon be replaced with the head of Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin. The journalists were told that the decision to terminate their contracts was made by Kommersant’s stakeholder, who exactly it was and what caused displeasure with the mentioned publication was not disclosed.
Kommersant belongs to oligarch Alisher Usmanov, the owner of USM Holdings and the 9th richest man in Russia, according to Forbes.
Vladimir Zhelonkin, the chief-editor and general director of Kommersant, told BBC Russian Service that he personally made a decision of firing Safronov and Ivanov because the mentioned publication “was not written within the standards” of Kommersant. He refused to provide any further explanations.
An anonymous source in the Kommersant editorial office told BBC Russian Service that after the article in question was published, there were discussions about possible firing of Zhelonkin himself. Another source said that Matvienko complained about the mentioned publication to Kommersant’s owner Usmanov and after that the newspaper’s politics department had an urgent meeting.
At least 11 other journalists of Kommersant, including all 10 journalists of the politics department, publicly announced that they will quit the newspaper to show protest against firing of Safronov and Ivanov.
Link(s):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2225198390899838&set=a.562488627170831&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/isafronov/posts/10219767763932544
https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-48336039?fbclid=IwAR1sLqunNizqUWQKs9Rr_jdmQYuFj8sWkZmM4EWDIl7tRAONu3LCErWhUXQ
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/05/20/151810-dvuh-zhurnalistov-kommersanta-uvolili-posle-stati-o-vozmozhnoy-otstavke-valentiny-matvienko?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=novaya&utm_campaign=-iz-za-konflikta-s-aktsionerom-kommers
Categories: Loss of employment
Source of violation: Employer[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Photographer assaulted by policeman during protests in Ekaterinburg” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – Vladimir Zhabrikov, a photographer with Ura.ru news agency, was kicked by a policeman, who threatened to “take away your lenses”. Zhabrikov had a press badge on him.
https://ura.news/news/1052384249?story_id=103
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist detained during protests in Ekaterinburg” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – Vladislav Postnikov, civil activist, who was live-streaming from a protest for social media group Tipichny Ekaterinburg, was brutally detained by police. When he showed his press card to police maior Svetlana Babinova, she told him “Shovel this card into your ass”.
Her words were recorded by Postnikov’s live-stream. Later he was also denied a right to call his lawyer from the police department; policemen told him that he didn’t need a lawyer.
Link(s):
https://www.facebook.com/Urales96/posts/1275278505968567
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source of Violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Photographer assaulted during protests in Ekaterinburg” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]14 May 2019 – Anna Mayorova, photographer with Ura.ru news agency, suffered a tear gas attack while covering protests in Ekaterinburg against the construction of a church in a local park, Ura.ru reported. Mayorova did not see who sprayed the tear gas.
https://ura.news/news/1052383993
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”FSB officers visit parents of Open Media journalist” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – Two men who self-identified as FSB officers came to the Moscow apartment of the parents of Yulia Koshelyaeva, a journalist working for Open Media, the website reported.
The journalist’s mother, who was alone in the apartment at the time, refused to open the door. The men said that they had to talk to Yulia Kosheleva about her alleged membership in a terrorist organization Narodnaya Samooborona (the organization with such name is absent in the list of terrorist organizations maintained by Russia’s justice ministry). The men refused to show a subpoena for Kosheleva and and left a phone number and an address of FSB department, where they said Kosheleva had to come for questioning.
“I don’t know what they could come for. I was a member of group chats of Narodnaya Samooborona, because I was gathering information for articles about the organization. I have nothing to do with it”, Kosheleva said referring to open chat that has over 670 members.
Narodnaya Samooborona emerged in media, after an MSU student said that he was detained, tortured and forced to admit he was a leader of this anarchists’ organization. Kosheleva was covering the developments of this case for Open Media.
Link(s):
https://openmedia.io/news/sotrudniki-fsb-prishli-k-rodstvennikam-zhurnalistki-otkrytyx-media/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=profsoyuz-zhurnalistov-osuzhdaet-deystviya-s&utm_content=29042760
Categories: Intimidation
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Simferopol journalist arrested for 10 days for refusing to undergo medical examination” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – In Simferopol, journalist of local news outlet Primechaniya Evgeniy Gayvoronskiy was arrested for 10 days for refusing to undergo medical examination during his detention on 26, March, Novaya Gazeta reported. Previously Gayvoronskiy was arrested for 12 days for drugs usage in relation with the same detention.
Earlier in March Gayvoronskiy’s house was searched and his documents, notebooks, phones and computers were seized.
Gayvoronskiy is known for investigations about Yalta mayor Andrey Rostenko.
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2019/05/08/151495-v-krymu-na-10-sutok-arestovali-proukrainskogo-zhurnalista
https://ovdinfo.org/express-news/2019/05/08/v-simferopole-sud-na-10-sutok-arestoval-zhurnalista
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
Source of violation: Police/State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Distributors of communist newspaper detained in Tula” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Three journalists detained at opposition rally in St. Petersburg” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
1 May 2019 – At least three journalists were detained while covering a sanctioned opposition rally in Saint Petersburg, OVD-Info, Zona.Media and MBH-Media reported.
Freelance photojournalist who works under the name George Markov and photojournalist with St. Petersburg-based online news outlet Dva Stula Oleg Nasonov were brutally detained despite identifying themselves as press.
Makarov was also beaten by police. According to him, he got beaten with rubber buttons in the ribs and the head, his arm was bleeding. He was held at a police station for 2.5 hours and then was hospitalized without a protocol about any violations.
Nasonov was charged with violating public order and released after about four hours of detention. He will be required to appear in court and may be fined between 10,000 and 20,000 rubles ($152 to $305) if found guilty
In a separate incident journalist with local online broadcaster Sota Vision Petr Ivanov was detained as well. Ivanov, who is under 18 years old, was also held in a police station. He was told that he was detained for violating traffic rules as he was walking in a traffic lane, Rosbalt reported
UPDATE: 2, May – St Petersburg police is searching photographer George Markov, who was beaten and detained while covering 1 May demonstration, Zona.Media reported. The policemen came to Markov’s apartment when he was not home, however Markov’s neighbours let the police in and said that they were questioned about Markov. The photographer also said in Twitter that he received multiple phone calls from a deputy head of the police department №76, who demanded Markov to come to the police department to testify about the 1 May demonstration, threatening to otherwise come to the journalist.
https://zona.media/chronicle/pervoe2019
https://paperpaper.ru/papernews/2019/05/05/u-smolnogo-zaderzhali-volontera-shtab/
https://www.rosbalt.ru/piter/2019/05/05/1779478.html
http://ru.rfi.fr/rossiya/20190503-aktivnutye-protivnye-lyudi-i-ikh-zaderzhaniya-kak-v-pitere-otprazdnovali-pervomai
https://twitter.com/pixsl_markov/status/1123938280632979458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1123938280632979458&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fzona.media%2Fchronicle%2Fpervoe2019
Categories: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation; Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Police/State security
[/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:1569406500183-9f92e352-a189-6″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
31 May 19 | Turkey, Turkey Incident Reports
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”39 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Imprisoned journalist Ayşe Düzkan transferred to open prison” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Ayşe Düzkan
23 May 2019 – Imprisoned journalist Ayşe Düzkan was released from Bakırköy Women’s Prison in response to her numerous requests to be transferred to an open prison.
Düzkan was to be transferred to the women’s open prison in Eskişehir province within the next 30 hours following her release, Mezopotamya Agency reported. She will serve the remaining part of her 18-month sentence in Eskişehir.
Düzkan was imprisoned on 29 January 2019 to serve the sentence she was handed down in January 2018 for participating in 2016 in a campaign for solidarity with the now-defunct pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58682
https://bianet.org/english/women/208790-journalist-ayse-duzkan-referred-to-eskisehir-open-prison
https://yesilgazete.org/blog/2019/05/24/ayse-duzkan-eskisehir-acik-cezaevine-sevk-edildi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecutor seeks conviction for Gazete Karınca’s publisher in first hearing” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
23 May 2019 – Necla Demir, the former publisher of the online news website Gazete Karınca, appeared before the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul for the first hearing of her trial.
Demir is accused of “systematically disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” for the website’s coverage of Turkey’s 2018 military operation on the Syrian city of Afrin. Demir and her lawyers Özcan Kılıç and Sercan Korkmaz were in attendance at the hearing, P24 reported.
Addressing the court for her defense statement, Demir said that the indictment against her was against law and press freedom. “The coverage of civilian deaths and the bombings of hospitals, which forms the basis of the indictment have been included in both local and international human rights reports. The coverage was considered objectively and written using journalistic terminology,” Demir said and requested her acquittal.
The prosecution then presented their final opinion of the case, requesting the court to convict Demir of “systematically disseminating terrorist propaganda.” Demir’s lawyers requested additional time to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion.
In its interim ruling, the court granted additional time for the final defense statements and adjourned the trial until 11 July 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1131486132376678400
https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazete-karinca-nin-eski-imtiyaz-sahibi-necla-demir-hakkindaki-ilk-dava-goruldu,822686
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-necla-demirin-davasi-ertelendi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of Meşale Tolu and 26 others adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Meşale Tolu
23 May 2019 – A trial where 27 defendants, including Etkin news agency (ETHA) reporter and interpreter Meşale Tolu and her husband, Suat Çorlu, a member of the central executive board of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), stand accused of terrorism-related charges, resumed at the 29th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.
Çorlu and five other defendants were in attendance in the courtroom as well as defense lawyers, P24 reported. Tolu, a German national, did not attend because she is exempt from personal appearance in court.
Çorlu, whose passport was seized by Turkish authorities upon his arrival at the Istanbul Airport on a flight from Germany to attend the hearing the night before the trial, asked the court whether his passport was confiscated upon a court order.
The presiding judge said there was no travel ban issued by the court but they have found out that three other investigations against him were ongoing. His passport might be taken by authorities in connection with one of those investigations, the court said.
The court set 11 October 2019 as the date for the next hearing.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1131444687603216384
https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutschland-welt/prozess-gegen-mesale-tolu-ehemann-darf-tuerkei-nicht-verlassen,RRIXeLg
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Two files against Jin News director Safiye Alağaş merged” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
23 May 2019 – The third hearing in the trial of JinNews news director Safiye Alağaş on the charges of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group,” “inciting the public to hatred and animosity” and “praising crime or a criminal” took place at the 4th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır. Jin News, a women-only and feminist news website based in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakır has faced repeated censorship and investigations over the years.
Alağaş did not attend the hearing, where she was represented by her lawyer, Pirozhan Karali, Mezopotamya Agency reported. The court merged another file against Alağaş on the “propaganda” charge, issued on 16 January 2019 by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of Diyarbakır, with the ongoing case. The presiding judge said the merged file still lacked the journalist’s permanent address.
Lawyer Karali requested additional time to file the permanent address notification and other lacking documents. The court granted the lawyer 20 days to complete the documents and ruled that it would issue an arrest warrant for Alağaş in order for her defense statement to be taken in the event her lawyer fails to meet the deadline.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58659?page=2
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-alagas-davasi-adres-bildirimi-icin-20-gunluk-sure-verildi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mustafa Göktaş ordered to remain behind bars” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
23 May 2019 – The fifth hearing of the trial against Mustafa Göktaş, a former employee of the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, took place at the 2nd High Criminal Court of Şanlıurfa.
Göktaş and his lawyer were in attendance at the hearing, Mezopotamya Agency reported. The prosecution reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted during the previous hearing, in which they asked the court to convict Göktaş of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”
Göktaş’s lawyer Mustafa Vefa told the court they rejected the prosecutor’s final opinion and requested his client’s release pending trial.
Göktaş requested a continuance, saying he was physically unfit to make his defense statement because he has been on a hunger strike since 1 March.
Granting Göktaş additional time for his defense statement, the court adjourned the trial until 12 September.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58686
https://nupel.net/gazeteci-goktas-tahliye-edilmedi-24368h.html
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Ahmet Altan makes defense statement in “insulting public official” case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
21 May 2019 – A trial in which imprisoned novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan is accused of “insulting a public official” got underway at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, P24 reported.
The case was originally launched in 2010 upon a complaint by former public prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, currently a lawmaker with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The case concerns an article Altan penned in 2010, titled “Büyük Savaş Başladı” (The great battle has begun), in which he mentioned a leaked phone conversation between two justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals about Cihaner’s release from prison, a subject that had previously been covered by news media. Cihaner later withdrew his complaint, and the case was put on hold. However, it got underway again after Altan’s conviction in a case where he was accused of “insulting the president” was upheld by an appellate court in March 2018.
Addressing the court via the courtroom video-conferencing network SEGBİS, Altan said that the prosecution was trying to cover up a scandal in the judiciary that took place 10 years ago by attempting to incriminate him.
In its interim decision, the court ruled to wait for the response from the Criminal Court of First Instance of Gölbaşı concerning Cihaner and adjourned the trial until 17 September 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1130731056552906753
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379839/ahmet-altan-kamu-gorevlisine-hakaret-iddiasindan-hakim-karsisindaydi
http://www.haberdar.com/gundem/ahmet-altan-savcilar-sanki-en-sacma-iddianameyi-kim-yazacak-diye-yarisiyor-h135742.html[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court convicts 7 defendants in Özgür Gündem trial” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]21 May 2019 – The final hearing in the trial of 24 defendants including former Özgür Gündem daily editors and columnists was held at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.
24 defendants were standing accused of “praising the offense or the offender,” “provoking commission of offense,” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda” crimes. The pro-Kurdish newspaper was closed down by a state of emergency decree on August 2016.
Seven defendants, including the shuttered newspaper’s co-editors in chief – lawyer Eren Keskin and publisher Hüseyin Aykol – managing editor Reyhan Çapan and columnists Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu were handed down jail sentences for the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.”
Eight other defendants were acquitted for the same crime. The charges against two defendants were dropped due to the expiration of the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per the Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law and the case files of seven defendants were ruled to be overseen in a separate trial.
The panel sentenced Eren Keskin and Reyhan Çapan to 3 years and 9 months; Hüseyin Akyol to 2 years and 1 month; Hüseyin Güçlü and Tahir Temel to 1 year and 6 months; Reyhan Hacıoğlu and Ayşe Batumlu to 1 year and 3 months in jail for “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”
Hacıoğlu and Batumlu’s sentences were deferred. The sentences that were not deferred will be appealed.
Acquitting Ayşe Berktay, Celalettin Can, Cemal Bozkurt, Çetin Ulu, Emrullah Kurcan, Ergin Atabey, Nuray Özdoğan and Özlem Söyler from the charge of “disseminating terrorist propaganda,” the court decided to separate the case files of Filiz Koçali, Enver Baysal, Hasan Başak, İhsan Yorulmaz, Muzaffer Ayata, Serbest Zan and Züleyha Yılmaz, for whom the arrest warrants issued were not carried out. The defense statements of the seven defendants are yet to be heard.
The court also decided to remove the arrest warrants issued for Ruhat Kaya and Bülent Alp and drop the charge which accuses them of “propaganda” on the grounds that the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1130847861401219076
https://t24.com.tr/haber/ozgur-gundem-davasinda-karar-durusmasi-7-kisiye-15-yil-hapis-cezasi-verildi,822472
http://www.diken.com.tr/ozgur-gundem-davasinda-avukat-eren-keskin-ve-gazetecilere-ceza-yagdi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Assailants attack local journalist in Antalya” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]20 May 2019 – A local journalist in Antalya was targeted by assailants on 20 May. Ergin Çevik, the editor-in-chief of the Antalya-based news portal Güney Haberci, was attacked by three people in the Aksu district, daily Evrensel reported
Çevik was reportedly assaulted because he wrote about allegations of unearned income in the municipality of Aksu in a column he published in the newspaper. In the column, Çevik called on the Mayor of Aksu Halil Şahin, who was re-elected from the ranks of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the local elections on 31 March, to address the allegations.
Link(s):
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379822/gazetecilere-saldirilar-suruyor-antalyada-ergin-cevik-darbedildi
https://bianet.org/english/human-rights/208674-journalist-ergin-cevik-attacked-in-antalya
https://www.haberturk.com/gazeteci-ergin-cevik-saldiriya-ugradi-2470975
Categories: Physical Assault / Injury
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Mustafa Yayla sent to prison in Izmir for ‘insulting the president’” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]19 May 2019 – Mustafa Yayla, a local journalist based in the Aegean province of Aydın, was sent to prison after an appellate court upheld a previous conviction on the charge of “insulting the president,” online news website T24 reported.
Yayla had been given a prison sentence of 11 months and 20 days over his social media posts in a trial overseen by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Kuşadası. The court refused to defer his sentence or commute it to a judicial fine.
Yayla, who had recently relocated in the nearby city of Izmir, was placed in the Torbalı Prison.
Link(s):
https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/93771/gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-erdogana-hakaretten-cezaevine-girdi
https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-cumhurbaskani-na-hakaretten-cezaevine-girdi,822068
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gerekcesi-cumhurbaskanina-hakaret-gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-cezaevine-girdi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial + Government / State Agency / Public official(s) / Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist İdris Demirel taken into custody in Iğdır” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – Local journalist İdris Demirel was taken in custody during house raids by the Gendarmerie in the northeastern province of Iğdır, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported. Demirel was arrested alongside local politician Kemal Çakmak and a citizen named Deniz Kaynar.
Reports said Demirel, Çakmak and Kaynar were arrested as part of an investigation into a demonstration that involved human shields, which took place four years ago.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi19.com/tum-haberler/content/view/57971
http://www.haberdar.com/gundem/igdir-da-biri-gazeteci-3-kisi-gozaltina-alindi-h135254.html
http://www.igdirdogusgazetesi.com/haber/2819/17/igdirda-biri-gazeteci-3-kisi-gozaltina-alindiyok
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of journalist Mehmet Çakmakçı adjourned until November” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – The trial of journalist Mehmet Çakmakçı on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” resumed on 17 May at the 10th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır, online news website Gazete Karınca reported. Çakmakçı, who uses the pen name Şiyar Dicle, was jailed pending trial in 2017 and was released at the end of the first courtroom hearing of his trial.
The court ruled to wait for the response from the Council of Forensic Medicine concerning the forensic examination of audio tapes in the indictment against Çakmakçı and adjourned the trial until 8 November 2019.
Link(s):
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-mehmet-cakmakcinin-durusmasi-ertelendi/
https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/93406/mehmet-cakmakcinin-durusmasi-goruldu
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Local journalist İdris Özyol beaten, hospitalized in Antalya” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – Local journalist İdris Özyol was assaulted by a group of three unidentified assailants in the coastal city of Antalya. The veteran journalist was hospitalized following the attack, which took place during evening hours of 15 May 2019 in front of the offices of the local newspaper Akdeniz’de Yeni Yüzyıl, where he works.
The assailants were arrested on 17 May. Özyol said one of his attackers, whom he identified as Taner Canatek, was the driver of a prominent local politician from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has allied with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the general and presidential elections in 2018 and the local elections in March 2019. Canatek worked for the AKP candidate during the local election campaign, Özyol claimed. Journalist associations condemned the attack.
Link(s):
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379501/antalyada-gazeteci-idris-ozyol-saldiriya-ugradi
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/15/gazeteci-idris-ozyol-saldiriya-ugradi/
https://ahvalnews.com/journalism/turkish-journalist-beaten-after-critical-commentary
Categories: Physical Assault / Injury
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of Özgür Gündem editors and politician Hatip Dicle adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – A trial where journalists Hüseyin Aykol, Zana Kaya and İnan Kızılkaya — former co-editors-in-chief and managing editor of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem — and Kurdish politician Hatip Dicle stand accused for the news stories and articles published in the newspaper, resumed at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul. Özgür Gündem was closed down by a state of emergency decree in August 2016.
The four defendants are accused of “publicly degrading the government, the judiciary or the police force” and “publicly degrading the Turkish nation, the Turkish Republic and the Parliament” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.
None of the defendants were in attendance at the hearing, where they were represented by their lawyer Özcan Kılıç, P24 reported.
In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant against Hatip Dicle and adjourned the trial until 10 October 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128927471863291904
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Public Prosecutor seeks criminal investigation against Ahmet Şık over his defense statements during trial” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed for the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık, seeking a criminal investigation over two separate allegations. Şık, a renowned investigative journalist, was sentenced to 7,5 years in prison pending appeal in the trial against the executive and staff of the daily Cumhuriyet in 2018.
The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Şık of “insulting the Turkish Republic, the government and the judiciary” as per Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code based on his remarks in his defense statement in the “Cumhuriyet trial,” online news website T24 reported. The vocal journalist’s statement had a wide echo in the national political and public debate.
The Prosecutor’s Office is separately accusing Şık of “insulting the president” based on two complaints filed with the Presidency Communication Center (CİMER).
Link(s):
https://t24.com.tr/haber/ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi-cumhuriyet-davasindaki-savunma-kanit-sayildi,821560
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379513/hdp-milletvekili-ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi
https://tr.sputniknews.com/turkiye/201905161039066278-ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Imprisoned journalist İdris Yılmaz faces new charges” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – Imprisoned journalist İdris Yılmaz is facing terrorism-related charges in a new indictment, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported. Yılmaz, a journalist based in the eastern province of Van, is currently imprisoned in the Elazığ No. 1 Maximum Security Prison, serving a combined prison term of nearly 10 years he has been given in various trials over his journalistic work.
The new indictment, prepared in light of a witness testimony, accuses Yılmaz of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.” The journalist’s social media posts are held as evidence for the “propaganda” charge.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi19.com/tum-haberler/content/view/57816?page=2
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379554/tutuklu-gazeteci-idris-yilmaz-hakkinda-bir-dava-daha-acildi
http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/1396389/Gazeteci_Yilmaz_a_bir_dava_daha.html
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Seda Taşkın acquitted of one charge but convicted of “propaganda”” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – The appellate court overseeing Mezopotamya news agency (MA) reporter Seda Taşkın’s appeal has overturned the trial court’s October 2018 verdict that sentenced the journalist to a total of 7.5 years in prison on two separate charges.
Taşkın addressed the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice from the Ankara courthouse via the courtroom video-conferencing system, P24 reported.
Taşkın told the court that she was put on trial as a result of her journalistic work. “Journalism is not a crime,” Taşkın added.
At the end of the second appeal hearing of Taşkın’s trial, held on 15 May 2019, the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice acquitted the journalist of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” while giving her a prison sentence of 1 year, 11 months and 10 days on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The court deferred the sentence.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128541621090496512
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379422/gazeteci-seda-taskina-verilen-1-yil-11-ay-hapis-cezasi-ertelendi
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-seda-taskina-hem-ceza-hem-beraat/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court drops charge against journalist Erdem Gül in intel trucks case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – The final hearing of Cumhuriyet daily’s former Ankara representative Erdem Gül and opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Enis Berberoğlu where they were accused of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” was held at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The trial is related to the publication of footages allegedly showing weapons bound to Syria in trucks belonging to the Turkish intelligence agency MİT by the newspaper Cumhuriyet on May 2014.
Berberoğlu, a former journalist and editor-in-chief of the mainstream newspaper Hürriyet, was accused of providing the footages to the newspaper.
In its verdict on Gül, the court ruled that the the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per the Turkish press law had expired and dismissed the case, P24 reported.
Concerning Berberoğlu’s file, the court ruled that there was no need to render a separate verdict on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” on the grounds of Berberoğlu’s previous conviction in another trial in relation to the same news report for “disclosing confidential information pertaining to the security of the state.” The court also lifted the international travel ban on Berberoğlu.
The retrial of Can Dündar, Cumhuriyet’s then editor-in-chief, on the charge of “disclosing confidential information for espionage purposes” over the same coverage in the newspaper also resumed on 15 May at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The court decided to wait for the response from German judicial authorities concerning Turkey’s extradition request for Dündar and adjourned the trial until 31 October 2019.
Link(s):
https://expressioninterrupted.com/tr/mit-tirlari-davasinda-erdem-gul-hakkindaki-suclama-dusuruldu/
https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/15/mit-tirlari-erdem-gul-hakkindaki-dava-dusuruldu/
https://tr.sputniknews.com/turkiye/201905151039059191-mit-tirlari-davasinda-erdem-gul-ve-enis-berberoglu-karari/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Reporter Soner Karabulut briefly detained” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – Journalist Soner Karabulut, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish online newspaper Gazete Fersude, was taken into custody on 14 May in Istanbul during house raids by the police, the website reported. The investigation was targeting members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), the report said.
Karabulut and five others were referred to the Istanbul Courthouse on 15 May. The court released Karabulut and four ESP members under judicial control measures.
Link(s):
https://www.gazetefersude.com/istanbulda-ev-baskinlari-gazetemiz-muhabiri-soner-karabulut-dahil-4-kisi-gozaltinda-58248/
https://ilerihaber.org/icerik/gazete-fersude-muhabiri-soner-karabulut-gozaltina-alindi-97784.html
https://tihv.org.tr/16-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Evrensel editor-in-chief’s trial on ‘insulting the president’ charge adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]14 May 2019 – The second hearing in the trial of journalist Fatih Polat, the editor-in-chief of Evrensel daily, on the charge of “insulting the president” took place at the Bakırköy 31st Criminal Court of First Instance.
Polat is standing trial over his article titled “Erdoğan ailesiyle ilgili bu iddialara muhatapları ne diyor?” (What do those addressed say about these allegations concerning the Erdoğan family?), published in the newspaper on 28 May 2017.
An Istanbul court had ordered the column be removed from the Evrensel website. The newspaper’s lawyers objected to the court order, but their objection was rejected and the article was subsequently removed from the website. After the removal of the article, lawyers representing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a lawsuit against Polat for the column.
Lawyer Devrim Avcı submitted to the court the original news report published in the website theblacksea.eu, that was the source of Polat’s article, P24 reported. Avcı added that the news report was still accessible online.
Avcı also submitted to the court an expert opinion concerning Polat’s case that was penned by the London-based human rights organization Article 19. Avcı told the court that the expert opinion by Article 19 demonstrated that Craig Shaw’s news report, which Polat quoted in its entirety in his article, was nominated for the British Journalism Awards in England and the European Press Prize.
After accepting the documents submitted by the defense lawyers, the court ruled to send a memo to the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC) and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), seeking their opinion about the website that was the source for Polat’s article and whether Craig Shaw, the author of the original article, is a journalist or not. The court then adjourned the trial until 17 September 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128189606502047744
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379364/gazeteci-fatih-polat-malta-belgeleri-nedeniyle-hakim-karsisina-cikti
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-fatih-polatin-durusmasi-ertelendi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences + Censorship (i)
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalists Zeynep Kuray, İrfan Tunççelik spend three days in custody for covering demonstrations” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]13 May 2019 – Journalist Zeynep Kuray and İrfan Tunççelik, a reporter for the Mezopotamya news agency (MA), were both taken into custody as they were covering demonstrations in Istanbul aimed at raising awareness of ongoing hunger strikes in Turkey’s prisons.
Kuray was arrested while she was covering a demonstration in the Spice Bazaar in the historic Eminönü quarter while Tunççelik was arrested as he was covering a demonstration in front of the Bakırköy Prison, online news website Artı Gerçek reported.
Both journalists were brought to the Istanbul Courthouse on 13 May. The prosecutor requested their imprisonment pending trial. The court released both journalists under judicial control measures.
Link(s):
https://www.artigercek.com/haberler/gazeteciler-zeynep-kuray-ve-irfan-tunccelik-gozaltina-alindi
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteciler-zeynep-kuray-ve-irfan-tunccelik-serbest-birakildi/
https://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/208453-journalists-zeynep-kuray-and-irfan-tunccelik-released-on-probation
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Assaillants attack prominent columnist in front of his house” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]13 May 2019 – Journalist Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a prominent columnist for the nationalist Yeniçağ newspaper, suffered serious injuries from an attack in front of his house in Ankara.
The attack took place late in the evening hours of 10 May, as Demirağ was returning home after hosting a political show on a private TV broadcaster. The assailants, a group of seven men, fled the scene in a car after beating up Demirağ using baseball bats.
Demirağ was hospitalized by his relatives. Six people who were arrested during the week in connection with the attack were released after giving their statements before a prosecutor on 13 May.
Link(s):
https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/yavuz-selim-demiraga-alcak-saldiri-233723h.htm
https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/gazeteci-yavuz-selim-demirag-evinin-onunde-saldiriya-ugradi,7o-CIobc0kidXDs5hikGCw
https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/savciliktan-yavuz-selim-demiraga-saldiranlar-hakkinda-zoraki-islem-234370h.htm
https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/spor-aleti-51931yy.htm
Categories: Physical Assault / Injury
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Canan Coşkun briefly detained over unpaid legal fine” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]11 May 2019 – Journalist Canan Coşkun was taken into custody late 10 May 2019 in Istanbul based on an arrest warrant, which came up during a police security check, DW reported.
It later became clear that the warrant had been issued because of an overdue legal fine of TL 12,600 handed down by the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in a case where Coşkun was convicted of “insulting a public official” over a news story she penned in 2015 for the Cumhuriyet daily. The newspaper had failed to pay the amount after the ruling became definitive.
Coşkun spent the night at the police station. She was released the next day after the overdue fine was paid.
Link(s):
https://www.dw.com/tr/gazeteci-canan-co%C5%9Fkun-serbest-b%C4%B1rak%C4%B1ld%C4%B1/a-48700121
https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/11/canan-coskun-yazdi-nezarethaneden-izlenimler/
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/11/canan-coskun-serbest-birakildi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“KCK press trial” adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]9 May 2019 – The 16th hearing of the “KCK Press Trial,” where a total of 46 journalists and other media workers stand accused of “membership in a terrorist group” and “terrorism propaganda,” took place at the 3rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul.
None of the defendants were in attendance at the hearing and were represented by their lawyers, P24 reported.
The presiding judge announced during the hearing that a separate case file about one of the defendants, journalist Yüksel Genç, overseen by the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, was sent to the court with the request to merge the two files. However, the trial court rejected the request.
The court then adjourned the trial until 22 October 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126429796798431232
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379064/kck-basin-davasi-goruldu-gazeteci-yuksel-gence-yeni-dava
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/kck-basin-davasi-gazeteci-yuksel-gence-yeni-dava-acilmis-bir-sonraki-durusma-ekimde/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court announces deferred judgment about jailed journalist Yetkin Yıldız” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]9 May 2019 – A court in Ankara announced a judgment against jailed journalist Yetkin Yıldız that had been deferred, P24 reported.
The 35th Criminal Court of First Instance of Ankara had convicted Yıldız of “insult” in a case that had been filed in 2010 by a judge. The accusation stemmed from a news story published online in the news website Stratejik Boyut, where Yıldız was the chief editor. The 10-month sentence Yıldız was given at the time had been deferred by five years.
Yıldız later stood trial in a separate case on the charges of “insult” and “publicly inciting crime” over an article posted online on the news portal Aktif Haber, where he was chief editor during his five-year probation. Yıldız was also convicted in that case, overseen by the 1st Criminal Court of First Instance of Silivri.
Since he “committed a similar offense” during his five-year probation, the 35th Criminal Court of First Instance of Ankara announced its earlier judgment at the hearing on 9 May. The court suspended Yıldız’s sentence by 1 year.
Yıldız is currently imprisoned in the Silivri Prison in Istanbul. He was sentenced in 2018 to 7 years and 6 months in prison on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” as part of a major media trial where columnists Murat Aksoy and Atilla Taş were among his 25 co-defendants.
Link(s):
https://expressioninterrupted.com/tr/turkiyede-basin-ve-ifade-ozgurlugu-207/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of 7 journalists over 2016 news story adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – A trial where seven journalists and one other defendant are charged with “making those involved in combating terrorism a target” resumed at the 9th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır.
The case was launched after a complaint from senior gendarmerie commander Maj. Gen. Musa Çitil, who was cited in the news report, published in February 2016 by the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA). The agency was closed down by a state of emergency decree in October 2016.
The defendants include Ömer Çelik, who was the news editor at DİHA at the time, DİHA reporters Çağdaş Kaplan, Hamza Gündüz and Selman Çiçek, journalist Abdulvahap Taş as well as the responsible editor and publisher of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür gündem, İnan Kızılkaya and Kemal Sancılı. Çiçek is additionally charged with “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” An eighth defendant, who is at large, is also cited in the indictment.
Sancılı, who is currently imprisoned in Edirne, addressed the court via the courtroom video-conferencing network. The rest of the defendants were not in attendance and were instead represented by their lawyers, P24 reported. This was the third hearing in the case.
In its interim ruling, the court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant in place for the eighth defendant, Selim Günenç, and adjourned the trial until 2 October 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126007620534448129
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/musa-citilin-sikayetiyle-haklarinda-dava-acilan-yedi-gazetecinin-durusmasi-ertelendi-2/
https://tihv.org.tr/09-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Özgür Gündem trial adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – The trial of 23 former pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper’s editors and columnists, including Eren Keskin, Hüseyin Aykol, Reyhan Çapan, Filiz Koçali, Ayşe Berktay, Nuray Özdoğan, Celalettin Can, Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu, resumed at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The 23 defendants are accused of “praising crime and criminals,” “inciting crime,” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.” The newspaper was closed down on August 2016 by a state of emergency decree.
The prosecution reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted to the court on 26 October 2017. Lawyer Özcan Kılıç, who represents part of the defendants in the case, requested additional time for the final defense statements since the court has rejected his request at the previous hearing to merge this case with another ongoing trial against the newspaper. The court granted additional time for the defense statements and adjourned the trial until 21 May 2019 when the verdict is expected to be announced.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126074473092923392
https://t24.com.tr/haber/ozgur-gundem-davasi-21-mayis-a-ertelendi,820315
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378988/ozgur-gundem-davasi-21-mayisa-ertelendi
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecutor seeks conviction for jailed journalist Mehmet Gündem” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – The fifth hearing in the trial of jailed journalist and columnist Mehmet Gündem on the charge of “terrorist group membership” took place at the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.
Gündem, who is in pre-trial detention in the Silivri Prison, was brought to the courtroom under the supervision of gendarmerie officers, P24 reported.
The prosecutor sought for Gündem’s conviction on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” according to the final opinion submitted to the court in between courtroom hearings.
Gündem’s lawyers requested additional time to prepare their final defense statements and asked for the journalist’s release from prison pending trial.
Ruling for the continuation of Gündem’s pre-trial detention, the court granted additional time to the defense and adjourned the trial until 29 May.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126053682955603968
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court finds ‘no violations of rights’ in jailed journalists’ files” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court on 3 May rejected the individual application of jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan, finding no rights violations in his file that had been pending before the court since November 2016. The court also rejected the application of Nazlı Ilıcak, Altan’s co-defendant in the “coup” case.
Altan and Ilıcak’s files were among 10 individual applications by journalists reviewed by the top court’s Plenary over two days, on 2 and 3 May.
The other applications were those filed on behalf of former Cumhuriyet staff members Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık, Akın Atalay, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku and Önder Çelik, former Zaman columnist Ali Bulaç and journalist Murat Aksoy.
The Plenary concluded at the end of the morning session of Friday’s deliberations that there was “no rights violations” in Altan’s file, while it ruled in favor of Bulaç. Rendering its decision concerning Ilıcak’s application on Friday afternoon, the Constitutional Court rejected her application through a unanimous vote.
On Thursday, at the end of the first day of deliberations, the court ruled that Kadri Gürsel and Murat Aksoy’s rights to personal liberty and security had been violated, while it rejected the applications of former Cumhuriyet staffers Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Önder Çelik, Ahmet Şık and Bülent Utku. Both Gürsel and Aksoy, whose demands were accepted by the top court, have served their entire prison sentences. The others, however, have all prison time remaining on their sentence. Çelik and Utku, were recently sent back to prison to serve the remaining part of their sentences after those were uphold by an appellate court. Prison sentences against Atalay, Sabuncu, Şık being over 5 years will be further reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The court rendered all decisions except for the one concerning Ilıcak’s file through a majority vote.
Link(s):
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/top-turkey-court-rejects-jailed-journalist-appeals-190503181911161.html
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-rejects-individual-appeals-of-sentenced-journalists-143145
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkeys-highest-court-says-journalists-rights-violated
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”P24 Founding President Hasan Cemal convicted of “propaganda” over 2015 column” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – P24’s founding president and T24 columnist Hasan Cemal was given a prison sentence of 3 months and 22 days on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” on 7 May 2019.
Cemal was standing trial over an article he penned in 2015, titled “Silvan’dan: Bizi acılara ve ölümlere o kadar alıştırdılar ki…” (Silvan: They’ve inured us to pain and death).
This was the third hearing in the trial, overseen by the Istanbul 36th High Criminal Court. Hasan Cemal and his lawyer Fikret İlkiz were in attendance, P24 reported.
Addressing the court for his defense statement, Hasan Cemal rejected the accusation and asked to be acquitted.
After hearing the defense statements by Cemal and his lawyer, the court went on to issue its verdict, convicting Cemal of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group” and giving him 1 year, 6 months and 22 days in prison. The panel ruled for the sentence to be deducted from a previous sentence Cemal was given on the same charge by the 22th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. As a result, the court gave Cemal a prison sentence of 3 months and 22 days, which it then commuted to a judicial fine of TL 3,360.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125761094323245058
https://t24.com.tr/haber/hasan-cemal-75-yasinda-50-yillik-bir-gazeteci-olarak-teror-propagandasi-iddiasiyla-yargilanmam-turkiye-deki-buyuk-cokusun-gostergesi,820114
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/teror-orgutu-propagandasindan-ceza-41206770
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Cansu Pişkin given 10-month prison term for news story” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – Journalist Cansu Pişkin was handed down a prison sentence on the charge of “marking the identity of a state official assigned in the fight against terrorism as a target” over a news report published in 2018 in the Evrensel newspaper.
Pişkin and her lawyers Levent Pişkin, Devrim Avcı and Mustafa Söğütlü were in attendance at the 36th High Criminal Court of Istanbul for the third hearing of her trial, P24 reported. The hearing was monitored by representatives from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Press Institute (IPI), Article 19 and a number of academics and journalists.
Pişkin addressed the court and reiterated her previous defense statement saying that she did not write the news story for which she is accused with the intent to commit a crime but to inform the public.
Following the completion of the defense statements, the court issued its verdict, finding Pişkin guilty of “marking the identity of a state official assigned in the fight against terrorism as a target.” The court sentenced her to 10 months in prison and deferred the sentence.
A group of students from Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University were imprisoned in late March 2018 for staging an anti-war protest. In her news story published on 5 April 2018, Pişkin reported that the prosecutor assigned to the investigation concerning the Boğaziçi students on 3 April, the day on which the students were referred to court, had claimed in a previous indictment that the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was a political party “operating under the guidance of a terrorist group.”
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125734034636722177
https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/07/gazeteci-cansu-piskine-10-ay-hapis-cezasi-verildi/
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378928/gazeteci-cansu-piskine-10-ay-hapis-cezasi
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecution seeks sentence for photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan on “propaganda” charge” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – The fifth hearing of the trial of photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan on the charges of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” took place at the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul.
Representatives from Article 19, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Press Institute (IPI) monitored the hearing, where Erdoğan and his lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu were in attendance, P24 reported.
The prosecution submitted their final opinion of the case during the hearing, seeking conviction for Erdoğan on the charge of “propaganda” as per Article 7/2 of Turkey’s anti-terror law (TMK). The prosecution requested Erdoğan’s acquittal for the “membership” charge.
Lawyer Çalıkuşu requested a continuance for Erdoğan’s final defense statement. Granting additional time for the defense, the court adjourned the trial until 13 June 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125726809637703682
https://tihv.org.tr/08-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Kibriye Evren ordered to remain behind bars” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – The trial of jailed journalist Kibriye Evren on terrorism-related charges resumed at the 5th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır.
Evren, who is jailed in the Diyarbakır Prison, and has been on a hunger strike since 16 December 2018, did not attend the hearing, P24 reported. She was represented by her lawyers Pirozhan Karali and Resul Temur.The prosecution said they reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted to the court on 16 April. The prosecutor also requested the continuation of Evren’s pre-trial detention.
Evren’s lawyer Temur requested additional time for Evren to make her final defense statement in person in the courtroom. He also requested his client’s release pending trial. In their interim decision, the court ruled to keep Evren in pre-trial detention and adjourned the trial until 18 July 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125652925823508480
http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/aclik-grevindeki-gazeteci-kibriye-evrene-yine-tahliye-yok/
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/07/gazeteci-evren-tahliye-edilmedi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Appellate court drops jail sentence given to Pelin Ünker in Paradise Papers case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]6 May 2019 – An appellate court has overturned a jail sentence handed down in January to former Cumhuriyet daily reporter Pelin Ünker, Medyascope reported.
Ünker was given a 13-month prison sentence by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul in a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his two sons over Ünker’s reporting on the “Paradise Papers” leaks.
According to the report, the appellate court ruled on 19 April for the conviction against Ünker in the case filed by Bülent and Erkam Yıldırım to be dropped because the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired.
The appellate court upheld the legal fine Ünker was given on the charge of “insulting a public official.” However, it ruled that the compensation Ünker was ordered to pay should be TL 7,080 instead of TL 8,660.
Link(s):
https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/06/paradise-papers-davasi-istinaf-mahkemesi-gazeteci-pelin-unkerin-hapis-cezasini-bozdu/
https://t24.com.tr/haber/istinaf-mahkemesi-gazeteci-pelin-unker-in-hapis-cezasini-bozdu,819926
http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/208208-istinaf-mahkemesi-pelin-unker-in-hapis-cezasini-bozdu-para-cezasini-onadi
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mezopotamya Agency reporter Barış Polat released under judicial control measures” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]5 May 2019 – Barış Polat, an intern reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency, who was taken into custody on 3 May as he was covering a news story at the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, was released from custody on 5 May. Polat was taken to the courthouse following his questioning at the anti-terror branch of the Şanlıurfa Police Department. Polat was released under judicial control measures by the court he was referred to.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi16.com/tum-haberler/content/view/56576?page=8
https://ozgurmanset.net/muhabirimiz-baris-polat-serbest-birakildi/
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court finds ‘no violations of rights’ in jailed journalists’ files” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court on 3 May rejected the individual application of jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan, finding no rights violations in his file that had been pending before the court since November 2016. The court also rejected the application of Nazlı Ilıcak, Altan’s co-defendant in the “coup” case.
Altan and Ilıcak’s files were among 10 individual applications by journalists reviewed by the top court’s Plenary over two days, on 2 and 3 May.
The other applications were those filed on behalf of former Cumhuriyet staff members Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık, Akın Atalay, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku and Önder Çelik, former Zaman columnist Ali Bulaç and journalist Murat Aksoy.
The Plenary concluded at the end of the morning session of Friday’s deliberations that there was “no rights violations” in Altan’s file, while it ruled in favor of Bulaç. Rendering its decision concerning Ilıcak’s application on Friday afternoon, the Constitutional Court rejected her application through a unanimous vote.
On Thursday, at the end of the first day of deliberations, the court ruled that Kadri Gürsel and Murat Aksoy’s rights to personal liberty and security had been violated, while it rejected the applications of former Cumhuriyet staffers Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Önder Çelik, Ahmet Şık and Bülent Utku. Both Gürsel and Aksoy, whose demands were accepted by the top court, have served their entire prison sentences. The others, however, have all prison time remaining on their sentence. Çelik and Utku, were recently sent back to prison to serve the remaining part of their sentences after those were uphold by an appellate court. Prison sentences against Atalay, Sabuncu, Şık being over 5 years will be further reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The court rendered all decisions except for the one concerning Ilıcak’s file through a majority vote.
Link(s):
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/top-turkey-court-rejects-jailed-journalist-appeals-190503181911161.html
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-rejects-individual-appeals-of-sentenced-journalists-143145
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkeys-highest-court-says-journalists-rights-violated
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mezopotamya news agency reporter Barış Polat taken into custody” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Barış Polat, an intern reporter for the Mezopotamya news agency, was taken into custody on 3 May at the entrance of the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, where he was covering a news story. Polat was detained on the grounds that he was taking photographs inside the courthouse, the agency reported.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi16.com/tum-haberler/content/view/56367
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-baris-polat-gozaltinda/
https://t24.com.tr/haber/mezopotamya-ajansi-muhabiri-baris-polat-gozaltina-alindi,819514
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court rejects Ziya Ataman’s application” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled on the individual application of jailed reporter Ziya Ataman, online news website Gazete Karınca reported. The court rejected Ataman’s application, the report said, finding his claim that his right to personal liberty and security to be “ill-founded” and his claim that his right to a fair trial was violated inadmissible because “all legal remedies have not been exhausted.
Ataman, a reported for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), which was closed down by a state of emergency decree in 2016, has been jailed for more than three years. The trial against him is ongoing in the southeastern province of Şırnak.
Link(s):
http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/aymden-tutuklu-gazeteci-ataman-icin-yapilan-basvuruya-ret/
https://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/208071-anayasa-mahkemesi-gazeteci-ziya-ataman-in-basvurusunu-reddetti
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/02/anayasa-mahkemesi-gazeteci-ziya-atamanin-basvurusunu-reddetti/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Former TV10 staff members’ trial adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – The second hearing of the trial of two former employees of the shuttered TV station TV10, camera operator Kemal Demir and staff member Kemal Karagöz, took place in Istanbul. Both Demir and Karagöz are charged with “membership in a terrorist group” in the case, overseen by the 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.
Demir and Karagöz were taken into custody in December 2017. At the end of the detention period, Demir was jailed pending trial while Karagöz was released under judicial control measures. The first hearing of their trial took place on 3 July 2018, but the 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul ruled at the end of the hearing to send the case file to a criminal court in the southern city of Mersin on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction over the case. However, the Mersin court also ruled that it had no jurisdiction and the case file ended up at the Supreme Court of Appeals, which ruled that the original trial court had jurisdiction. The 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, reevaluating the case file after the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision, ruled on 8 February 2019 for Demir’s release pending trial.
The second hearing, where both Demir and Karagöz were in attendance, was monitored by Rebecca Harms, a German Member of the European Parliament (MEP), and International Press Institute (IPI).
In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled for the continuation of Demir’s travel ban while lifting the judicial control measure imposed on Karagöz, P24 reported. The court granted both defendants exemption from personal appearance in the courtroom and adjourned the trial until 10 September 2019.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1123847116370083841
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378639/tv10-calisanlarinin-yargilandigi-dava-10-eylule-ertelendi
https://www.pirha.net/tv10-calisanlari-demir-ve-karagozun-durusmasi-10-eylule-ertelendi-video-170575.html/02/05/2019/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“Bakur trial” adjourned until July” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – A trial where journalist Ertuğrul Mavioğlu and filmmaker Çayan Demirel are charged with “propaganda” for a documentary they co-directed titled Bakur (“Nort”h in Kurdish) resumed in the southeastern city of Batman.
Both Mavioğlu and Demirel, as well as their lawyers, were in attendance at the sixth hearing in the trial overseen by the 2nd High Criminal Court of Batman. MPs Ayşe Acar Başaran and Ahmet Şık, representatives from the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Turkey, journalists from the Altyazı film magazine, academics, filmmakers and stage actors were among those who came to Kurdish city to observe the hearing and lend support to Mavioğlu and Demirel.
At the beginning of the hearing, the judges announced that it had recently come to their attention that a separate criminal investigation into Mavioğlu on the charge of “propaganda” was under way in Ankara, P24 reported.
In their interim decision, the court ruled to inquire of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about the investigation into Mavioğlu and ask for a copy of the investigation file. The court also decided to grant additional time to the defendants for their statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion of the case and adjourned the trial until 18 July, when a verdict is expected.
Link(s):
https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1123902975804678144
http://susma24.com/bakur-davasi-18-temmuza-ertelendi/
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/02/bakur-durusmasi-temmuza-kaldi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/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:1560520560729-052775e3-ee0d-1″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
31 May 19 | Ukraine Incident Reports
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”9 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Online outlet correspondent assaulted by politician” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 — Oleg Baturin, New Day online outlet correspondent, was assaulted by a deputy of the Kherson regional council in Kahovka. The official blocked the journalist, grabbed his hands and threatened to cripple him.
Link(s): http://nikcenter.org/newsItem/50465
http://nk-online.com.ua/kahovskiy-zhurnalist-ne-hochet-stat-kalekoy-poetomu-obratilsya-v-politsiyu/
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist assaulted by a government official in Kyiv” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 — Volodymyr Tymofiychuk, 1+1 TV Channel correspondent, was assaulted by a government official in Kyiv. The official pushed the journalist, grabbed his clothes and hands.
Link(s): https://detector.media/community/article/167526/2019-05-23-zhurnalist-11-podav-u-politsiyu-zayavu-cherez-pereshkodzhannya-z-boku-pratsivnika-kabinetu-ministriv/
https://imi.org.ua/news/zhurnalist-1-1-napysav-zaiavu-u-politsiiu-cherez-pereshkodzhannia-z-boku-posadovtsia-kabminu/
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Editor-in-chief’s car set on fire” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
12 May 2019 — The editor-in-chief of TVi Channel Vladimir Yegorov said that his car was set on fire in Kyiv, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
“Today, at 4:30 am, my car was set on fire, I associate it with my professional activity,” Yegorov posted on Facebook. According to Yegorov’s version of events, arson is suspected because his neighbors heard the sound of an explosion before the car caught fire.
Ukraine’s National Police launched a criminal investigation under the “intentional destruction or damage to property” of the country’s criminal code. Yegorov said he would ask the police to reframe the case under the article “intentional destruction or damage to the property of the journalist”, according to Detector Media online outlet.
Sources:
https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-kyiv/2698400-golovnomu-redaktoru-telekanalu-spalili-avtivku.html
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2667278600009174&id=100001811816352
https://kyiv.npu.gov.ua/news/Informacziya/policziya-rozpochala-kriminalne-provadzhennya-za-faktom-zagoryannya-avtomobilya/
https://detector.media/community/article/167195/2019-05-12-politsiya-vidkrila-provadzhennya-za-faktom-pidpalu-avtivki-golovnogo-redaktora-tvi/
Categories: Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”TV crew assaulted by customs officers” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]9 May 2019 — Natalia Polishchuk, Maria Petruchyk and Vyacheslav Moroshko — journalists working for Avers TV channel — were assaulted by customs officers at the Yagodyn border crossing with Poland.
The journalists were investigating a large shipment of amber, which was alleged to have been smuggled to Poland through the Yagodyn customs station. They entered a restaurant where customs agents were attending a party and began asking questions about corruption and the amber smuggling. According to Avers, the officers who were present behaved aggressively and assaulted the journalists. One journalist’s finger was bruised and the crew’s camera was broken, 1+1 TV channel reported.
“Two men approached me, they started tugging at me, tore my jacket, hit the cameraman, hit the camera,” Polishchuk said. Petruchyk reported, “He wrestled my phone out of my hand, used brute force, my hand is damaged, he tore my journalist’s ID off me.” The officers also forcibly took the journalists’ driver’s licenses, car documents and bank cards. A customs officer told one of the journalists he would “bury her” the following day. The journalists managed to film a part of the incident.
The police have opened criminal proceedings on three articles. “It’s about interfering with the professional activities of journalists, robbery and causing intentional light bodily injuries,” Viktor Homol, spokesperson for the National Police in the Volyn region, said. The case is now being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigations.
Sources:
https://www.volynnews.com/news/extreme/piani-volynski-mytnyky-pobyly-ta-pohrabuvaly-znimalnu-hrupu-telekan/
https://tsn.ua/ukrayina/zhurnalistiv-na-volini-pobili-mitniki-spravu-rozsliduye-dbr-1343535.html
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property, Blocked Access
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalists assaulted during commemoration rally” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
9 May 2019 — Unidentified persons threw red paint on people during a commemorative march in the Dnipro city (Dnipropetrovsk). As a result of the attack, a journalist from Kryvyi Rih and the operator of the 34th TV channel were injured, Pervyy Krivorozhskiy TV channel reported.
The names of the journalists were not reported. The National Police confiscated items that were stained with paint. The journalists filed a complaint with the police, demanding the investigation to be opened under the article “obstructing the professional activities of journalists” of the criminal code of Ukraine. However, the police opened a case under the article “hooliganism”.
Sources:
https://1kr.ua/news-50606.html
https://dp.npu.gov.ua/news/podiji/stanom-na-1500-v-policziji-vidkrito-4-kriminalni-provadzhennya-pov-yazani-z-podiyami-pid-chas-masovix-zaxodiv/
https://imi.org.ua/news/u-dnipri-pid-chas-mitynhu-postrazhdala-znimal-na-hrupa-34-kanalu/
Categories: Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist receives death threat after arson attack on her home” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
8 May 2019 — Nataliya Kamyshnikova, s journalist for the Radar local online news outlet in Novovolynsk city, was threatened with death, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) reported. A week earlier, unknown persons set fire to the journalist’s house.
“Yesterday to my friend came close a woman under thirty – with dyed hair, in black glasses in the central market of the city of Novovolynsk. The woman firmly took her by the hand and said: Tell Kamyshnikova this was just the first warning. We will kill her, let her prepare a coffin,” the journalist wrote on Radar website.
On the night of May 1, two unidentified men set fire to a the house belonging to the journalist. Kamyshnikova claimed this had been done out of revenge for one of her articles.
According to IMI, the National Police began the criminal proceedings because of the threats to murder the journalist. Kamyshnikova said that in late January, an anonymous person on the internet threatened her with physical harassment. The journalist then complained to the police. She insisted on entering her case into the Uniform Register of Pre-trial Investigations and requested that criminal proceedings to be instituted. However, the police refused to open criminal proceedings.
Sources:
http://radar.in.ua/obitsyayut-ubyty-komu-zh-ya-tak-zavazhayu/
https://imi.org.ua/news/na-volyni-zhurnalisttsi-cherez-znayomu-peredaly-pohrozu-vbyvstvom/
https://www.volyn24.com/news/126120-vidomij-volynskij-zhurnalistci-pomstylysia-za-material-pidpalom-budynku
https://imi.org.ua/news/politsiia-vidkryla-spravu-cherez-pohrozy-vbyvstvom-volyns-kiy-zhurnalisttsi/
Categories: Intimidation, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist assaulted in Odessa, had sewage poured at her” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 — Svitlana Pidpala, activist, journalist and blogger, was assaulted in Odessa’s Summer Theater were she was filming a public event. An unidentified person poured a bucket of sewage on Pidpala. Her equipment was damaged.
Link(s): https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2019/05/7/7214411/
https://www.unn.com.ua/ru/news/1798498-v-odesi-aktivistku-oblili-fekaliyami-ta-nechistotami
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist falls into coma after assault” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
4 May 2019 — An unidentified person armed with a hammer assaulted journalist and blogger Vadim Komarov in the center of Cherkasy, IMI reported.
According to the National Police, Komarov was walking down the street, when an assailant hit him in the head several times and severly injured him. After that, the attacker fled the scene. Casual passers-by found the badly wounded journalist and called an ambulance at about 9 am. Komarov was operated on the local hospital. According to the doctors quoted on a local online news outlet Procherk, Komarov received an open craniocerebral trauma. The operation lasted two hours after which the journalist fell into a coma.
The police is investigating the case under the criminal article “assassination attempt”.
Komarov is known for his investigation of corruption among city authorities. The journalist has already been assaulted in the past. On 7 September 2016, an unknown person shot at Komarov in Cherkasy, but the bullet hit the wall.
UPDATE:
20 June 2019 — Vadim Komarov died in the hospital without regaining consciousness, IMI reported.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his deep sorrow following the death of Komarov. “I am deeply shocked by the death of Vadim Komarov, who was brutally attacked last month in Cherkasy and suffered from serious head injuries,” Désir said. “Vadim Komarov was a well-known media professional who reported about issues of public importance for many years, including by exposing corruption and uncovering abuses of power.” “I strongly condemn this horrendous attack. Those responsible for this crime must be identified and face justice. I reiterate my call on the Ukrainian authorities to complete the investigation in a vigorous and swift manner. It is regrettable that about one-and-a-half months after the attack the law enforcement have not yet identified the perpetrators nor reported any progress on the investigation. Violence and attacks against journalists are unacceptable and must stop. Impunity would be a victory for those who wanted to silence Komarov and to intimidate the press. All OSCE participating States should take effective and resolute actions to prevent and end impunity for such crimes,” Désir said. “I send my sincere condolences to his family, colleagues and friends,” the Representative said.Head of the National Union of Journalists Serhiy Tomilenko said the cause of the murder was the Komarov’s journalistic work. “The murder of Vadim Komarov is a crime against all journalists in general,” Tomilenko said. Also, Tomilenko called journalists for solidarity, because this “topic is important for the survival of a journalist profession in Ukraine.”
Sources:
https://www.osce.org/representative-on-freedom-of-media/423578
https://www.facebook.com/sergiy.tomilenko/posts/2237747729643412?__tn__=K-R
https://imi.org.ua/news/pomer-cherkas-kyy-zhurnalist-vadym-komarov/
https://imi.org.ua/news/u-cherkasakh-pobyly-zhurnalista-vadyma-komarova-vin-u-vazhkomu-stani/
http://procherk.info/news/7-cherkassy/72109-zhorstoko-pobito-cherkaskogo-zhurnalista
http://procherk.info/news/7-cherkassy/72195-rozsliduetsja-kriminalne-provadzhennja-za-faktom-zamahu-na-vbivstvo-vadima-komarova
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Death/Killing
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Armed woman assaulted Odessa journalist” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 — A retired woman armed with a knife tried to assault Olena Solomonova, Odessa.online correspondent, and knocked the phone out of her hands during a commemorative event in Odessa.
Link(s): https://odesa.depo.ua/rus/odesa/aktivisti-z-chervonimi-kulyami-potrolili-kulikovtsiv-20190502957301
https://imi.org.ua/news/v-odesi-na-zhurnalistku-napaly-z-nozhem-i23135
Categories: Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1575992589423-00806ef6-3f10-4″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
