08 Jun 17 | Azerbaijan, Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, France, Mapping Media Freedom, News and features, Russia, Spain
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Over the last seven days, violence, intimidation, harassment and assault have been used to stop journalists from doing their job in the countries covered by Index on Censorship’s project Mapping Media Freedom.
Project manager Hannah Machlin explained why incidents in Azerbaijan and Ukraine are particularly alarming. She called the Azerbaijani incident “the most serious violation to press freedom in the past few days and it shows the situation in the region continues to be disturbing”.
The violation, which took place in late May, was against exiled Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was abducted and allegedly tortured before being taken across the border and put in pre-trial detention in Azerbaijan.
“This shows that Georgia can’t be considered a safe haven for opposition journalists and activists as well as reiterates the continued crackdown on press freedom in Azerbaijan,” Machlin said. The incident has been reported to the Council of Europe’s platform on the protection of journalism to enable that organisation to pursue discussions with the country’s representatives. Index on Censorship joined other press freedom organisations to request the Georgian government take action on the incident.
Machlin said the situation in Ukraine “indicates a complex issue in a war-torn area”. She said the “the report shows that there’s still renewed violent intimidation tactics perpetrated by the separatists against Ukrainian public broadcasters in Donbas”. She explains this is interesting because it shows that the separatists are targeting channels of free information set up by Kyiv and that Ukraine is even trying to install public broadcasters in the eastern region controlled by self-proclaimed authorities because the country “is trying to put a press presence back in there”.
29 May 2017 – Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was on his way home but never made it.
Mukhtarli was reportedly kidnapped from his neighbourhood after being forced into a car with his hands tied together. He was also beaten with a broken nose and bruises all over his head and face.
He then was transported back to Azerbaijan without a passport.
Mukhtarli was charged for illegally crossing the border, smuggling and resisting law enforcement and was also accused of being in possession of 10,000 EUR during the police search at the border.
One day later on 30 May, he was sentenced to three months in pretrial detention.
Mukihtarli’s wife and child in still in Tbilsi where they fled after escaping Azerbaijan in 2015 when Mukhtarli was threatened over his investigative reporting on corruption in the Azerbaijan.
26 May 2017 – Do TeBe, a new TV channel, endured a smashing of their front door by two unidentified assailants.
Police came to the channel, located in Donetsk oblast and are now investigating the incident.
Do TeBe’s deputy director Ilya Suzdalyev said “We are in the front line region, even what looks like hooliganism must be thoroughly investigated and perpetrators should be punished. Especially when it is, in fact, an attack on the public broadcaster, which was just created in Ukraine.”
Do TeBe TV channel is a regional branch of the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine.
31 May 2017 – Outside the parliament building where the 2017 presidential inauguration took place journalists were assaulted by supporters of the new president.
Lidija Valtner, a journalist for daily Danas, was filming and interviewing an anti-government protester when she was assaulted by a group of supporters. Not only did they shove her around and try to take her mobile phone, but they also assaulted the protester she was interviewing.
Another journalist on the scene was reporting for Radio Belgrade when she was pushed and her equipment thrown to the ground.
Journalists for Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and Vice Serbia were also harassed with violence from the crowd whilst they were taking photos of the clashes. The police asked for their IDs after they witnessed a few men ripping a protest banner.
The assailants are still on the loose.
31 May 2017 – An unknown person called the editor-in-chief of the local news website Kurier.Sreda.Berdsk and threatened her and the editorial staff. Galina Komornikova’s outlet is located in the Novosibirsk region in Berdsk.
On the call, the individual said that “the Syrian theme is not one for journalists”.
The call may have been in response to a story published by the outlet the day before about the secret funeral of a Berdsk resident and Russian military officer. Yevgeni Tretyakov, who was killed in Syria on 15 May, may have belonged to private Russian military troops as he was not an official Russian army contractor.
The outlet then commented on the article saying “An unknown individual called us and promised to ‘come and handle us on behalf of law enforcement agencies’ following the article.”
Para-military private troops are not a new concept. Both Russian and international civil investigative groups and media outlets have been reporting evidence for these groups in the Syrian conflict.
A comment was also left by user “The Animal” stating “Actually, data on military casualties is classified, therefore, I would not be surprised if special people came to visit you to shake a bit, you and your sources.”
29 May 2017 – After elimination while being interviewed, tennis player Maxime Hamou tried to kiss channel Eurosport journalist Maly Thomas several times.
It was at the Rolland Garros tournament where Hamou grabbed Thomas and tired kiss her on the neck and cheek.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Mapping Media Freedom
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29 May 17 | Azerbaijan, Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, France, Mapping Media Freedom, News and features, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Uncategorized
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Each week, Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project verifies threats, violations and limitations faced by the media throughout the European Union and neighbouring countries. Here are five recent reports that give us cause for concern.
24 May, 2017 – The body of the well-known editor-in-chief and founder of local newspaper Ton-M was found in the sauna in his backyard on 24 May in the town of Minusinsk in the Krasnodarski province, Regional Investigative Committee reported.
Dmitri Popkov was shot five times by an unidentified perpetrator according to the Regional Investigative Committee.
Popkov funds Ton-M which includes commentary on police corruption, garnering significant public attention for the publication. In an interview with RFE/RL, Popkov claims his newspaper became “an obstacle” for local officials who are now “threatening and intimidating journalists”.
Popkov founded the publication after a court found him guilty of beating a child and he was stripped of his position on Minusinsk City Council in 2012, according to The Moscow Times. Popkov claimed the case was an excuse to fire him.
Outside of the newspaper business, Popkov is recognisable in his region as a regional parliament deputy for the Communist Party.
22 May, 2017 – An independent reporter was arrested and sentenced to 30 days in administrative detention for allegedly resisting police.
Nijat Amiraslanov is from the Gazakh region and his lawyer and friends say the charges are fictitious. They say he was arrested for his reporting and online posts.
19 May, 2017 – During a workers’ protest against market liberalisation, dock workers assaulted and intimidated reporters covering the event.
A cameraperson for Canal Sur Television and Antena 3 programme was injured requiring medical assistance at a local hospital after being punched and kicked.
19 May, 2017 – Four Sözcü employees received arrest warrants after being accused of “committing crimes on behalf of the Fetullahist Terrorist Organisation (FETÖ),” as well as assisting attempts to “assassinate and physically attack the president and armed rebellion against the Government of the Republic of Turkey”.
The issued warrants include the newspaper’s owner Burak Akbay, manager of the newspaper’s website Mediha Olgun, Financial Affairs Manager Yonca Kaleli and the İzmir correspondent Gökmen Ulu. Kaleli was included in the investigation for “suspicious money transfers” for the secular opposition publication.
The charges against the four stemmed from their 15 July 2016, publication of the address and photos of a hotel where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was vacationing.
Yonca Kaleli, Gökmen Ulu and Mediha Olgun have since been detained. Akbay is currently abroad.
18 May, 2017 – Macron’s head of communication insulted journalist Yann Barthès of Quotidien on channel TMC during the presidential campaign and now at the Elysee by calling him a “dickhead” and a “mentally-retarded person”, according to Le Monde M magazine.
Macron’s Sylvain Fort commented in reaction to show host Barthè’s coverage of the first round of the presidential election. Fort denies he used the latter phrase.
Quotidien showed Macron celebrating his victory at La Rotonde. Quotidien journalist Paul Larouturou asked Macron whether this episode was the equivalent of Nicolas Sarkozy’s celebration of his presidential victory at Fouquet’s. Macron told the journalist “you don’t understand anything about life”, adding he had “no lesson to receive from a small Parisian milieu”.
The magazine reported that access was restricted to Quotidien team and that Fort contacted Barthès directly to insult him.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Mapping Media Freedom
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19 May 17 | Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, Mapping Media Freedom, News and features
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Each week, Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project verifies threats, violations and limitations faced by the media throughout the European Union and neighbouring countries. Here are five recent reports that give us cause for concern.
15 May 2017 – The editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet’s website, Oğuz Güven, was arrested on charges of spreading propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organisation.
The journalist was detained on 12 May when a headline used in the online version of the newspaper about a prosecutor who died in a car crash upset government supporters.
Cumhuriyet reported that Güven was taken to the İstanbul Police Department located on Vatan Street after his detention.
Also read: Turkey: International coalition slams Cumhuriyet arrests and media closures
15 May 2017 – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a National Security and Defence Council decree that bans a number of Russian media and social media sites, including VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, along with search engine Yandex and email service Mail.ru.
The sanctions also apply to antivirus providers Kaspersky Lab and DrWeb. Ukrainian internet service providers will be forced to block access to these sites for three years.
According to Radio Liberty, economic sanctions have also been imposed against major Russian television stations TV Center, RBC, RTR, NTV-Plus, Zvezda, TNT, REN and OTR.
Sanctions have also been imposed against 1,228 individuals how are both citizens of Ukraine, Russia and other countries. According to Detector media, the sanction list includes 13 foreign journalists who are now prohibited from entering the territory of Ukraine for one year.
The list includes five journalists who are citizens of European countries: Magdalena Tasheva (Bulgaria), Novorossia News, Agency blogger David Berezitskyy (Poland), NTV television reporter Maxim Byerozin (Germany), Novorossia News Agency journalist and blogger David Hudzhets (Poland), head of Unified Information and Analytical Center Eurasia inform Vladimir Bukarskyy (citizen of Moldova).
Also the sanction list includes seven: Russian citizens: news agency Ruptly journalist Daniel Anisimov, First Channel CEO of the international network Alexey Efimov, Red Star media holding president Alex Pimanov, Izvestia newspaper editor-in-chief Alexander Potapov, Expert magazine editor-in-chief Valery Fadeev, Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper editor-in-chief Vladislav Fronin, Vzhlyad.ru online news outlet editor-in-chief Alex Sharavskyy.
Ukrainian citizen Olena Berezovska, who lives in Moscow and manages the Internet news outlet Ukraina.ru created by RT, is also on the sanction list. The ban is a continuation of government policies to block the activities of Russian companies in Ukraine after the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s military support of separatist groups in the Donbass region.
15 May, 2017 – Investigative crime reporter Håkan Slagbrand was assaulted in his home by an unknown man in the early morning. The assailant, who wore overalls, claimed to be a painter and spoke in English.
“I think this could be connected to some of my work from a while back on financial crime,” Slagbrand said.
He sustained injuries to his face during the assault. By the time police arrived, the assailant had vanished. Slagbrand had previously had a firebomb thrown at his car.
13 May, 2017- Prominent journalist Arbana Xharra has been assaulted by unknown individuals in a parking lot close to her apartment in the capital Pristina.
Xharra was beaten severely and brought to the hospital where she’s in stable condition, according to the police.
A few days before the attack, Xharra had announced that she was resigning from her work in journalism and joining the largest political party in the country, the PDK. She was the editor-in-chief of Zeri, the biggest newspaper in Kosovo. She is well-known for her investigative reporting on corruption and religious extremism.
12 May, 2017 – Chechen interior minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Interfax that the ministry will sue Novaya Gazeta after police checks the newspaper’s allegations on the detainment of gay people in the republic.
Akhanov said the allegation by Novaya Gazeta that more than 160 men were detained, 50 of which were killed (Novaya Gazeta only reported on three killings), “does not have any grounds and is fictitious”. He said no complaints of harassment were submitted to the police and hotline.
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Mapping Media Freedom
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11 May 17 | Azerbaijan, Digital Freedom, Europe and Central Asia, France, Greece, Mapping Media Freedom, Netherlands, News and features, United Kingdom
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Each week, Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom project verifies threats, violations and limitations faced by the media throughout the European Union and neighbouring countries. Here are five recent reports that give us cause for concern.
2 May 2017 – Three journalists for Cornwall Live were shut in a room, prevented from filming and severely limited on what questions they could ask during British Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to a factory in Cornwall called AP Diving.
A reporter from Cornwell Live who was live blogging the event wrote: “We’ve been told by the PM’s press team that we were not allowed to stand outside to see Theresa May arrive.”
He later added: “PM is here – but we’ve been shown the door. The prime minister is behind this door – but we can’t show you. Her press team has said print journalists are not allowed to see her visiting the company.”
The journalist then described conditions surrounding the interview with May: “We’ve been allowed to ask our questions to the prime minister (although we are forbidden to film or photograph her answering them).”
7 May 2017 – Loes Reijmer, a journalist and columnist for De Volkskrant, has faced a storm of abuse after the popular right-wing blog Geenstijl published her photo with the text: “Would you do her?”
Thousands of readers responded in the comments section, many containing sexual comments and rape threats.
Reijmer had published several critical columns about the controversial weblog Geenstijl, a provocative online portal, owned by Telegraaf Media Group and is one of the most popular news sites in the Netherlands. Geenstijl has faced years of criticism for similar posts.
The attack on Reijmer led to a public call on advertisers to boycott Geenstijl and it’s affiliate video blog Dumpert. The dailies De Volkskrant and NRC published an open letter on 6 May 2017 signed by over a hundred women from media and entertainment calling big companies to pull out their advertisement because they “support humiliation of women”. Over the following days, many advertisers withdrew their adverts.
The Dutch Union for Journalists has condemned Geenstijl in a statement on their website: “The tarnish way in which journalists like Reijmer are being attacked by readers, this provocation by Geenstijl, is one of many cases of intimidation of journalists. In this case, it was sexual harassment, something that female journalists who have the guts to be critical are increasingly facing, which is unacceptable.”
2 May 2017 – Aziz Garashoglu, one of the managers of an online TV platform Kanal 13, was detained and then sentenced to 30 days in administrative detention.
Garashoglu was detained together with his wife Lamiya Charpanova who is an editor at the channel. Both were questioned for more than an hour.
Charpanova was released, while her husband was taken to Nasimi district court where he was sentenced to 30 days in administrative detention on charges of allegedly resisting the police.
Speaking to journalists after the hearing, lawyer Elchin Sadigov said Aziz was rounded up for his alleged resemblance to a man named Faig Cabbarov, who has been on the list of fugitives since 2015. But the lawyer also confirmed that after seeing the picture it was clear there was no resemblance.
Sadigov said he will be appealing the decision. Kanal 13 was founded in 2010 as an independent online television. One of the founders of the website lives in exile in Germany.
1 May 2017 – Videojournalist Henry Langston, who works for Vice UK, was hit by police officers and then injured by a piece of tear gas canister while reporting on a May Day march in Paris, Langston reported on Twitter and confirmed to Mapping Media Freedom.
The journalist said he was first hit across the knee with a baton by an officer.
Langston reported that the protest was “very violent on both sides” and that he and his crew were “following a group of anarchists” during the incident.
“Police officers were aiming flash-balls (a non-lethal hand-held weapon) at people’s heads, firing tear gas canisters directly at people. It seems to me they weren’t differentiating between protesters and journalists”.
“Later, the crowd was trapped against a wall. Police hit you [with batons] no matter who you were. Then they let people out and continued hitting them. I was wearing a helmet that said TV and they hit me anyway”, Langston continued.
An hour later Langston said he was hit in the leg by what he alleges “was a mechanism from a tear gas canister”. Langston was treated in hospital for injuries where he received stitches.
His cameraperson, freelancer Devin Yuceil, was also hit in the stomach with a piece of a flash grenade.
24 April 2017 – A group of about 10 masked individuals barged into the offices of Greek daily Kathimerini in Thessaloniki, throwing paint and flyers.
According to a report published on the news website protagon.gr, the flyers had threats written on them, including: “good news is a stone on a journalist’s head”.
The Athens Union of Journalists (ESIEA) published a press release on Monday, following the attack: “The board of ESIEA expresses its support to the colleagues and all the employees of the newspaper and notes that such actions, wherever they come from, will not weaken the morale of journalists for [providing] objective information but the state must do its duty.”
The press released emphasised that journalists and their unions do not give in to blackmails and intimidation attempts pursued by “dark circles”.
All the Greek political parties condemned the attack. The government-leading Syriza said in a statement that acts against the freedom of the press “have no place in the political confrontation,” while the main opposition party, New Democracy expressed its “unequivocal condemnation of the attack by anarchists”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Mapping Media Freedom
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