28 Nov 2019 | 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=”10 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Journalist Emre Orman detained over social media posts
24 October 2019 – Journalist Emre Orman, a reporter for Net news agency, was arrested in Istanbul and subsequently jailed pending trial on the charge of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” on account of his social media posts, Evrensel reported.
Orman was arrested on 23 October 2019 and sent to pre-trial detention after giving a statement to a prosecutor at Istanbul’s Anadolu Courthouse on 24 October.
Update:
1 November 2019 – According to Bianet, Orman was released from detention on 31 October.
Link(s):
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/389407/gozaltina-alinan-gazeteci-emre-orman-tutuklandi
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/10/gazeteci-emre-orman-gozaltina-alindi/
http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/214864-gazeteci-emre-orman-gozaltina-alindi
http://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/215217-journalist-emre-orman-released
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security
Human rights lawyer and former Özgür Gündem editor-in-chief Eren Keskin’s house raided by police
22 October 2019 – Police raided the house of Eren Keskin, a prominent human rights defender and co-chairperson of the Human Rights Association (İHD), Mezopotamya news agency reported. Keskin has been prosecuted more than a hundred times for her symbolic support for the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.
Keskin was not at home during the late-night raid. She testified to a prosecutor the following day, responding to accusations that she was “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” in her social media posts. Keskin was released without judicial control measures.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi23.com/search/content/view/74224?page=1&key=add81a9e773c7072a8320bb66c8f598e
http://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/214837-house-of-eren-keskin-raided-by-police
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/10/23/eren-keskinin-evine-polis-baskini/
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security
Journalist Özlem Oral briefly detained
On 10 October, President Erdoğan threatened that he would “open the gates” to the EU if they called his military operation an “invasion”.
20 October 2019 – Özlem Oral, a reporter for the left-wing Mücadele Birliği newspaper, was arrested during a police raid on her home on 19 October, Mezopotamya news agency reported. Oral was accused of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “inciting the public to hatred and animosity” for her social media posts about Turkey’s military operation in Syria. She was referred to the courthouse on 20 October and was subsequently released under a travel ban and has been ordered to report to the police station once a week.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi23.com/tum-haberler/content/view/73855
https://t24.com.tr/haber/mucadele-birligi-gazetesi-muhabiri-ozlem-oral-gozaltina-alindi,844469
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/10/gozaltina-alinan-gazeteci-ozlem-oral-serbest-birakildi/
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security
Nurcan Baysal’s house raided by police
19 October 2019 – Police carried out an early morning raid on columnist and T24 contributor Nurcan Baysal’s home in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır. Announcing the incident on Twitter, Baysal said that she was abroad when the raid took place, and therefore she was not arrested, but her two children were at home at the time of the raid. Baysal said that she believed the raid to have been in connection with her social media posts.
Link(s):
https://t24.com.tr/haber/nurcan-baysal-in-evine-polis-baskini,844441
http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/214700-yazar-nurcan-baysal-in-evine-polis-baskini
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/turkiye/2019/10/19/nurcan-baysalin-evine-polis-baskini/
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security
Journalist Tuğba Özer ordered to pay compensation over report
17 October 2019 – Tuğba Özer, an editor for Cumhuriyet daily, was ordered to pay 5,000 Turkish lira (around $875) in compensation over a news report, Bianet reported. The lawsuit was overseen by the 23rd Civil Court of First Instance of Istanbul.
The lawsuit was filed by the conservative and Islamist İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation over Özer’s report about an elementary school teacher volunteering for İHH. Özer reported that the teacher had made his students pose for a picture as they held pieces of rope symbolizing the executioner’s rope and shared these pictures on social media.
The picture was posted at a time when President Erdoğan was reigniting the debate on bringing back the death penalty. The report says that the teacher shared the picture in which he is seen showing the rope on his social media account, saying “Either the state should take the lead or the raven will hover over the dead. President! We want justice.” The message came after a terrorist attack near the Inönü stadium in Istanbul’s central neighborhood of Beşiktaş killed 48 people, mostly police officers. In another social media message the teacher is seen forcing his students to make a military salute in the classroom. The teacher was suspended after the report caused a wide outcry.
Link(s):
https://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/214586-cocuklara-idam-ipini-yazan-gazeteciye-tazminat-cezasi
https://ilerihaber.org/icerik/gazeteci-tugba-ozere-yaptigi-haberden-dolayi-5-bin-tl-para-cezasi-verildi-104990.html
https://tele1.com.tr/cocuklara-idam-ipi-veren-degil-haberi-yazan-gazeteci-ceza-aldi-92814/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial
BirGün editor Hakan Demir briefly detained over report on military operation
10 October 2019 – Hakan Demir, editor of the website of BirGün daily, was taken into custody during an early morning police raid on his Istanbul home, Bianet reported.
The grounds for Demir’s arrest was “the way in which a news item posted on the newspaper’s online edition was shared on Twitter.” The report referred to the military operation launched by the Turkish military in Syria on 9 October.
Demir was referred to the courthouse later in the day. The 13th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ruled to release the journalist under an international travel ban.
Link(s):
http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/214244-birgun-gazetesi-internet-sorumlusu-hakan-demir-e-gozalti
https://www.birgun.net/haber/gozaltina-alinan-gazetemizin-internet-sorumlusu-hakan-demir-serbest-birakildi-271945
https://t24.com.tr/haber/bir-gun-gazetesi-internet-sorumlusu-hakan-demir-gozaltina-alindi,843105
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Police / State security
Diken’s news editor Fatih Gökhan Diler detained for “inciting hatred”
10 October 2019 – The managing editor of the news portal Diken, Fatih Gökhan Diler, was arrested at Diken’s offices in Istanbul, the website reported. Diler was eventually released under a travel ban by the Criminal Judgeship of Peace.
Diler was reportedly detained as part of an investigation on the allegation of “incitement of hatred and animosity” in a news story published by Diken that featured a statement by the speaker of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Turkish military launched an operation in Syria on 9 October, mostly targeting Kurdish forces controlling the border.
Link(s):
http://www.diken.com.tr/dikenin-sorumlu-yaziisleri-muduru-fatih-gokhan-diler-gozaltina-alindi/
https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/125294/gozaltina-alinan-diken-editoru-fatih-gokhan-diler-serbest-birakildi
https://t24.com.tr/haber/diken-in-sorumlu-yaziisleri-muduru-fatih-gokhan-diler-gozaltina-alindi,843154
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Police / State security
JinNews reporter Beritan Canözer’s home raided by police over her social media posts
10 October 2019 – Reporter Beritan Canözer of the Diyarbakır-based pro-Kurdish and feminist news website JinNews had her home raided by police, Bianet reported. During the raid, police confiscated several magazines and newspapers they found in her apartment.
Police officers informed Canözer’s sibling, who was alone in the apartment when the police came, that the journalist was being summoned to the Diyarbakır Police Department to give her statement in connection with her social media posts.
Link(s):
https://www.yeniyasamgazetesi.com/gazeteci-beritan-canozerin-evi-basildi/
http://bianet.org/english/law/214312-journalist-beritan-canozer-s-house-raided-over-social-media-posts
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/388667/sosyal-medya-operasyonlari-gazeteci-beritan-canozerin-evine-baskin
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Police / State security
Broadcasts denigrating Syria operation to be ‘silenced’, TV watchdog said
10 October 2019 – Turkey’s TV watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), released a statement warning that any broadcast that endorsed terrorism and misled citizens with “false, incomplete or biased information” would be silenced, Andolu Agency reported. Turkey’s military launched an operation named Peace Spring on 9 October in northern Syria, targeting the Kurdish groups controlling the border.
While thanking broadcasters for “meeting society’s need of being informed with accurate information and contributing to national unity and togetherness,” RTÜK said it would not tolerate negative coverage of the operation. In the statement, RTÜK said that divisive and destructive broadcasts against Operation Peace Spring, published with the support of the [PKK] terrorist organization, are being swiftly identified and silenced with the support of other state institutions.
Link(s):
https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/baris-pinari-harekati/rtukten-baris-pinari-harekati-icin-hassasiyet-cagrisi/1609231
http://www.yeniyasamgazetesi1.com/rtukten-susturma-aciklamasi/
http://susma24.com/blog/2019/10/11/rtuk-harekat-aleyhindeki-yayinlar-hizlica-susturulmaktadir/
Categories: Censorship – Other Serious Issues
Source of violation: Government / State Agency / Public official(s) / Political party
Evrensel columnist faces investigation for column about First Lady
7 October 2019 – Evrensel writer Ender İmrek is facing an investigation over a column he wrote about First Lady Emine Erdoğan, the newspaper reported.
First Lady Emine Erdoğan
The column titled “The Hermes bag was shining brightly” criticized the First Lady’s ostentatious display of wealth.
In a Twitter post, Imrek said he was called to testify at the police station over his column.
Link(s):
http://susma24.com/blog/2019/10/08/gazeteci-ender-imreke-sorusturma/
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/388407/emine-erdoganin-hermes-cantasini-yazan-ender-imreke-sorusturma
https://www.dusun-think.net/haberler/gazeteci-ender-imreke-sorusturma/
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
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:1574865309697-99e30f8e-0394-5″ taxonomies=”35195″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
21 Oct 2019 | 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=”9 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Evrensel Daily faces a fine of 200,000 Turkish lira
Evrensel Daily is being sued for 200,000 Turkish lira worth of compensation
27 September 2019 – Evrensel Daily has been sued for compensation by Serhat Albayrak, the head of one of Turkey’s largest media groups and the brother of Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is also President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law.
Serhat Albayrak is seeking 200,000 Turkish lira (nearly £27,000) in non-pecuniary damages over an article published in the newspaper on 7 April 2019. The article, “AKP’ye kim oy kaybettirdi?” (“Who is responsible for the slide in AKP’s vote?”), is alleged to have been written by Ceren Sözeri, a respected academic and media ethics lecturer.
The trial is due to begin on 4 March 2020 at the Istanbul Commercial Court of First Instance.
Link(s):
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/387636/serhat-albayrak-evrensele-200-bin-tllik-tazminat-davasi-acti
http://bianet.org/english/media/213595-serhat-albayrak-sues-daily-evrensel-demands-200-thousand-liras-for-damages
https://t24.com.tr/haber/serhat-albayrak-tan-evrensel-gazetesine-200-bin-liralik-tazminat-davasi,841094
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial
Two former Samanyolu TV staff members arrested
17 September 2019 – Two former producers for the closed down TV station Samanyolu were arrested in Ankara, Anadolu Agency reported. An arrest warrant has been issued for a third former producer.
The warrants for their arrest were issued as part of an ongoing criminal investigation launched by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against former employees of Samanyolu TV’s Ankara bureau on alleged links to “FETÖ/PDY” (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure).
Link(s):
https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/samanyolu-tvnin-eski-calisanlarina-feto-operasyonu/1586937
https://www.cnnturk.com/turkiye/samanyolu-tvnin-eski-calisanlarina-feto-operasyonu
https://www.medyaradar.com/samanyolu-tvnin-eski-calisanlarina-operasyon-haberi-2014162
Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation
Source of violation: Police / State security
Local chair of Journalist Association in Rize attacked
17 September 2019 – Gençağa Karafazlı, the local chairperson of Turkey’s Contemporary Journalists Association’s (ÇGD) branch in the Black Sea city of Rize, Evrensel reported.
Karafazlı was in a café in Rize when he was shot in the leg. The assailant dropped his gun and fled the scene in a taxi. Karafazlı subsequently was hospitalized.
Link(s):
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/387044/gazeteci-gencaga-karafazli-silahli-saldiriya-ugradi
http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/09/rizede-gazeteci-gencaga-karafazliya-silahli-saldiri/
https://www.haberturk.com/rize-haberleri/71914813-rizede-gazeteciye-silahli-saldiri
Categories: Physical Assault / Injury
Source of violation: Unknown
Former Taraf reporter Hüseyin Özkaya sentenced to 7 years in prison
17 September 2019 – Hüseyin Özkaya, a former reporter for the closed-down newspaper Taraf, was convicted of “membership in a terrorist organization”, Anadolu Agency reported. Özkaya was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison by the 16th High Criminal Court of Ankara.
The indictment alleged that Özkaya used the encrypted messaging service ByLock, which Turkish authorities consider to be the primary communication tool between members of the Gülen movement. He was also accused of having deposited cash in Bank Asya, a bank considered to be run by the Gülen movement and where holding a deposit account has been widely used as evidence for the charge of membership in a terrorist organization.
Link(s):
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/387019/taraf-gazetesi-muhabiri-huseyin-ozkayaya-7-5-yil-hapis-cezasi
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial
Veteran journalist Uğur Dündar sentenced to “reading books”
12 September 2019 – Veteran journalist Uğur Dündar was convicted of “insulting a public official” by a court in Istanbul over an article he wrote in 2014, online news website Bianet reported.
Journalist Uğur Dündar sentenced to “reading books”
The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Küçükçekmece found Dündar guilty of “insulting” former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and handed down the journalist a prison sentence of 11 months and 20 days. The court did not defer the verdict. However, taking into account Dündar’s “age, personality, his social and financial status,” the court ruled to give an alternative sentence in the form of reading books and/or scholarly articles about “crimes against honor” at least two hours every week at university libraries for a period of five months and 25 days.
This was the retrial of a 2015 case, where the same court had sentenced Dündar to 11 months and 20 days on the “insult” charge. That ruling was later overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which ordered a retrial.
Link(s):
http://m.bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/212926-mahkemeden-hakaret-karari-ugur-dundar-haftada-2-saat-kitap-okuyacak
https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2019/yazarlar/ugur-dundar/kitap-okuma-cezasi-5331190/
http://www.diken.com.tr/ugur-dundara-kitap-okuma-cezasi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial
Journalist Oktay Candemir faces investigation over social media post
12 September 2019 – The Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of Van has launched a criminal investigation against journalist Oktay Candemir on the allegation of “insulting the president,” Mezopotamya news agency reported. The accusations against Candemir are based on a social media post in which he shared photos of President Erdoğan and a comment.
Candemir recently gave his statement to a prosecutor in Van as part of the investigation.
Link(s):
http://mezopotamyaajansi20.com/tum-haberler/content/view/68974
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/09/13/gazeteci-candemire-cumhurbaskanina-hakaret-davasi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial
Evrensel’s former managing editor fined
12 September 2019 – Cem Şimşek, the former responsible managing editor of Evrensel daily, was sentenced to 41,666 Turkish Lira (around $ 7,300) for “failure to properly publish a retraction” on an article about the Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Evrensel reported.
The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Bakırköy in Istanbul acquitted Şimşek of the charge of “insulting a public official” stemming from the article published in the newspaper in July 2018. However, the court fined both Şimşek and the newspaper’s owner, Cemal Dursun, for using “retraction” as title instead of title of the retraction itself, which said “Our response to daily Evrensel’s unsubstantial article on Berat Albayrak.” Berat Albayrak is also the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Link(s):
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/386645/evrensele-yayinladigi-tekzipten-41-bin-lira-para-cezasi
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/09/gazeteci-cem-simseke-hem-para-cezasi-hem-de-beraat/
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/09/12/albayrak-tekzibinin-tekziptir-basligiyla-yayinlanmasina-ceza-verildi/
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial
Jin News reporter Melike Aydın given 15-month jail sentence
9 September 2019 – Jin News reporter Melike Aydın was sentenced to 15 months in prison on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization,” online news website Gazete Karınca reported.
Aydın was facing a trial over a social media post from 2006. The Bayraklı 20th High Criminal Court in Izmir, which oversaw the trial, deferred Aydın’s sentence.
Link(s):
https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/09/gazeteci-melike-aydina-1-yil-3-ay-hapis-cezasi149717/
https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazeteci-melike-aydin-a-1-yil-3-ay-hapis-cezasi-verildi,838765
https://www.evrensel.net/haber/386415/jinnews-muhabiri-melike-aydina-1-yil-3-ay-hapis-cezasi
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Court / Judicial
Turkey’s media watchdog fines broadcaster
5 September 2019 – The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has fined private broadcaster TV5 over an interview with Etyen Mahçupyan, a journalist and ex-advisor of former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Susma platform reported. During the broadcast, Mahçupyan said an operation was carried out against Davutoğlu supporters within media through Serhat Albayrak, the owner of the biggest pro-government media group Turkuaz and brother of Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak. The latter is also the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The operation had resulted in Serhat Albayrak becoming the most influential media tycoon of the country, Mahçupyan had added.
The media watchdog argued that Mahçupyan’s claims constituted a “defamation, blacklisting and breach of privacy.” “RTÜK concluded that [Mahçupyan’s statements] went beyond the boundaries of criticism and contained words that are degrading, defamatory and accusatory,” RTÜK said.
TV5, which only broadcasts on the Internet and private digital platforms, said it would appeal the decision. After serving as a prime minister for more than a year between 2015 and 2016, Davutoğlu fell off with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was eventually expelled from the party on September 2019.
Link(s):
http://susma24.com/rtukten-tv5e-ceza/
https://t24.com.tr/haber/tv-5-e-pelikan-cezasi-2-defa-daha-pelikan-derse-yayin-lisansi-iptal-edilecek,838201
http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/siyaset/1566615/TV5_te_Etyen_Mahcupyan_in__Pelikan__cikisina_RTUK_cezasi.html
Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences
Source of violation: Government / State Agency / Public official(s) / Political party[/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:1571649978179-76d82e2e-9a49-3″ taxonomies=”35195″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
21 Oct 2019 | Belarus, Belarus 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_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”5 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Public official sues Telegram blogger
26 September 2019 – The head of the Slonim district government Henadz Khomich sued Stiapan Putsila (better known by his pseudonym Stsiapan Sviatlou), the blogger behind NEXTA, one
Blogger Stsiapan Sviatlou is being sued by the head of Slonim district government
of Belarus’ most popular Telegram channels.
Khomich’s is suing Putsila for 50,000 roubles (nearly £20,000) worth of compensation for what he says is “moral damage” for a post that Putsila published in August 2019. In the post, Putsila said that Khomich had been detained for drunk driving and suggested that corruption was involved. Similar lawsuits have been filed against news websites belaruspartisan.by, 21.by, and bobruisk.ru, which republished the message.
Link(s): https://nn.by/?c=ar&i=238079&lang=ru
https://nn.by/?c=ar&i=238083
Category: Subpoena/Court Order/Lawsuits
Source(s) of violation: Known private individual(s)
Blogger receives threats
24 September 2019 – Blogger Andrei Pavuk from the town of Aktsiabrski in the Homel region received threats from an unknown person via Viber.
The messages were received on the eve of the court hearing of his lawsuit against the police aimed at receiving compensation for an unlawful search and detention, which Pavuk believes was done to intimidate him and to exert psychological pressure on him.
In March 2019, police raided Pavuk’s apartment, seized his professional equipment, handcuffed him and brought to the local department of the Investigative Committee for interrogation. The blogger was told he was held on suspicion of knowingly submitting a false danger warning to the authorities under under Art. 340 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus. Investigators alleged that the Ministry of Emergency Situations received a warning message from his email.
Link(s):https://euroradio.fm/ru/blogeru-andreyu-pauku-ugrozhayut-s-filippin-podumay-padla
https://baj.by/be/content/skazhy-dzyakuy-shto-nichoga-tabe-ne-padkinuli-blogeru-andreyu-pavuku-daslali-pagrozy-i
Category: Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source(s) of violation: Unknown
Police filed report against Belsat TV journalists
19 September 2019 – Darya Chultsova, a Mahiliou-based freelance journalist, was summoned to Bialynichy District Police Department for questioning. Because she is not associated with an accredited news outlet, a police report was filed against her for illegally producing and distributing media content under Article 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Offences.
The police report stated that on 21 August 2019, Chultsova interviewed students’ parents at a high school. The next day, the interviews were allegedly shown on Belsat TV.
Link(s): https://baj.by/ru/content/posle-zatishya-vozobnovilos-presledovanie-zhurnalistov-za-sotrudnichestvo-s-belsatom
https://baj.by/be/content/sud-adpraviu-spravu-zhurnalistki-dari-chulcovay-na-dapracouku
Category: Arrest/Detention/Interrogation, Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences, Subpoena/Court Order/Lawsuits
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security
Freelance journalist fined for working without accreditation
18 September 2019 – Freelance journalist Zmitser Mitskevich was fined by Pastavy District Court (Vitsebsk region) for contributing to Belsat TV. Because he is not associated with an accredited news outlet, he was charged with illegally producing and distributing media content under Art. 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Offences.
Link: https://baj.by/en/analytics/fines-journalists-violating-article-229-administrative-code-chart-updated
Category: Criminal Charge/Fines/Sentences
Source(s) of violation: Police/State security
Bloggers sued for covering environmental protests
17 September 2019 – Brest-based bloggers Siarhei Piatrukhin and Aliaksandr Kabanau learned that they are being sued for defamation by the lead-acid battery plant, I-Power, at the Brest Region Economic Court.
The lawsuit stems from the journalists’ interview with two environmental activists who claimed that contamination resulted from environmental violations committed by I-Power. The interview appeared on the YouTube channel Narodnyj Reportior.
It is not the first time that Kabanau and Piatrukhin have been sued by I-Power: in 2018, a judge ordered the bloggers to remove their YouTube video about the construction of I-Power’s battery plant and to publish an apology.
Link: https://baj.by/be/content/blogery-syargey-pyatruhin-i-alyaksandr-kabanau-raptouna-apynulisya-adkazchykami-u-sprave-ab
Category: Subpoena/Court Order/Lawsuits
Source(s) of violation: Known private individual(s)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1571647405268-b77e79c5-1924-10″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
17 Oct 2019 | News, Student Reading Lists
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship was established in 1972 in a febrile period: Idi Amin had taken power in Uganda, the Vietnam war continued, direct rule was imposed in Northern Ireland, there was a coup in Bolivia and Congo was renamed Zaire by its dictator president. As writer Robert McCrum said in our 40th anniversary issue: “The abuses of freedom worldwide in the 1970s were so appalling and so widespread that the magazine rapidly found itself in the frontline of campaigns. Index became a clarion voice in the cause of free expression.” The right to protest and freedom of expression are now being sought in Hong Kong and elsewhere, and Index is still to the forefront in reporting abuses. Here are just some of the conflicts between freedom and dictatorship we have reported on in the past 47 years.
The first issue of Index on Censorship magazine, in March 1972
The Clockwork Show vol 1, issue 1, March 1972
In an anonymous article about life in Greece under the regime of the Colonels’ junta, the writer considered the psychology of the situation; the feelings and attitudes, the long-ranging impact of this harrowing experience. “There is nothing more demoralizing than to be bound to a public body, an administration, a government with which one can never for a moment identify, which is the exact opposite of everything one believes in. One cannot live side by side with Philistinism, chauvinism, bigotry, blatant hypocrisy, crass ignorance, injustice, violence and brutality and not be affected by them, even if one manages—only just—to keep them out of one’s own life. Under this regime there is no relief; no exception: the regime has penetrated every single aspect of public life.”
Read the full article
March 1974: TV, politics and Chile Index on Censorship magazine
Book burning and brutality vol 3, issue 1, March 1974
A fascinating insight into life in Chile six months after a coup ended the tyranny of President Salvador Allende: worse was to come under a military dictatorship, reported Michael Sanders, an Englishman in Santiago. “When Allende left Chile to address the UN in December 1972, a leading opposition newspaper had as its front-page a photo depicting the president flushing himself down a lavatory, with the caption ‘ good riddance’. The contrast in December 1973 is gloomy indeed. Not so much, or not only because of the drab uniformity of censored newspapers that, for all they may be censored, willingly reflect the views of the Military Junta. But for the fact that 43.6% of the population have been deprived of all means of expression, of all normal communication, and live in daily fear of their lives and jobs.”
Read the full article
Russia, East Germany, South Africa: May 1979 Index on Censorship magazine
Black journalists under apartheid volume 8, issue 3, May 1979
William A Hachten reports: Black journalists came to the fore in the Soweto riots of 1976 when they reported from the ghetto for a white press without access. Yet black journalists still faced daily harassment under apartheid, which worsened with the death of Steve Biko in 1977. Vusi Radebe, a black stringer for the Rand Daily Mail, said: “The situation is worse since the 1976 riots. Police will beat up reporters on the slightest provocation for what they consider obstruction of justice.” While whites had 23 newspapers, there were none for non-whites to express their political frustration. Black journalist Pearl Luthuli said: “The black journalist can’t be objective. We try to tell it like it is but the white editors won’t print it.” Another said: “We are black people first, journalists second. If it comes to a conflict between the struggle and the job, the struggle comes first.”
Read the full article
Beckett and Havel: Index on Censorship magazine, February 1984
Iran under the party of God, volume 13, issue 1, February 1984
“Censorship was planned by the regime of the Islamic Republic even before the February 1979 revolution brought Ayatollah Khomeini’s theocratic oligarchy to power. This particular kind of censorship may not be without precedent in history, but it must certainly be rare. There were attacks on coffee-houses, restaurants and other public places by men armed with clubs and stones; unveiled women were harassed; slogans of the opposition were cleaned from the walls; banks, cinemas and theatres were burned” – a personal account of the first years of the revolution and its attack on culture, by one of Iran’s leading writers Gholam Hoseyn Sa’edi. “And it keeps on happening. The Islamic regime of today has gone a step beyond censoring the creations of science, culture and art, beyond censoring life itself: it has rendered life vain and all but unliveable.”
Read the full article
Romania, Albania, USSR: Index on Censorship magazine January 1991
A sense of solidarity, volume 20, issue 1, January 1991
Romania’s celebrated poet, Ana Blandiana, on censorship under Ceausescu and how she fought back. Her work was completely banned three times. “In my case, the form of censorship progressed from the banning of a word to that of a line, then of a poem, then of a book, to the total erasure of my signature as author: an eradication of identity. My inner freedom was assured by a decision I took in 1980, a personal one rather than as a writer. I decided to be outspoken and say what I thought at the risk of becoming a victim myself, rather than suspect a possibly honest person. At first it kept me sane, and then it helped me to be a normal writer, relatively free of self-censorship. This was the strongest form of censorship under Communism in the last 10 or 15 years, and was much more refined and subtle than the official censorship.”
Read the full article
How free is the Russian media? Index on Censorship, Spring 2007
The Big Squeeze, volume 37, issue 1, Spring 2008
“The fact remains that since the departure of the oligarchs, Russian media freedom has gone from the imperfect and beleaguered to the moribund. At national television, which 90 per cent of Russians say is their main source of news, editors receive weekly or even daily instructions from the Kremlin on the ‘line to take’ on important stories; around half of Russian viewers think that what they watch is objective, a 2007 poll said. Foreign coverage is polemical and outrageously politicised. The message of all this is ‘be quiet’. If you annoy the rich and powerful you face threats, beatings or death. Even when the Kremlin is not directly involved, its reaction to the persecution of journalists sends a clear message: if you offend the powerful, don’t expect the law to protect you.” Edward Lucas gave an early taste of what freedom of expression meant under Putin.
Read the full article
40 years of Index on Censorship March 2012
Grit in the engine, volume 41, issue 1, Spring 2012
Robert McCrum on the 40th anniversary of Index on Censorship. “The success of Index was not a foregone conclusion. Stephen Spender, its founder, was fully alert to the potential for windbaggery and failure. There was, he wrote, ‘the risk that the magazine will become simply a bulletin of frustration’. Actually, the opposite came to pass. Index became a clarion voice in the cause of free expression. The abuses of freedom worldwide in the 1970s were so appalling and so widespread that the magazine rapidly found itself in the frontline of campaigns. Perhaps the most important thing Index did, from the beginning, was to universalise an issue in peril of becoming a special interest: freedom was not ‘a luxury enjoyed by bourgeois individualists’. Along with self-expression, it was a human right, and an instrument of human consciousness.
Read the full article
The big squeeze: Index on Censorship magazine Spring 2017
Freedom of expression under pressure, volume 46, issue 1, Spring 2017
The spring 2017 issue of Index on Censorship magazine looks at how pressures on free speech are currently coming from many different angles, not just one. Special features on how to spot fake news, articles from former BBC World Service director Richard Sambrook and former UK attorney general Dominic Grieve, an exclusive interview with the Spanish puppeteer arrested last year, and fiction from award-winning writer Karim Miské.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
