15 Oct 2019 | Ukraine, Ukraine Incident Reports
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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=”10 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
Cameraman assaulted with pepper spray
Channel 7 cameraman was pepper sprayed while reporting
30 September 2019 – Andriy Kulba, a cameraman for Channel 7, was reporting on a domestic incident, involving a young child, in Odessa when he was assaulted with pepper spray. Paramedics who were called provided Kulba with first aid and he was taken to the burn department of a local hospital. Both of his forearms, as well as his neck, face and eyes were injured in the assault.
Link(s): http://nsju.org/index.php/article/view/8237
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Known private individual(s)
Journalist threatened with a gun
26 September 2019 – Video blogger Andriy Pylypovych was shooting a story on illegal construction in the city of New Kakhovka (Kherson region), when he was threatened with a pistol by a builder on the site.
“I was shooting a story for my video blog [on YouTube], and as a freelance correspondent for the newspapers Dniprovsky Prospect and Chas. We perceived the threat of “firing” at us as a joke until the builder pulled a gun out of the car,” Pylypovych told the Institute for Mass Information representative.
No one was injured and the police have opened a criminal investigation.
Link(s): https://imi.org.ua/news/u-novij-kahovtsi-budivelnyk-pogrozhuvav-zhurnalistu-pistoletom-i29813
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArqrcoibdJQ
https://hr.npu.gov.ua/news/virok-sudu/zhitel-novoji-kaxovki-pidozryujetsya-v-pogrozhuvanni-misczevomu-zhurnalistu/?fbclid=IwAR2lq2XpANB1rGJDjkpAEZb4fVtPr0m-fnQHFvAyWErtL5G_5GPonb-60Qw
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury
Source of violation: Unknown
National Council on television to revoke licenses for TV channel
26 September 2019 – The Ukrainian National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting made a decision not to extend broadcasting licence of 112 Ukraine TV channel, which is available in five Ukrainian regions, including Donbass, TASS reported.
A spokesman for the regulator, Serhiy Kostinsky, said that 112 Ukraine TV channel’s request to extend their licence would be denied. All members of the committee have backed this decision.
On 30 September, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his concern today over the decision taken by the media regulator, the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine, not to renew the digital terrestrial broadcasting licenses of five regional television companies.
“I hope that the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine will find a solution to preserve pluralism in the media environment,” said Désir. “It is important to ensure diversity in the broadcasting, while fully respecting the legal requirements, and balancing any regulatory decisions with access to pluralistic media.”
Link(s):
https://tass.com/society/1080001
https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/national-council-ruling-on-112-ukraines-ending-license-for-appealed-by-5-tv-companies-with-its-logo.html
https://112.international/society/revoking-digital-broadcasting-license-from-the-112-ukraine-tv-channel-is-political-lynching-opposition-platform-for-life-party-43954.html
https://www.osce.org/representative-on-freedom-of-media/434201
https://imi.org.ua/en/news/five-companies-broadcasting-under-logo-112-ukraina-appealed-against-national-council-s-decision-i29836
Categories: Legal Measures
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Journalists pushed and shoved by president’s press secretary
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s spokesperson, Yulia Mendel, shoves reporter Serhiy Andrushko to prevent him from asking questions
26 September 2019 – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and UA:Pershyi correspondent, Serhiy Andrushko, was repeatedly pushed back by presidential press secretary Yulia Mendel, as he tried to approach the Head of the President’s Office and President Zelenskiy to ask them questions.
A video of the incident shows Mendel repeatedly shoving Serhiy Andrushko as he tries to approach the two men. The Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Bohdan, approaching the journalist and told him: “I do not communicate with representatives of the media, which deceive society and don’t adhere to journalistic standards. This is my final point.”
RFE/RL’s Kyiv correspondent Christopher Miller said he had encountered Mendel’s confrontational approach at a conference in Kyiv on 13 September. According to Miller, Mendel shoved him aside while he was talking to Zelenskiy at the conference.
On September 28 the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine demanded apology from Presidential Office for Mendel’s behaviour. “The press secretary of the president has no right to physically interfere in the work of journalists,” the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine head Serhiy Tomilenko said on Facebook.
Link(s): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=external&v=389325218429171
https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/09/27/7227517/
https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/09/27/7227495/
https://www.facebook.com/mixailotkach/posts/2426832120719629
https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/schemes/30184985.html
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-journalist-union-demands-apology-from-presidential-office/30189675.html
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Blocked Access
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Journalist received threats in SMS messages
23 September 2019 – KyivPost journalist, Anna Myronyuk, received a text message from pro-Russian fighters from the occupied areas of the Luhansk region saying that she could be be given up to 10 years to life imprisonment for alleged “genocide and prohibited means / methods of war”.
She was the third KyivPost journalist to have received such messages after sending their documents to the Joint Forces Operations press centre about three weeks ago. She wrote on Facebook: “I have reason to believe that there was another leak of the data of journalists who have applied for accreditation to work in the combat zone or the Joint Forces Operations zone. Colleagues from other media who did not apply for accreditation during this period did not receive such threats. I will be happy to be incorrect, but so far everything looks different – that it is not becoming safer to work as a journalist in Ukraine”.
Olga Rudenko, KyivPost deputy editor-in-chief, said that SMS messages were received by journalists who had not yet travelled to the Joint Forces Operation zone. British journalist Reece Lynch is also reported to have been threatened.
Link(s):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2514082801990506&set=a.794967737235363&type=3&theater
https://detector.media/community/article/170996/2019-09-24-zhurnalisti-kyiv-post-poskarzhilisya-na-pogrozi-z-boku-boiovikiv-orlo-pripustivshi-vitik-danikh/
Categories: Intimidation, Offline Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source of violation: Unknown
Online news outlet journalist assaulted by local deputy
23 September 2019 – KNK-media journalist Alexander Vlasov was assaulted by Kherson region council deputy, Yevhen Ryshchuk, in the village of Pravi Sahy village.
The assault on the journalist occurred at night, during the village celebrations in the local House of Culture. According to Institute for Mass Information, Ryshchuk hit the journalist on the head and in the shoulder and then took his phone, breaking it.
The police opened a criminal investigation under the article “intentional slight bodily injury.”
Link(s): https://hr.npu.gov.ua/news/novini/policziya-z-yasovuje-obstavini-konfliktu-v-oleshkivskomu-rajoni/
https://knk.media/zhurnalisty/25-aleksandr-vlasov.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tz9LlmoNIM
https://imi.org.ua/news/politsiya-vidkryla-spravu-za-171-statteyu-cherez-pereshkodzhannya-zhurnalistu-i29717
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
TV journalist assaulted by car driver
6 September 2019 – Journalist Kateryna Kolgan of 2+2 TV’s DjeDAI (ДжеДАІ) program was assaulted by a motorist in Kyiv, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine reported.
Kolgan posted on Facebook that the program crew was filming a story about violators of traffic rules in the urban district of Borshchagovka. According to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, one of the drivers who Kolgan approached for interview, punched her from his car. In doing so, he knocked her mobile phone from her hand and drove over it.
The journalist was not injured but the phone was damaged as a result of the incident. “I’m glad that only the mobile phone was broken – and not my leg. The car came very close to my foot,” Kolgan wrote.
The journalist contacted the police, saying that she has a video, which shows both the driver and the car number.
Link(s): https://www.facebook.com/katyha.kolgan/posts/1961707133931875
https://imi.org.ua/news/u-kyyevi-pid-chas-zjomok-vodij-napav-na-zhurnalistku-2-2-i29449
http://nsju.org/index.php/article/view/8198
https://detector.media/community/article/170537/2019-09-06-u-kievi-na-zhurnalistku-22-napali-pid-chas-ziomok-syuzhetu-politsiya-vidkrila-provadzhennya/
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
Source of violation: Unknown
National TV Council to file lawsuit to revoke NewsOne television’s license
5 September 2019 – The Ukrainian National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council has accused the News 24 Hours TV channel of inciting ethical, racial, and religious strife, noting that it is going to file a lawsuit to deprive the TV channel of its license, the KyivPost reported.
The council said that it recorded violations during News 24 Hours’ unscheduled inspection of the TV station in July, which came about as a result of NewsOne TV’s (which is owned by News 24 Hours) intentions to hold a TV link-up with the Russia-1 TV channel on 8 July.
Reading out the council’s decision, Herasymiuk accused the TV channel of “inciting ethnic, racial, or religious animosity or hostility in statements that were made live on the News 24 Hours TV channel between June 6, 2019, and July 8, 2019”.
In a statement on its website, NewsOne said that the National Council’s decision is based on multiple violations of the law that have taken place before and during the inspection of the TV channel. “The National Council blatantly and cynically displayed the negligence of legal procedures and put a rude pressure on its employees in order to ruin the independent TV channel,” NewsOne said in the statement.
Link(s): https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ukrainian-national-tv-council-to-file-lawsuit-to-revoke-newsone-televisions-license.html
https://newsone.ua/news/society/newsone-obratilsja-k-mezhdunarodnomu-soobshchestvu-v-svjazi-s-resheniem-natssoveta.html
https://interfax.com.ua/news/telecom/611492.html
Categories: Subpoena / Court Order/ Lawsuits
Source of violation: Government/State Agency/Public official(s)/Political party
Reporters received death threats
5 September 2019 – Bellingcat journalist Oleksiy Kuzmenko received an anonymous e-mail containing a link to the video and death threats after he tweeted about a far-right festival held in Kyiv by the Azov movement. He received other insults and threats by various far-right groups.
Since Bellingcat published an article on the translation of the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto in mid-August 2019, Michael Colborne and Oleksiy Kuzmenko have been consistently harassed and threatened online.
In August, a threatening video appeared on a far-right Telegram channel that promotes the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto. The video featured the photographs of Michael Colborne, Oleksiy Kuzmenko and fellow journalists Dmitry Gordon and Valerie Kipnis, being shot one by one with a firearm. It was posted with the following message: “This video is kind of an instruction manual on how to deal with our enemies.” Michael Colborne’s photograph showed him as he was beaten up while covering an anti-LGBT rally in Kyiv last November.
Link(s):
https://go.coe.int/SRWnu
https://twitter.com/bellingcat/status/1169306250087161858
https://tsn.ua/ukrayina/rozsliduvachi-bellingcat-zayavili-pro-pogrozi-vbivstvom-z-boku-ukrayinskih-pravoradikaliv-1405953.html
Categories: Intimidation, Online Defamation/Discredit/Harassment/Verbal Abuse
Source of violation: Unknown
City council deputy grabs audio recorder from journalist
3 September 2019 — Halyna Nazarova, journalist for Energetik newspaper, was assaulted by city council deputy, Anatoliy Tolkach, during a city council meeting in the Mykolaiv region.
Nazarova told the Institute for Mass Information that she was sitting near Tolkach at a meeting and placed the audio recorder on the table. Tolkach grabbed the recorder and put it in his pocket, saying that she was not allowed to record him. He ignored her requests to give her back the recorder.
The journalist then began using her phone to record, but the deputy grabbed her phone and threw it. Describing the incident, she said, “He took the recorder, so I turned on the recorder on my mobile phone. I put it on the table. He picked up the phone and tossed it on the floor. He shouted to us that ‘your place is in the corner, get in the corner and write from there’.”
As a result, the meeting was suspended and the journalist called the police. The police launched an investigation under the article “Obstruction of the legal professional activity of journalists.”
Link(s): https://imi.org.ua/news/na-mykolayivshhyni-deputat-vidibrav-u-zhurnalistky-dyktofon-na-zasidanni-komisiyi-i29705
Categories: Physical Assault/Injury, Attack to Property
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:1571144646302-3b13becb-cfa4-6″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
14 Oct 2019 | Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Incident Reports
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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=”3 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
Journalist beaten and then detained while reporting
Journalist Nurlan Gahramanli was attacked by police and private security staff in September
30 September 2019 – Freelance journalist Nurlan Gahramanli was filming a group of Karabakh war veterans being beaten by the State Oil Company security staff when he was attacked by the police and SOCAR security staff. He was beaten and sustained an injury on his face, before being taken to the police station where he was questioned. He was released later the same day.
In interviews with Meydan TV, the war veterans said that they were attacked by the SOCAR staff over a property which they say they acquired legally. SOCAR, in a statement, said that the building was acquired illegally and requested that the veterans pay a bribe to keep the property.
They say that their staff engaged in no physical violence and that the police were called. Police and the relevant government institutions are investigating.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/MeydanTelevision/videos/2457266644371148/
https://www.facebook.com/HamamTimes/videos/953324968350052/
Categories: arrest/detention/interrogation; attack to property;
Source of violation: public/state security;
Journalist detained outside court room
23 September 2019 – Voice of America’s Azerbaijan correspondent Tapdig Farhadoglu was detained outside the Grave Crimes Investigation Unit building, according to the independent outlet Contact.az.
Farhadolgu was filming protesters outside the building when police abruptly stopped him, confiscated his camera and microphone, and took him to the police station where his phone was also confiscated. He was prevented from contacting his family or his lawyer.
He was released half an hour later, after receiving a warning not to engage in such activities again.
Links: http://www.contact.az/ext/news/2019/9/free/Social/ru/83950.htm
https://criminal.az/jurnalist-tapdiq-ferhadolunu-polisler-saxlayib/
https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/amerikan%c4%b1n-s%c9%99sinin-jurnalisti-tapd%c4%b1q-f%c9%99rhado%c4%9flu-aksiya-zaman%c4%b1-polis-t%c9%99zyiqi-il%c9%99-%c3%bczl%c9%99%c5%9fib/5094592.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dlvr.it
Categories: arrest/detention/interrogation; attack to property;
Source of violation: public/state security;
Journalist subject to physical violence
11 September 2019 – Tezehan Miralamli, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Azadliq, was covering a court case against opposition activist and member of Popular Front, Ruslan Amirli, when he was attacked by police officers who tried to push a group of journalists away from the courthouse.
Miralamli fell to the ground and received minor injuries. Azadliq condemned the forceful removal of journalists from the scene, and called for a fair investigation into the actions of the police.
Links: https://www.facebook.com/Gozetciportali/videos/361360401484419/
https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/s%C9%99rh%C9%99dsiz-reportyorlar-jurnalistin-fiziki-t%C9%99qibi-informasiya-azadl%C4%B1%C4%9F%C4%B1n%C4%B1n-pozulmas%C4%B1d%C4%B1r/5080562.html
http://toplum.tv/az/jurnalist-mehkemeye-muraciet-edeceyini-deyir/
https://gozetci.az/azadliq-q%c9%99zeti-%c9%99m%c9%99kdasina-zor-t%c9%99tbiq-olundugunu-b%c9%99yan-edib/
Categories: 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:1571227966662-718da11a-d7c2-3″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
18 Sep 2019 | Campaigns -- Featured, Media Freedom, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]To: Marija Pejčinović Burić
Secretary-General
Council of Europe
Dear Secretary-General,
On behalf of the undersigned organisations, we warmly congratulate you on your appointment as the new Secretary-General of the Council of Europe. We are motivated by our experience and understanding of the worsening of the environment for journalists and free expression across Europe to ask you to make sure that your commitment to democracy, the rule of law and human rights will be reflected in enhanced efforts for the effective protection of freedom of expression, press freedom and the safety of journalists, backed up by robust measures and strong and consistent statements and actions by yourself as Secretary-General.
Media freedom and media pluralism must be given a clear and consistent priority across the Council of Europe area, as they enable the public to make informed choices about their government and society, and are thus prerequisites for the full enjoyment of all other rights.
Renewed and determined efforts to achieve Member States’ compliance with the Council of Europe’s conventions, recommendations and other texts, as well as the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) are vital in these times of rising threats against journalists and press freedom throughout Europe. The environment for media freedom has worsened significantly, as was documented in the Annual Report published by the partner organisations of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists. We see extremely worrying developments in Azerbaijan, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Russia and elsewhere.
Regarding the Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, we urge you to provide all necessary means and support available to ensure that Member States respond concretely to alerts, intensify the dialogue and follow-up moves to provide redress, and to do everything possible to gain the active cooperation of those Member States which have failed to reply to alerts that highlight shortcomings or abuses on the part of state authorities. We ask you to establish a monthly exchange at the level of the Committee of Ministers to allow for a meaningful discussion on the progress of Member States in dealing with the alerts and persistent and serious threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists and other media actors.
In view of the well-documented increase in attacks on the media and backsliding in some states’ fulfilment of their commitments, we request you to prioritise actions and policies to implement Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 of the Committee of Ministers on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors – including specific measures to comply with Council of Europe standards on Protection; Prevention of attacks; and Prosecution of crimes against journalists.
We hope that the concerns and recommendations outlined in the Platform partners’ latest report will be given priority by the Secretariat under your leadership, and through the projects and activities foreseen in the bi-annual Council of Europe programme and budget. To address these concerns, we request you to make available the resources and support needed to give it greater visibility, recognition and impact – both internally and externally to the Council of Europe.
We are convinced that strong and concerted political action from Member States and the Council of Europe is now essential. We request your energetic support against the ongoing impunity for attacks including murders of journalists within Europe, and against widespread attempts to adopt severely restrictive legislation on media regulation, defamation, anti-terrorism that are increasingly used to criminalise journalists.
Anti-media rhetoric is creating a toxic atmosphere for journalists amongst the general public and must be countered. The spread of online disinformation intensifies this effect. We welcome the recent PACE resolution on the rule of law in Malta, which points to the urgent need for effective actions against the politicisation of state institutions, media capture by political forces, and a climate of impunity related to attacks against members of the media.
We call on you to provide your full political support, and necessary resources, to ensure the successful implementation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4, as is specified in the 2018 Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) strategy 2018. It is especially important to us that robust and frank debate on the subject of implementation (including securing firm commitments to national action plans) takes place at the Conference of Ministers responsible for media and information society in Cyprus in May 2020, with the full participation of civil society to pave the way for meaningful actions to reverse the recent negative trends.
We call on you to use your influence on Member States to reform their domestic laws and practices so that they comply with their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and CM Recommendation (2016)4, and do everything in your power to improve the safety of journalists through the establishment of effective safeguards.
We thank Thorbjørn Jagland for his efforts in the past years and we are happy to continue to support the Council of Europe with our research and our international networks.
We request a meeting with you soon to discuss these matters in person and to share our knowledge and experience with you as you begin your term of office.
We look forward to your positive response.
Yours sincerely,
Lutz Kinkel, Managing Director, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Sarah Clarke, Head of Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE 19
William Horsley, Special Representative for Media Freedom, Association of European Journalists (AEJ)
Gulnoza Said, Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Daniel Gorman, Director, English PEN
Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Leon Willems, Director of Policy and Programmes, Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
Ralf Nestmeyer, Vice-President, German PEN
Bertrand Pecquerie, CEO, Global Editors Network (GEN)
Annie Game, Executive Director, IFEX
Joy Hyvarinen, Head of Advocacy, Index on Censorship
Anthony Bellanger, General Secretary, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
Ravi R. Prasad, Director of Advocacy, International Press Institute (IPI)
Ides Debruyne, Managing Director, Journalismfund.eu vzw
Hege Newth, Secretary General, Norwegian PEN
Chiara Sighele, Programme Director, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT/CCI)
Alberto Spampinato, Director, Ossigeno per l’informazione
Aaliya Ahmed, International Programmes Director, PEN International
Christophe Deloire, Secretary General, Reporters without Borders (RSF)
Oliver Vujovic, Secretary General, South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
Clothilde Redfern, Director, The Rory Peck Trust
Andrew Heslop, Director, World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)[/vc_column_text][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1568796322393-650d0cd0-526d-5″ taxonomies=”6534″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
