[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]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.
Hatice Kamer, also known as Khajijan Farqin, is a freelance journalist for BBC Turk and Voice of America. She was detained in Diyarbakir on 26 November while reporting on a landslide that killed at least ten workers in a copper mine.
Kamer was taken into custody in Siirt province at a police checkpoint; reasons for her detention remain unclear. Due to the state of emergency declared in Turkey, even the journalist’s attorney was unable to contact her.
On 27 November Kamer was released after spending a night in jail. She was told she would face charges of supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) through her reporting. The journalist states there is no evidence of supporting the outlawed party through her work.
Dutch-American journalist Kevin Roberson, owner of the online news portal Roberson Report, was attacked at an anti-Black Pete demonstration in Utrecht.
Black Pete is a character in Dutch folklore said to be a servant to Saint Nicholas. The character is often portrayed by a white person in blackface and has become subject to controversy in the Netherlands, many claiming the inclusion of the character in Sinterklaas traditions is racist.
At the event, a group of Black Pete defenders emerged, identifying themselves as members of the alt-right movement Nederlandese Volks-Unie (NVU).
One of the members attacked Roberson from behind, hitting him on the head and neck then running away. Roberson posted the video online. The journalist told Mapping Media Freedom that he is fearing for his safety. “My home address is circulating in right-wing social media groups,” Roberson stated, “I don’t feel safe anymore.”
Roberson is pressing charges against the attacker.
On 25 November, Russian TV channel Dozhd reported that two of its correspondents, Sergei Polonsky and Vasiliy Yerzhenkov, were detained by intelligence agencies in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Dozhd reported that, “Three employees of the Ministry of State Security were involved in the interrogation. They watched videos and deleted them. They also blocked Polonsky’s phone, broke Yerzhenkov’s phone and destroyed his notebook.”
Polonsky stated that they did not receive physical abuse, only psychological. The reporters were told that the reason for their detention was “false information” in their accreditation, but Polonsky proved that the information was correct.
Yerzhenkov and Polonsky were in the region to interview Alexey Khodakovsky after receiving permission from the Security Service of Ukraine and the ministry of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
The two reporters are now banned from entering the area after giving “biased” and “provocative” reports on Donetsk.
At a rally for the main Macedonian opposition party, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), a TV journalist and cameraperson for the Macedonian TV channel MTV 1 were insulted by party supporters.
In Tetovo, this was not the first time an incident like this occurred. “We would like to emphasise that this is not the first time our journalists have been insulted during an SDSM rally,” an MTV 1 report stated, “Our journalists are being blocked from fulfilling their professional duties.”
The reporters were harassed, insulted and spat on as they attempted to report from the rally. The SDSM condemned the incident, saying they were against any negative treatment of the media regardless of its beliefs.
A film crew for REN TV in Moscow was assaulted after investigating fraud at a candle company. According to the clients, the company was offering candle-making lessons which clients would pay for, but the company would take the money and leave the clients without lessons.
While speaking to the director of the company, the crew was attacked by him after he blocked one of the cameramen and pushed reporter Dariya Ermakova to the ground. The incident was caught on video by one of the other cameramen.
Ermakova filed a report to the police who are currently investigating. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]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.
Turkey’s main internet regulator, Information and Communication Technologies, sent instructions to operators to close VPN services, according to technology news site Webtekno.
The ICT said it was acting within the scope of Article 6, paragraph 2 of law no 5651 in adopting a decision requesting Turkish operators to shut down VPN services.
The decision covers popular encryption services as Tor Project, VPN Master, Hotspot Shield VPN, Psiphon, Zenmate VPN, TunnelBear, Zero VPN, VyprVPN, Private Internet Access VPN, Espress VPN, IPVanish VPN.
According to Webtekno some VPN services are still available such as Open VPN.
“This is clearly detrimental to journalists and the protection of their sources,” Hannah Machlin, project officer for Mapping Media Freedom, said.
Turkey’s internet censorship did not stop with VPNs as the country faced a shutdown of the popular social media sites Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and more. This was the first time in recent years that the Turkish government targeted popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Instagram, according to Turkey Blocks.
The Independent states that it’s unclear whether the social media outage came from an intentional ban, an accident or a cyber attack. Turkey Blocks believes the outage was related to the arrest of political activists for the opposition party the previous night.
Turkey has increasingly utilised internet restrictions to limit media coverage in times of political unrest.
Spanish group Morera and Vallejo, has decided to slash contracts with photographers working for their newspaper, El Correo de Andalucía, according to the Sevilla Press Association (APS).
The three photographers working as “fake” freelancers for the newspaper were on a permanent contract without the benefits of being an employee. New contracts for the photographers worsened their conditions, lowering their pay and lessening the work photographers can put in daily.
APS additionally states that journalists working for El Correo de Andalucía are expected to act as photographers as well, doubling the amount of work they must put in. The newspaper pushed for the merging journalism and photography but journalists are unwilling to steal their coworkers’ jobs.
Four journalists from the Center for Investigative Reporting in Serbia (CINS) have noted that they have been followed and photographed on mobile phones by unknown individuals, NUNs Press reported.
CINS, which is known for reporting on corruption and organised crime in Serbia, believes the stalkers are an attempt to intimidate their journalists. Editor-in-chief Dino Jahic stated that they’re unsure who is behind the harassment, “We are working on dozens of investigations all the time, and each of them could trigger somebody’s anger.”
On its website, CINS wrote that they were determined to continue their investigations despite the intimidation. Their case has been reported to the Ministry of Interior and the public prosecutor’s office in Belgrade.
The online investigative news site Ukrayinska Pravda has reported that Ukrainian authorities wiretapped the outlet’s offices during the summer of 2015.
Editor-in-chief Sevgil Musayeva-Borovyk said in March of 2016, an unidentified person handed in an envelope with operational reports, activities and topics recently discussed by UP. The site has no evidence that wiretapping has continued since then.
According to Ukrayinska Pravda, the security service of Ukraine was carrying out orders from the president’s administration. Ukrayinska Pravda reported that it was not only its journalists that were targeted, claiming the staff of several other media sites have been tapped. Mapping Media Freedom does not yet know which other organisations.
Journalists have asked the security service of Ukraine, interior minister and chairman of the national police to respond to the information UP has gathered.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
A coalition of 14 leading international press freedom and freedom of expression organisations today condemned as an “extraordinary attack on press freedom” the jailing of top journalists with Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper and the closure of 15 pro-Kurdish media in a letter to leading Turkish officials.
On Monday, October 31, Turkish authorities launched a mass operation against Cumhuriyet, a secular daily considered one of the last opposition media voices in Turkey. Police arrested nearly a dozen journalists, managers and lawyers, including Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu and columnist Kadri Gürsel, a member of the International Press Institute’s global Executive Board.
The coalition said today it was “deeply disturbed” by the attack both against “a highly respected newspaper that remains one of Turkey’s last sources of critical news and information and a representative of a major international human rights organisation”.
The operation against Cumhuriyet followed the closure of 15 pro-Kurdish media outlets on Saturday, which the coalition described as a “further attempt by the Turkish government to control all media coverage of the ongoing operations [in the country’s South East], and prevent independent media from investigating grave human rights abuses there”.
Members of the coalition called on Turkey to immediately release the detained Cumhuriyet journalists, as well as the estimated more than 130 other journalists currently behind bars “for exercising their right to freedom of expression” in the country.
In copies of the letter addressed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, the group made an urgent request to discuss its concerns in person.
Read the text of the letters below in English and Turkish. The letter can also be downloaded as a PDF in English and Turkish.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Cumhurbaşkanlığı Külliyesi 06560 Beştepe-Ankara
Sent via email
02 November 2016
Dear President Erdoğan:
The undersigned members of an international coalition of leading press freedom and freedom of expression groups request an urgent meeting with you following Monday’s operation against the newspaper Cumhuriyet and Saturday’s closure of 15 pro-Kurdish media outlets.
Police on Monday arrested and raided the homes of at least a dozen journalists working for Cumhuriyet. Among those arrested were Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu and columnist Kadri Gürsel. Mr. Gürsel is also a member of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI) and IPI’s official representative in Turkey.
We are deeply disturbed by this move against not only a highly respected newspaper that remains one of Turkey’s last sources of critical news and information but also a representative of a major international human rights organisation.We are also extremely concerned that those detained are being held without access to legal counsel and without a clear indictment against them.
The closure of 15 pro-Kurdish media outlets, primarily covering the South East of the country, is part of an ongoing campaign to censor the Kurdish minority. It also represents a further attempt by the Turkish government to control all media coverage of the ongoing anti-terror operations in this region, and prevent independent media from investigating grave human rights abuses occurring there.
We condemn these arrests and closures as an extraordinary attack on press freedom, freedom of expression and the journalistic profession – unfortunately merely the latest example of such in Turkey. Our organisations stand in solidarity with Mr. Sabuncu, Mr. Gürsel and their colleagues, as do journalists around the world.
Prosecutors have said that Mr. Sabuncu, Mr. Gürsel and their colleagues are suspected of criminal collaboration with the outlawed Gülenist movement and the PKK. While we understand the need to take appropriate action against those responsible for July’s failed coup attempt, the arrests of Cumhuriyet staff and the sweeping closures of Kurdish media make it clear that Turkey’s current state of emergency is being abused to indiscriminately target any and all who criticise the government.
Indeed, during the first three months of the state of emergency, the Turkish authorities have closed approximately 165 media outlets. Nearly 100 journalists and writers have been arrested and at least 140 journalists are currently in detention, many of whom have no connection to either the Gülenist movement or the PKK.
We would welcome the opportunity to bring our concerns to you directly.
In the meantime, this coalition calls for the immediate release of Murat Sabuncu, Kadri Gürsel, their colleagues at Cumhuriyet and all other journalists jailed for exercising their right to freedom of expression. We also call on lawmakers in Turkey to end the abuse of emergency powers that are being used to suppress legitimate dissent, further crackdown on independent media and undermine what is left of the rule of law.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
The International Press Institute (IPI)
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Article 19
Index on Censorship
The Ethical Journalism Network (EJN)
PEN International
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
IFEX
Association of European Journalists (AEJ)
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
CC: Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag Foreign embassies and consulates in Ankara and Istanbul
Sayın Cumhurbaşkanı,
Dünyanın önde gelen basın ve ifade özgürlüğü örgütlerinden oluşan uluslararası koalisyonun altta imzası bulunan üyeleri olarak, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi’ne yapılan operasyonun ve Kürtlere yönelik yayınlarıyla bilinen 15 medya kuruluşunun kapatılmasının ardından, acil toplantı talebimizi iletmek üzere bu mektubu yazıyoruz.
Polis, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi’nde çalışan en az bir düzine gazeteciyi, pazartesi günü evlerine baskın düzenleyerek gözaltına almıştır. Gözaltına alınanlar arasında, IPI’ın Yönetim Kurulu Üyesi ve Türkiye’deki resmi temsilcisi Sayın Kadri Gürsel ile IPI üyesi olan Cumhuriyet Genel Yayın Yönetmeni Murat Sabuncu da vardır.
Türkiye’de eleştirel haber ve yorumların yer alabildiği az sayıda kaynaktan biri olan Cumhuriyet’e yönelmekle birlikte, aynı zamanda önde gelen bir uluslararası insan hakları örgütünün temsilcisini de hedef alan bu hamle, bizde derin bir rahatsızlık yaratmıştır.
Özellikle de ülkenin güneydoğusundan haberler veren 15 medya kuruluşunun kapatılması, Kürt azınlığın sansürlenmesi için sürdürülen kampanyanın bir parçasıdır. Bu karar, Türk hükümetinin, bölgede süren terörle mücadele operasyonlarının haberleştirilmesinde tüm medyayı kontrol altına almak yönündeki çabasında yeni bir adımı temsil ediyor.
Bu gözaltı ve kapatma kararlarını, basın ve ifade özgürlüğü ile gazetecilik mesleğine yönelik olağanüstü bir taarruz olarak görüp kınıyoruz –ki bu durum ne yazık ki Türkiye için bir ilk değildir. Dünyanın dört bir yanındaki gazetecileri temsil eden örgütlerimiz, Sayın Gürsel, Sayın Sabuncu ve diğer meslektaşlarımızın yanındadır.
Savcılar, Sayın Gürsel ve Sabuncu’nun yasadışı örgütler olan Gülen hareketi ve PKK ile suç teşkil eden bir işbirliğinde olduğundan şüphelendiklerini söylüyorlar. 15 Temmuz darbe girişiminden sorumlu olanlara karşı uygun bir eylemin yapılması gerektiğine inanmakla birlikte, Cumhuriyet çalışanlarına yönelik gözaltılarla Kürtlere yönelik yayın yapan medya kuruluşlarının kapatılmasının bu kapsama girdiğini düşünmüyoruz. Bu gözaltılar, daha ziyade, Türkiye’deki mevcut OHAL yönetiminin, hükümeti eleştirmeye cüret eden herkese karşı ayrım gözetmeksizin kullanıldığını gösteriyor.
Gerçekten de, OHAL’in ilk üç ayı içinde Türk yetkililer yaklaşık 165 medya kuruluşunu kapatmış, 100 kadar gazeteci ve yazarı tutuklamış, birçoğu Gülen hareketi veya PKK ile hiçbir bağlantısı olmadığı halde en az 140 gazeteciyi gözaltına almıştır.
Endişelerimizi zât-ı âlilerinize doğrudan iletme fırsatını bulursak çok memnun oluruz.
Bu arada, uluslararası basın özgürlüğü koalisyonu olarak Sayın Gürsel, Sayın Sabuncu ve Cumhuriyet’teki diğer meslektaşlarımızla, ifade özgürlüğü hakkını kullandıkları için hapsedilen tüm gazetecilerin derhal salıverilmesi yönünde çağrı yapıyoruz. Türkiye’deki kanun yapıcıları, OHAL yetkilerini meşru muhalefeti susturmaya, özgür medyaya daha fazla baskı yapmaya ve tüm bunlardan arda kaldığı kadarıyla hukuk devletinin altını oymaya son vermeye davet ediyoruz.
Bu acil konudaki dikkatiniz için teşekkür ederiz.
Saygılarımızla,
The International Press Institute (IPI)
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Article 19
Index on Censorship
The Ethical Journalism Network (EJN)
PEN International
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
IFEX
Association of European Journalists (AEJ)
The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
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.
Former french president Nicolas Sarkozy is back on the campaign trail but fundraising from his 2012 run for office is raising questions. A new documentary investigating these finances was due to air on 29 September but following pressure from Michel Field, the head of news at France Télévisions, a French public national television broadcaster, it now won’t show until after the primary elections of Sarkozy’s Republicans party at the end of November.
On 6 September, the satirical and investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné revealed that in mid-July, Field told Elise Lucet, the new director of Envoyé Special, that the documentary must be delayed. The publication also revealed that Field was in talks with Sarkozy, who had agreed to be the first guest on a new political programme by France Télé, but that Sarkozy’s team would prevent his appearance if the documentary was to air.
According to Le Canard, Field also tried to have a heavily-edited version of the documentary air 8 September, which Lucet refused to comply with. Lucet accused Field of censorship and the director of France Télévisions, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, is taking some time to decide whether to air the documentary or not.
In court, Geriev said that on 16 April he was kidnapped from a public bus on his way to Grozny. He added that he was taken to the woods, where he was beaten and tortured, and then taken to a local cemetery. There, according to the prosecutors, he was arrested for possession of 160 grams of marijuana and admitted he was guilty.
Kavkazski Uzel issued a statement saying that they believe that the case against Geriev is fabricated and motivated by his professional activities.
If passed, this law would allow the “relevant public authorities” to obtain journalists’ communications data with the aim of identifying or confirming the identity of anonymous sources.
The news agency Unian, citing the State Emergency Services division, reported: “At 16:31 on Sept. 4, Kyiv Emergency Situations Service operators received a call about a fire that had broken out at a building of a TV channel at 26 Schuseva Street. Upon arrival at the scene, firefighters discovered two piles of tyres had been set ablaze during a rally outside the building and an external source of ignition brought [into the building] had caused a fire on the first floor…and second floor.”
Thirty people were evacuated and one journalist suffered a broken leg and smoke inhalation.
Dilek Dundar, the wife of prominent Turkish journalist and former editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet newspaper Can Dundar was prevented from leaving the country at the Ataturk International airport on 3 September. She was on her way to Berlin, Germany, when airport officials confiscated her passport and informed her that it had been cancelled.
Can Dundar said of the situation: “This … is an excellent example of authoritarian rule. The new legal order … treats the whole family as criminals.”
Each week, Index on Censorship’s 
