25 Jul 2019 | Media Freedom, Monitoring and Advocating Coverage, News and features, Turkey Reports
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In Turkey, the government uses national security and terror legislation to censor journalists. Arrests, detentions and trials of media workers are frequent.
Turkey’s freedom of the press was curbed after the attempted military coup in July 2016, when over 150 media outlets were shut down. Many journalists working in Kurdish territory were subject to physical violence and threats, and Rohat Aktaş, a journalist who covered the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in the town of Cizre, was killed.
Physical attacks on media workers have become rare in recent years. However, Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating Media Freedom project documented seven assaults in Turkey in May, and another one in June 2019. This surge has raised concerns about the continuing pressure on media professionals in the country.
Özgün Özçer is a Turkey researcher for the monitoring project partner organisation Platform for Independent Journalism (P24). He attributes the physical violence to internal divisions within the nationalist and conservative political movements ahead of the second round of the mayoral elections in Istanbul, which took place in late June.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project documents, analyses, and publicises threats, limitations and violations related to media freedom in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, in order to identify opportunities for advancing media freedom in these countries. The project collects, analyses and publicises limitations, threats and violations that affect journalists as they do their jobs. Its staff also advocate for greater press freedom in these countries and raises alerts at the international level.
The project builds on Index on Censorship’s 4.5 years monitoring media freedom in 43 European countries, as part of Mapping Media Freedom platform.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Yavuz Selim Demirağ assaulted outside his home” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”108007″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 10 May, journalist Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a prominent columnist for the nationalist newspaper Yeniçağ, sustained serious injuries from an assault in front of his house in Ankara.
The attack took place late in the evening, when Demirağ was returning home after hosting a political show on a private TV broadcaster. The assailants, a group of seven men, fled the scene in a car after beating Demirağ with baseball bats.
Demirağ’s relatives took him to the hospital. Six people were arrested during the following week in connection with the attack, but all were released on 13 May after giving their statements to a prosecutor.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”İdris Özyol attacked outside local newspaper” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”108008″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 15 May, a group of three unidentified assailants attacked veteran journalist İdris Özyol in the coastal city of Antalya. Özyol was hospitalised following the attack, which took place in the evening in front of the office of the local newspaper, Akdeniz’de Yeni Yüzyıl, where he worked. He suffered injuries to his head and left arm.
Özyol’s assailants were arrested on 17 May. Özyol said that one of his attackers, who he identified as Taner Canatek, was the driver of Talu Bilgili, a prominent local politician from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). MHP allied itself with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the general and presidential elections in 2018, and the local elections in March 2019. Özyol claimed that Canatek had worked for an AKP candidate during the local election campaign, and had visited the newspaper’s office with Bilgili, during which they had a heated exchange over a critical article by Özyol. Journalist associations condemned the attack.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Tuüçe Ünsal and Serkan Çinier attacked at Ankara cemetery” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 16 May, the crew of conservative news channel Beyaz TV was attacked in Beypazarı district of Ankara, online news website T24 reported. Reporter Tuüçe Ünsal and cameraman Serkan Çinier were harassed and battered while filming a news story about the rundown state of a local cemetery. There they were assaulted by a group of people, allegedly supporters of the city’s new opposition mayor Mansur Yavaş.
Çinier was taken to the hospital following the attack. At least one of the perpetrators was arrested.
Mansur Yavaş had served as a mayor of a small Turkish town for 10 years before his first run for the Turkish capital’s mayorship in 2014. Beyaz TV is an Ankara-based news channel founded by Osman Gökçek, the son of former Ankara mayor Melih Gökçek.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Ergin Çevik tracked and beaten” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”108023″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 20 May 2019, three people attacked Ergin Çevik, editor-in-chief of Antalya-based news portal Güney Haberci, in Antalya near a restaurant in the Aksu district. They approached Çevik, asked him if he was Ergin Çevik, and, upon confirmation, attacked him. The beating lasted several minutes, after which the attackers fled the scene.
Çevik told Evrensel that the assailants had come to his office before the attack and spoken with his secretary. Their visit was caught on camera, and the police are now working with the footage to identify the attackers. Çevik was reportedly assaulted because of his recent investigation of unearned income in the municipality of Aksu. In the article, Çevik called on the mayor of Aksu, Halil Şahin, who was re-elected on 31 March, to address the allegations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Hakan Denizli shot in the leg” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”108010″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 24 May, Hakan Denizli, founder of a local newspaper Egemen, was shot outside of his home in the southern province of Adana in front of his 4-year old granddaughter. “I got in the car and the window was open. They came, shot me in the leg and ran away”, Denizli told Arab News. He was immediately hospitalised. The gunman escaped and could not be identified, though the police launched a search.
This is the 29th attack on Denizli throughout his career.
“This brutal attack against Hakan Denizli–the fourth assault on a journalist in two weeks–appears to signal an alarming cycle of violence against critical voices in Turkey,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said, as quoted on CPJ’s website. “We call on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to strongly condemn the attacks and to instruct his law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice and to ensure the safety of journalists”.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Sabahattin Önkibar assaulted” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_single_image image=”108011″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 25 May, Odatv web portal columnist Sabahattin Önkibar was attacked by a group of unknown individuals near his home in Ankara. Three people got out of two cars parked nearby and attacked Önkibar with their fists, daily Odatv reported. Önkibar filed a complaint with the police about the attack. He became the fifth journalist to be targeted in Turkey within two weeks.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Hasan Ceyhan beaten up by police” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 28 May, Hasan Ceyhan, a distributor for the pro-Kurdish newspaper Yeni Yaşam, was beaten by security and police at a metro station in Istanbul, Mezopotamya Agency reported. Ceyhan, who is epileptic, fainted in the metro and was taken out of the train at the central Gayrettepe station. An ambulance was called while he was still unconscious at the station.
Ceyhan told Mezopotamya Agency that the security and police officers at the station checked his bags and saw the copies of the newspaper. They took him to a room inside the station, he said, where one security officer and two police officers beat and insulted him for an hour. They let him go after they forced him to sign a piece of paper stating that he would not file a complaint. Ceyhan said he got a medical report from the hospital and was planning to file a formal complaint to the police. [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Murat Alan attacked leaving mosque” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 14 June Murat Alan, news editor of the ultraconservative daily Yeni Akit, was attacked in Gaziosmanpaşa district of Istanbul, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. Four people armed with baseball bats and knives attacked Alan as he came out of a mosque after Friday Prayers with his 6-year-old son, a family member and his two children.
“I said ‘I have children, I have children with me, don’t do this’”, Alan told AA. As he grappled with the attacker who had a knife, one with a baseball bat started hitting him on the head. The assailants were scared off by the worshippers.
Alan received a head injury as a result of the attack, and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The attackers were caught and detained by the police. A week later, they were released by the court, NTV reported. Prosecutors charged the four men with “actual bodily harm” following a forensics report.
Presidential spokesperson Fahrettin Altun condemned the attack. Alan was under investigation for allegedly “insulting the commanders of Turkish Armed Forces.” [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“Impossible to talk about democracy in a society where there is no freedom of the press“” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Turkey Journalists’ Society (TGC) condemned the series of attacks in a statement.
TGC said, “We expect that the impunity imposed on all attacks on newspapers and journalists will not be applied in this case. It is impossible to talk about democracy in a society where there is no freedom of the press. Social peace cannot be achieved in an environment where newspapers and journalists are constantly targeted. Attacks on the press are direct attacks on the public’s right to receive information and learn the truth. We want those responsible to be found and punished as soon as possible”.
A letter signed by 20 international organisations–led by the International Press Institute and Committee to Protect Journalists–following the attacks on Demirağ and Özyol on May 16 called on Erdoğan to condemn the assaults and make sure that the perpetrators are brought to justice, reported Hurriyet Daily News. “Attacks like those against Demirağ and Özyol, if left unpunished, will have a serious chilling effect on the country’s journalists and further strengthen a climate of fear, which seriously hinders Turkey’s credibility as a democracy,” read the letter.
“A brief analysis of these attacks reveals that the frequency of such moves against journalists increase at times when the country passes through politically-troubled straits and is open to provocations. Besides journalists, prominent politicians from different lines become targets of such physical attacks at these times. A lynch attempt attack against Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu by a nationalist crowd during a funeral of a fallen soldier in early April should be interpreted within this frame.
“More striking is the fact that this increase in attacks against dissident journalists comes on the eve of the Istanbul election rerun, which has fuelled political tension once again following the cancellation of March 31 polls for Turkey’s largest metropolis. Although there is no direct link between these mentioned attacks on journalists and Istanbul’s renewed elections, an increase in the tension would further complicate the political climate”.
“Having monitored media freedom issues and impunity towards crime committed against media representatives for 25 years, this is the first time I noticed that a government circle has provoked a hostile climate for journalists, at this extent, kept observing intimidations and violence against ‘recalcitrant’ media representatives”, Erol Önderoğlu, a Turkey Representative for RSF who is facing trial, told Index.
“President Erdogan, the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party circles remained silent, although the first attack occurred on May 11, and everybody knew it would be contagious. In fact, the government was complicit in allowing MHP militants to silence criticism coming from nationalist or secular parts of the society. It is not a coincidence, then, that two parliament enquiry demands submitted by Iyi Party (Good Party, born from a division within the MHP) and by the main opposition party CHP aiming to investigate this hostile environment for journalists have both been rejected by AKP and MHP votes. Since May 11, no less (sic) than 10 journalists, columnists and reporters were physically attacked in this post-local-election process. All perpetrators were arrested but released pending trial, except for one case in which four men involved in a gun attack were sent to jail. The question is, how shall we expect to fight against impunity if the government itself is clearly involved in the propagation of violence?”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Press Freedom Violations in Turkey” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Number and types of incidents recorded between 1 February and 30 June 2019
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0
Death/Killing
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5
Physical Assault/Injury
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7
Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
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96
Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
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0
Intimidation
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0
Blocked Access
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0
Attack to Property
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3
Subpoena/Court Order/Lawsuits
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0
Legal Measures/Legislation
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0
Offine Harassment
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0
Online Harassment
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0
DDoS/Hacking/Doxing
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1
Censorship
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114
Total
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Source of the incidents recorded between 1 February and 30 June 2019
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0
Employer/Publisher/Colleague(s)
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7
Police/State Security
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0
Private Security
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95
Court/Judicial
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2
Government official(s)/State Agency/Political Party
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2
Corporation
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0
Known private individual(s)
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0
Another Media Outlet
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0
Criminal Organisation
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6
Unknown
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23 Jul 2019 | Media Freedom, Monitoring and Advocating Coverage, News and features, Ukraine
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The majority of violations in Ukraine catalogued by Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project from 1 February to 30 June 2019 were categorised as physical assaults, attacks to property or blocked access. Most frequently, these actions were taken by agents of the state — whether law enforcement or other governmental structures.
The Monitoring and Advocacy for Media Freedom project has recorded 16 incidents in which journalists have been subjected to physical assaults, and 17 incidents in which journalists has their equipment and property damaged since February 2019, 4 of which are in both categories. The project’s numbers are corroborated by the National Union of Ukrainian Journalists (NSJU), which recorded 36 incidents targeting journalists since 1 January 2019, including physical assaults and attacks on property, as part of their Index of Physical Safety of Ukrainian Journalists.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project documents, analyses, and publicises threats, limitations and violations related to media freedom in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, in order to identify possible opportunities for advancing media freedom in these countries. These limitations, threats and violations, affect journalists as they do their jobs, so the project’s staff advocate for greater press freedom in these countries and raise international awareness.
The project builds on Index on Censorship’s 4.5 years monitoring media freedom in 43 European countries, as part of Mapping Media Freedom platform.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Vadim Komarov murdered” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]The 20 June death of journalist and blogger Vadim Komarov is a severe and frightening example of the violence that Ukrainian journalists encounter in their work. Komarov was attacked with a hammer in the centre of Cherkasy on 4 May. His is the first recorded death of a journalist in Ukraine since the murder of Pavel Sheremet, whose car was blown up in 2016.
Komarov was struck in the head several times by an unidentified individual, in broad daylight, near the town’s busy central market. The assailant then fled. Komarov was found unconscious and bloodied by passers by, who called emergency services. According to the doctors who treated him, Komarov had suffered a grievous open head injury, and slipped into a coma shortly after surgery. He never regained consciousness.
Sergey Tomilenko wrote on Facebook that Komarov’s family and colleagues “don’t feel like there’s (the) necessary attention to this case.” The cause of the murder, said Tomilenko, was Komarov’s journalistic work. “The murder of Vadim Komarov is a crime against all journalists in general,” he wrote. Tomilenko called for solidarity among journalists, because “this topic is important for the survival of a journalist as a profession in Ukraine.”
The police were investigating Komarov’s attack as an “assassination attempt” prior to his death.
Komarov was known for his investigations of corruption among Cherkasy city authorities and the region’s prison system. The journalist had been assaulted in the past: on 7 September 2016, an unknown gunman shot at Komarov in Cherkasy, but the bullet missed him and hit a wall.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his deep sorrow following Komarov’s death. “I am deeply shocked by the death of Vadim Komarov, who was brutally attacked last month in Cherkasy and suffered from serious head injuries,” Désir said. “I reiterate my call to the Ukrainian authorities to complete the investigation in a vigorous and swift manner. It is regrettable that about one-and-a-half months after the attack, law enforcement has not yet identified the perpetrators nor reported any progress on the investigation. Violence and attacks against journalists are unacceptable and must stop. Impunity would be a victory for those who wanted to silence Komarov and to intimidate the press. All OSCE participating states should take effective and resolute actions to prevent and end impunity for such crimes.” [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Aliya Zamchynska” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 20 June, Aliya Zamchynska, a correspondent for online news outlet Dumskaya, was assaulted and threatened by Yury Reznikov, Dumskaya.net reported. Reznikov is the owner of a cable car next Otrada beach in Odessa.
According to Ukrayinska Pravda, local deputies, civil activists and journalists gathered at Otrada beach to remove an illegal fence restricting public access to the beach. The video recorded by Dumskaya shows Reznikov confronting the group armed with a machine gun and threatening them. “I’m not ready to kill for private property, but I’m ready to shoot [you] in the legs,” Reznikov told them. During the episode Reznikov pushed Zamchynska, who fell to the ground and was injured as a result.
Deputy Olexander Sheremet managed to disarm Reznikov, and the police were called to the scene. They discovered that the gun had been loaded.
This is not the first time that Reznikov and his family attacked journalists and activists. In 2012, his daughter assaulted activist Zoya Melnik in front of her child. In 2014, Reznikov pushed a cameraman for Pervyi Gorodskoi TV channel into a swimming pool with his camera. [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Maria Gural and Volodymyr Tsyganov” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 13 June, two reporters from online news site Stop Corruption, Maria Gural and Volodymyr Tsyganov, were assaulted in Priluki, Chernihiv region. The attacker was identified as Olexander Chaly. Chaly is deputy head of politician Boris Prikhodko’s election campaign for Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, the Institute of Mass Information reported.
According to Stop Corruption, the journalists were trying to access an open event where Prikhodko was meeting with members of the public. The crew were investigating alleged voter bribery and wanted to question the politician.
Olexander Chaly first tried to snatch a microphone from Gural, and then began to assault her. Tsyganov tried to protect Gural and was assaulted as well. As a result of the beating, Gural received a concussion, and Tsyganov ended up with scratches and light injuries. The police arrested Chaly and charged him with “threat or violence against a journalist.” [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Vadym Makaryuk” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
On 7 June, Vadym Makaryuk was physically assaulted during a mass brawl at Barabashovo market in Kharkiv by unknown individuals, Channel 24 reported. Makatyuk is a TV operator for Channel 24 and Visti.News,
A group of unidentified people assaulted the cameraperson as he filmed the altercation at the market. They sprayed tear gas in his eyes, smashed his face, broke his camera and took away his memory card. The clash was between the right-wing National Corps (who are Donbass war veterans) and the merchants of Barabashovo. According to the market administration, their conflict was due to a property dispute.
The journalist was taken to an intensive care unit in a local hospital, where doctors diagnosed a hemorrhagic stroke as a result of a cerebral haemorrhage sustained after the beating.
The police opened a criminal investigation into whether the incident constituted “threats or violence against a journalist”, “obstruction of journalists’ legal activities”, and “robbery”. A court in Kharkiv refused to detain a man involved in the brutal beating, saying that round-the-clock house arrest was sufficient punishment, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The court also sentenced Kozlyuk, a 26-year-old unemployed Kharkiv resident involved in the assault, to one month and 28 days under house arrest. Immediately after the hearing, the suspect’s lawyer said that he would appeal the decision. The prosecutor’s office also announced their intention to appeal.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Natalia Polishchuk, Maria Petruchyk and Vyacheslav Moroshko” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 9 May, customs officers at the Yagodyn border crossing with Poland assaulted Natalia Polishchuk, Maria Petruchyk and Vyacheslav Moroshko, journalists working for Avers TV.
The three journalists were investigating a large shipment of amber, which was alleged to have been smuggled to Poland through the Yagodyn customs station. The reporting crew entered a restaurant where customs agents were attending a party and began asking questions about corruption and the amber smuggling. According to Avers, the officers who were present behaved aggressively and assaulted the journalists. They bruised one journalist’s finger and broke the crew’s camera, 1+1 TV channel reported.
“Two men approached me, they started tugging at me, tore my jacket, hit the cameraperson, hit the camera,” Polishchuk said. Petruchyk reported, “He (my attacker) wrestled my phone out of my hand, used brute force, my hand is damaged, he tore my journalist’s ID off me.” The officers also forcibly took the journalists’ driver’s licenses, car documents and bank cards. A customs officer told one of the journalists he would “bury her”. The journalists managed to film a part of the incident.
The police have opened criminal proceedings on three articles. “It’s about interfering with the professional activities of journalists, robbery and causing intentional light bodily injuries,” Viktor Homol, spokesperson for the National Police in the Volyn region, said. The case is now being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigations.[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Kateryna Kaplyuk and Borys Trotsenko” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]On 6 March, journalist Kateryna Kaplyuk and cameraperson Borys Trotsenko from the investigative TV project Schemes were assaulted in Chabany, a suburb of Kyiv. Schemes’s editor Natalie Sedletska reported the assault on her Facebook page. Sedletska wrote that the journalists had gone to Chabany village council to get information for an investigation on the illegal transfer of public land to private ownership.
The pair were filming at the council’s office, trying to interview the council secretary, when they were assaulted. Their attackers were two deputies of Chabany’s village head, Volodimir Chuprina and Yuri Bondar, as well as Valery Prisyazhny, the head of the public organisation Rozvitok Kyevshiny. In their attempt to prevent journalists from filming, these men injured Trotsenko and broke his camera.
Kaplyuk and Trotsenko called an ambulance. After a medical check-up at a hospital, Trotsenko was diagnosed with a concussion. The journalists filed a complaint with the police, who launched a criminal investigation. [/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Lack of “political will“ puts journalists at risk” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Despite the existence of legislation that aims to protect journalists, the NSJU said that Ukraine is notorious for impunity when crimes against journalists are committed.
Speaking at a conference held by the International Federation of Journalists in October 2018, Sergey Tomilenko, the head of NSJU, said that crimes against journalists had become the norm in Ukraine. He said that every four days there were acts of violence against journalists in the country, from brutal beatings to broken equipment.
In 2017-2018 NSJU recorded 175 physical violations against journalists in Ukraine, including minor acts of aggression and destruction of property.
Artyom Shevchenko, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior, reported on 1 March that in 2018, the police opened 258 criminal investigations on interfering with journalistic activity. In January 2019 alone, there were an additional 21 investigations. At the same time, however, only 26 out of the 258 cases related to crimes against media workers were passed on to the court.
“The lack of political will of the country’s leadership to really protect media workers leads to the fact that the attacks are not properly investigated, and those cases which still reach the court do not end with heavy punishment for the attackers”, head of NSJU Sergey Tomilenko told Index on Censorship’s project Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom. “Until recently, journalists, particularly investigative journalists, were viewed by officials as threats, and not as an important element of protecting democracy in the country.” Until recently, there has also been a political culture that legitimised humiliating journalists and the media, he added.
Tomilenko said that the NSJU has noticed that ordinary Ukrainians now feel emboldened to physically assault journalists. This is likely due to the toxic attitude toward the press created by government officials, he says. “Over the past year, we have witnessed an active uprising by the authorities–primarily representatives of the President, Petro Poroshenko, and parliamentarians of the political forces close to him–deliberate hostility towards certain journalists and the media, and calls to attack the so-called ‘pro-Russian’ media. This has resulted in the blocking of individual TV channels, the physical attacks on journalists during live broadcasts, parliamentary appeals to stop the broadcasting of individual media, and attempts to adopt draconian laws against the media.”
Tomilenko said that he was hopeful that the hostility toward journalists would abate in the future. “The victory of the new President, Volodymyr Zelensky, who does not use the rhetoric of hostility towards journalists and declares his support of freedom of speech and real political competition in the country, gives (me) hope that the Ukrainian authorities will not be at the forefront of those who reject the rights of journalists and the media.”
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine has been calling for regular and transparent public reports by law enforcement agencies on the progress of investigations of crimes against journalists. Such reports could be used as a key tool in battling impunity. In addition, the NSJU is recommending special parliamentary hearings on journalists’ physical security and freedom of speech.
“This initiative, which we proposed in July 2017 on the 1st anniversary of the assassination of Pavel Sheremet, is particularly relevant today — when a new murder took place in Ukraine — that of regional journalist Vadim Komarov”, Tomilenko said.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Press Freedom Violations in Ukraine” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
Number and types of incidents recorded between 1 February and 30 June 2019
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1558428123542{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
1
Death/Killing
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
16
Physical Assault/Injury
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
2
Arrest/Detention/Interrogation
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
2
Criminal Charges/Fines/Sentences
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
6
Intimidation
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
8
Blocked Access
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1558428157046{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
17
Attack to Property
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
2
Subpoena/Court Order/Lawsuits
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
1
Legal Measures/Legislation
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
1
Offine Harassment
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
1
Online Harassment
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
1
DDoS/Hacking/Doxing
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1558428169374{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
0
Censorship
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
42
Total
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_column_text]
Source of the incidents recorded between 1 February and 30 June 2019
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1558428178637{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
0
Employer/Publisher/Colleague(s)
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
7
Police/State Security
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
2
Private Security
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
3
Court/Judicial
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
10
Government official(s)/State Agency/Political Party
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
0
Corporation
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1558428186205{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
11
Known private individual(s)
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
0
Another Media Outlet
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
0
Criminal Organisation
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
14
Unknown
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”35195″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 Jul 2019 | Campaigns -- Featured, Media Freedom, media freedom featured, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”108086″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
European Commission
Rue de la Loi 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium
19 July 2019
Dear President von der Leyen,
We are writing as members of the press freedom community to congratulate you on your appointment as President of the European Commission, and to urge you to ensure that media freedom, the protection of journalists, and EU citizens’ access to information are top political priorities over the coming term of your Commission.
The last Commission took important steps to address media freedom. But given the rapidly changing media environment, increasingly severe threats and restrictions to press freedom, and the recent murders of journalists, more must be done. We, the undersigned organizations, strongly urge you to appoint a Vice-President of the new Commission with a clear and robust mandate to use all available EU mechanisms, including policy, legislation, and budget, to defend press freedom and the safety of journalists. In particular, we urge you to explicitly list this mandate in your mission letter to one of the Vice-Presidents establishing it as a political priority over the next five-year term.
We ask that the Vice-President have a sufficiently robust and far-ranging mandate to address the following areas of reform:
- Creating an enabling legal and regulatory environment for free, independent, pluralistic, and diverse media and the safety of journalists, whether staff, freelancers, or bloggers. Journalists need to be protected from judicial harassment, arbitrary surveillance, defamation, overly broad national security and anti-terrorist legislation, as well as SLAPP and tax laws.
- Protecting journalists, freelancers, and bloggers from physical, legal, psychological, and digital threats, and ensuring access to effective protection and prevention measures and mechanisms, with specific attention to the risks facing female journalists.
- Combating impunity for all attacks against journalists, freelancers, and bloggers, including support and capacity-building for law enforcement, prosecutors, and the judiciary and the development of specialized protocols for investigations.
- Continuing to combat disinformation through robust public defense of independent journalism and its critical importance in democracy. This should accompany efforts to increase public understanding of media freedoms, supporting social media self-regulation, and building media literacy.
- Supporting sustainable models for independent journalism in promoting media independence, pluralism, and diversity, as well as allowing for effective self-regulation, capacity building, and training.
Media freedom and pluralism are pillars of modern democracy. For the next Commission to guarantee European citizens their right to access to information, it must use the coming term to address the numerous threats to journalism. We hope you will take steps to ensure it does.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and thank you in advance for taking our concerns into consideration. We look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
Alliance Internationale de Journalistes
Article 19
Association of European Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
English PEN
European Federation of Journalists
European Journalism Centre
European Media Initiative
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
Free Press Unlimited
Global Forum for Media Development
IFEX
Index on Censorship
International Press Institute
Media Diversity Institute
PEN International
Reporters Without Borders
Rory Peck Trust
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
