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Attacks on physical safety and integrity of journalistsDetention and imprisonment of journalistsHarassment and intimidation of journalistsImpunityOther acts having chilling effects on media freedom
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Latest threats to media freedom
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04
Aug 2020
Lvl. 1
State replied
Alert created on: 10 Jun 2020
n° 67/2020
Bosnia and Herzegovina
TV Journalist Sinan Gluhić Attacked by PoliticianSource of threatNon-state
CategoryAttacks on physical safety and integrity of journalists
On 5 June 2020, RTV Zenica journalist Sinan Gluhić was hit in the neck and face on his way to work by a politician of the Party of Democratic Activity (A-SDA), Sulejman Spahić, who also threatened the journalist to death. The attack was preceded by days of verbal threats and insults to Gluhic via telephone and social networks, especially Facebook. These incidents are believed to be connected to Gluhić’s posts on social media, on 31 May, about the delayed construction work on a local road.
The incident was reported to police and recorded, as well as threats Gluhic received in the previous period. A report has been submitted to the local prosecutor’s office in Zenica. Spahić has been charged with endangering public safety. The Bosnian journalists’ association and the High Representative on Freedom of the Media for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) condemned the attacks and called for a swift investigation.
Additional Information
State replies
04 Aug 2020
New
Reply from the Bosnian authorities
Follow-ups
10 Jun 2020
OSCE Media Freedom Representative condemns physical attack and threats against journalist in Zenica
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03
Aug 2020
Lvl. 2
No state reply yet
Alert created on: 03 Aug 2020
n° 92/2020
Romania
Judicial Intimidation Targeting the Romanian Union of Journalists and Daily Newspaper "Libertatea"Source of threatState
CategoryHarassment and intimidation of journalists
No state reply yet
Following the denunciation of irregularities in the management of the Romanian public television station TVR by the Romanian journalists' union FAIR-Mediasind, TVR's management has instructed the law firm Zamfirescu Racoti & Partners to take legal action for defamation against the union and against the journalists of the daily newspaper "Libertatea". The union said TVR had allocated a public budget of 50,742 euros to the law firm to bring these legal actions. FAIR-Mediasind issued a statement on 28 July accusing the director of the TV station, Doina Gradea, of attempting to intimidate and harass the journalists' union.
Additional Information
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03
Aug 2020
Lvl. 2
No state reply yet
Alert created on: 03 Aug 2020
n° 91/2020
Serbia
Serbia: Finance Ministry Demands Access to Bank Records of Journalists and NGOsSource of threatUnknown
CategoryOther acts having chilling effects on media freedom
No state reply yet
The Directorate for the Prevention of Money Laundering based out of the Ministry of Finance has compiled a list of media workers, NGOs and citizens' associations, featuring 20 individuals and 37 organisations. From this list, the directorate is demanding access to their bank records since the beginning of 2019 to determine whether the NGOs and individuals are connected to money laundering or operations to finance terrorism.
This list includes organisations including the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), CINS, BIRN, KRIK, CRTA, the Association of Local and Independent Media, and the Novi Sad School of Journalism. Tanja Fajon, an MEP and the co-chairman of the European Parliament (EP) Delegation for cooperation with Serbia tweeted out that: "Most of the CSOs, media and individuals investigated for money laundering by the Serbian Government have been among the primary advocates for pro-EU reforms and supporters of #EU values in #Serbia. Any unjustified investigation into their work should be regarded as pressure."
Additional Information
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03
Aug 2020
Lvl. 2
State replied
Alert created on: 12 Jun 2020
n° 68/2020
Serbia
Journalist Bojana Pavlović Harassed in Front of the Police who Confiscated her PhoneSource of threatUnknown
CategoryHarassment and intimidation of journalists
On 10 June 2020, Bojana Pavlović took photos of Danilo Vucic, son of Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia, sitting in a café with Aleksandar Vidojevic, who is currently on trial for participating in the demolition of a nightclub. As reported by the KRIK investigative journalism centre, Vidojevic has been allegedly identified by the police as a member of the Kavaci organised crime group. As Pavlović was leaving, three men stopped her stating they were police officer. She produced a journalist ID card, explaining that she was on duty, but was told to wait for the police patrol as she was likely to be detained.
The men requested her to delete the footage, which she did. She had already sent the photos to KRIK. Two men approached them, one of whom forcefully took her mobile phone out of her hands. The police didn’t react. Pavlović said that at one point she was surrounded by five men and she’d asked them to move away as she felt endangered and unsafe. Vidojevic, accompanied by another person, approached the group and the police left, leaving her alone with the four men. Vidojevic instructed the man to return the mobile phone, he did so and they left.
Additional Information
State replies
03 Aug 2020
New
Reply of the Serbian authorities (Ministry of the Interior)
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31
Jul 2020
Lvl. 2
No state reply yet
Alert created on: 31 Jul 2020
n° 90/2020
Hungary
Dismissal of Index News Website Editor further Constricts Media IndependenceSource of threatUnknown
CategoryOther acts having chilling effects on media freedom
No state reply yet
On 22 July 2020, Szabolcs Dull the editor-in-chief of Index news website, Hungary’s leading source of independent news and political comment, was dismissed from his post, one month after publicly warning that its status as a free media outlet was “in danger” from political growing interference. On 24 July, more than 70 other journalists and staff of Index resigned together in protest.
In a joint statement they said the conditions for Index’s independent operations were no longer in place. They called the firing of their editor “clear interference” and an overt attempt to apply pressure. Earlier this year a pro-government businessman acquired significant control over Index’s funding. Laszlo Bodalai, the president of the board of the website’s owners, denied that Index’s political independence was at risk and referred to a decline in advertising revenues as a reason for the dismissal. European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova reacted to the removal of Szabolcs Dull by declaring that she had “big concerns” and expressing her solidarity with the staff of Index who she said had worked under “very difficult conditions”. In late 2018 a Media Pluralism Monitor report published by the European Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom assessed the risk related to the lack of political independence of media in Hungary, in terms of the state regulation of resources and support to the media sector, as having an acute high-risk score of 97%. The risk to editorial autonomy of the country's media was also assessed with a high risk score of 88%.
Additional Information
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31
Jul 2020
Lvl. 2
State replied
Alert created on: 23 Jul 2020
n° 85/2020
Greece
Critical Greek Media Excluded or Side-Lined from State Funding Package during Covid-19Source of threatState
CategoryOther acts having chilling effects on media freedom
Greek media critical of the government were excluded or side-lined from a €20 million financial support scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic. An analysis showed that many outlets perceived as “opposition” media in Greece received disproportionately lower levels of advertising revenue from the public health awareness campaign compared to more government-friendly media, despite the fact that many had higher circulation and readership. As the clearest example, Documento, a weekly investigative newspaper, was excluded entirely from state funding. Its editor and publisher alleged this was in clear retaliation for its critical coverage and recent investigations into the leadership of the ruling New Democracy party. When later questioned about why Documento had been excluded, government spokesman Stelios Petsas justified the decision by saying that media outlets were excluded for failing to meet several criteria, including not spreading “fake news” about the pandemic. Documento strongly deny this. The weekly newspaper, which specialises in investigative reporting and is known for being critical of the New Democracy government and the Prime Minister, was the only major media outlet excluded from the emergency funding scheme. The campaign was to include print publications, television channels, radio stations, websites, and social network platforms. To distribute the state funding, the government hired the private multinational advertising company, Initiative Media. When the funding was announced, Documento was excluded entirely. Meanwhile, an 18-page list of 1,232 outlets that did receive financial aid, instead included more than 200 digital entities not listed in the country’s Online Media Register, including inactive or non-existent websites or obscure blogs with little or no readers. This full list was only released by the government after sustained pressure from media and civil society. It showed that many news media friendly towards the government received disproportionately large amounts of money, leading to accusations that the government was distorting the media landscape while undermining freedom of the press and pluralism.
Additional Information
State replies
31 Jul 2020
New
Reply from the Greek Authorities
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30
Jul 2020
Lvl. 2
State replied
Alert created on: 22 Apr 2020
n° 44/2020
Albania
Blogging Site ‘Medium.com’ Blocked in AlbaniaSource of threatState
CategoryOther acts having chilling effects on media freedom
The Albanian Electronic Communications Authority (AKEP) has ordered the internet service providers to block the domain of the community blogging website Medium.com. The order came following a request by the Albanian Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) to block the entire domain because it was broadcasting films illegally. AMA requested the blocking on 16 April 2020. The Albanian Media Council reacted against the blocking of the domain stating that if Facebook or Whatsapp contain links to pirated movies, the government should not shut down the entire websites. “If the AMA has requested the closure of medium.com, the action of the AMA would be illegal. If AKEP has taken this decision itself, it is still an illegal act”.
Additional Information
State replies
30 Jul 2020
New
Reply from the Albanian authorities
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29
Jul 2020
Lvl. 2
No state reply yet
Alert created on: 27 Jul 2020
n° 89/2020
Turkey
Turkey Proposes Social Media Law, Threatening Press FreedomSource of threatState
CategoryOther acts having chilling effects on media freedom
No state reply yet
On 21 July 2020, the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) proposed the draft law to strengthen state control of social media platforms, as well as data about those who use them in Turkey to the Turkish parliament.
The draft said it would require social media companies with more than one million users in Turkey to store those users’ data in the country, and open offices staffed with local representatives. The text has yet to be reviewed in parliament, and the timeline for a vote on the bill is unclear. According to the draft, the companies will be required to remove content that violates “personal rights” and the “privacy of personal life” from their sites within 48 hours of receiving a court order. Search engines could also be required to remove links to such content. Companies that fail to comply may face court-ordered penalties, including fines of up to 30 million Turkish lira (3.7 million euros), or traffic to their platforms slowed or blocked by the Turkish internet providers. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in early July that social media platforms “need to be brought into order”. “Such platforms don’t suit this country and our people. That’s why we want [them] completely shut or controlled after bringing the issue to our parliament,” he said. Turkey already exploits legal processes to remove journalism from social media. Recent transparency reports from Twitter and Reddit show that Turkish officials issued the companies with more requests to remove content than any other country.
Updates
New
29 Jul 2020
On 29 July 2020, the Turkish Parliament passed the law that will give authorities more powers to control social media content. The legislation requires social media companies to have their representatives in Turkey and to remove, within 24 hours, content found unacceptable. Failure to do so will be punished with large fines, advertising bans or bandwidth restrictions. The law also requires social media users' data to be stored in Turkey.
Additional Information
Follow-ups
28 Jul 2020
New
CoE Commissioner for Human Rights considers that "the amendments proposed to the Internet legislation in Turkey will make a legal framework that is already incompatible with CoE standards much worse"
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29
Jul 2020
Lvl. 1
No state reply yet
Alert created on: 29 Jul 2020
n° 89/2020
Russian Federation
Journalist from Dagestan, Russia Threatened with Death in a Phone CallSource of threatUnknown
CategoryAttacks on physical safety and integrity of journalists
No state reply yet
On 22 July 2020, a man called Svetlana Anokhina and threatened to kill her. Anokhina, a Dagestani journalist, is the chief editor of Daptar.ru, an independent site dedicated to women’s issues in the Caucasus. Anokhina believes that the threat may have been in response to her journalistic work.
She said that the timing of the call made her believe that it may have been about one specific article she edited on a controversial case. The article, published on Daptar.ru the day before the threat was made, alleged that Chechen and federal-level authorities failed to investigate the alleged murder of a Chechen woman by her husband. On the day of its publication, Anokhina shared and discussed the story on her Facebook page, which counts more than 6,000 followers. Anokhina said a man called her on her mobile phone multiple times between 6-7 p.m. on 22 July, though the first three or four calls were dropped due to a poor connection. Anokhina said that on the next call, the man confirmed he was speaking to her. After that call dropped, Anokhina said she recorded the subsequent phone call on her phone. In the recording, the man said he was “given orders to take care of these feminists,” and that his relative was the “boss” at the Soviet district police station of the Dagestani capital Makhachkala. He is then heard introducing himself and saying that he will kill Anokhina. After hanging up, Anokhina said she looked up the phone number, and found that it was registered to a different name. Looking up that name, she found an Instagram account with photos featuring location tags in Dagestan and the neighboring republic of Chechnya. Anokhina said she sent this information to the number that called her, via messaging app. She said a man called back and denied that he was the man who initially called her and that he had threatened her life. Anokhina previously received threats over her journalistic work. On 14 July 2020, she criticised Magomed Kurbandibirov, deputy imam of the Grand Mosque of Makhachkala, in posts on Facebook and Instagram after Kurbandibirov made statements in support of female circumcision in an interview with a Russian journalist. After that, Anokhina said she received several anonymous messages on her social media accounts insulting her and demanding her to “shut up”. In 2018, she received tens of anonymous messages on social media from people threatening to “find her” and “put her into the ground” after she criticised Eldar Iraziev, an entertainer and blogger formerly based in Dagestan, who had condemned an upcoming anime festival as “immoral”. According to Anokhina the 22 July 2020 phone call was the first time she received a direct death threat on the phone. “I am worried, because sooner or later these threats could be implemented,” she told CPJ. She said that the Instagram photos tagged in Chechnya made her concerned that the threat had a potential connection to the republic. “Any reasonable person would feel concerned when Chechnya is involved” Anokhina said. Anokhina filed a complaint about the threatening call on the website of Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Gayana Garieva, head of the ministry’s Department of Information and Public Relations, stated that the ministry received Anokhina’s complaint and is investigating the matter.
Additional Information
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28
Jul 2020
Lvl. 2
State replied
Alert created on: 15 Oct 2019
n° 125/2019
Netherlands
The Dutch Travel Restriction Law Threatens Media FreedomSource of threatState
CategoryOther acts having chilling effects on media freedom
The Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus proposed a new law under which Dutch citizens travelling to an area “controlled by terrorist groups” must request permission from the justice ministry. The bill was approved by the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament on 10 September 2019. Under this draft law, failing to request the justice ministry’s permission before travelling to an area “controlled by terrorist groups” is punishable by up to two years in prison. The Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) called on the Dutch Senate to make an exception for journalists or to withdraw the bill, considering that this new regulation threatens the freedom to inform. On November 12, the Senate will organise a hearing where experts, including a representative of NVJ, will draw attention to the law’s problems. Among other points, NVJ pointed out the law’s use of the term “terrorist zone,” a vague concept that is hard to pin down.
Updates
25 Nov 2019
On 7 November 2019, the NVJ sent the Senate a critical opinion on the draft bill, in view of a public hearing before the Senate’s Justice and Security Commission scheduled for 12 November 2019.
04 Nov 2019
On 10 September 2019, the Minister of Justice and Security sent the Senate a critical statement on amendment No. 8, which allows for journalists to be generally except from travel restrictions on some conditions.
Additional Information
State replies
28 Jul 2020
New
Reply from the Netherlands authorities
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