TRAŽI SE TEMELJITA ISTRAGA POKUŠAJA UBISTVA SAŠE LEKOVIĆA

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01/12/2016

Sarajevo,01.12.2016.-Novinarska udruženja iz regije očekuju da će pokrenuta istraga utvrditi okolnosti u vezi sa oštećenjem Lekovićevog automobila po hitnom postupku.

Novinarska udruženja iz regije upozoravaju da je ovaj slučaj samo kulminacija gotovo svakodnevnih prijetnji, uvreda i pritisaka na Sašu Lekovića koje su uslijedile nakon njegovog izbora za predsjednika HND-a 2015. godine. Izuzetno je važno da Republika Hrvatska prepozna prijetnje novinarima kao direktne prijetnje slobodi govora i demokratije, te zahtijevamo da svi dosadašnji napadi na Lekovića i druge novinare budu procesuirani temeljito i sa odgovarajućom ozbiljnošću.

Novinarske organizacije iz regije iskazuju punu solidarnost sa kolegom Lekovićem i upozoravaju Vladu Republike Hrvatske da samo efikasnom istragom i kažnjavanjem počinitelja u ovom slučaju mogu i praktično pokazati svoju demokratičnost i stvarnu posvećenost evropskim vrijednostima, u kojima sloboda izražavanja i sigurnost novinara predstavljaju osnovna ljudska prava.

Keep the courts open

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30/11/2016

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PRISTINA, 30.11.216 – We express our opposition to the unacceptable actions of the justice system. Few days ago AJK asked the judge of the Basic Court of Pristina, Shasivar Hoti to review its decision that closed to the public and media of the trial in the case of former president of the Court of Appeal, Salih Mekaj.

But today this institution proved that it is not interested to respect the principles of transparency. Neither has the judge Shadije Gerguri taken into consideration our rejection when she decided to try a number of suspected doctors in the so-called cases “Stents”. The reasoning that the hall is small and has a large number of defendant’s it represents flimsy and unsustainable excuses for journalists in the country.

AJK had called on two judges of the cases in question as well as the Basic Court to take immediate action by ensuring transparent justice. Lack of transparency in justice creates room for speculation and motivates internal whistle blowers to leak documents from the court. Moreover, these decisions will encourage other accused seeking closure of the hearings. So, the Basic Court has created precedent for concealing from the public the alleged criminal actions of senior officials. AJK is also deeply disappointed with the prosecutors who rather than asking the public to witness the work of the prosecution, they agreed with the interests of the accused.

30.11.2016

Session of the Parliament Media Committee: Attacks against journalists encouraged instead of been condemned

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26/11/2016

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ZAGREB, November 26 2016. – Parliament Media Committee had its session on Friday dedicated to threats and attacks against journalists. Committee members reached the conclusion that it was necessary to provide political and legal support to stop violence against journalists, but some of them expressed their opinion that journalists themselves were partly responsible for those attacks.

The session was called because hate speech and violence against journalists had escalated. The session was participated by representatives of professional organizations, police and other state institutions.
According the police information, reported by Zvonimir Vnučec, acting police director, 78 attacks against journalists, all directly or indirectly connected to their work, have been recorded since 2010. 50 of them were qualified as crimes, 10 as misdemeanors, 5 are still under process of qualification and in 13 any element of criminal act was found.

Police data show that escalation started in 2014, when number of attacks was doubled, and culminated in 2015, when it became tripled. Following this year’s data it is evident that number of attacks has resumed 2014’s level.
From total of 50 crimes there were 46 threats, 2 serious bodily harms, 1 attempted grand larceny and 1 bullying behavior. Perpetrators were identified in 35 cases and police director Vnučec found it to be good result.

”Attackers must be punished”

Nenad Stazić, SDP Committee member, did not agree. He expressed his belief that violence against journalists and generally speaking could be stopped only by more efficient work of state institutions. ”I would like to know what happened after those investigations? And what do we do to discourage those attackers? They can be discouraged only by court procedures. If there is legislation problem, we should change laws”, said Stazić.

Goran Beus Richenberg, HNS member, said that radical hate speech was encouraged by politics, as vulgarities entered public discurs. If in the Parliament or in other state institutions defamation and offence are used in discussions, bad message is sent to the public.”

Saša Leković, CJA president, in his introduction said that some politicians accept and even encourage violence and they are supported, unfortunately, by some journalists as well. He found that ”it was the highest time for the Parliament to discuss threats and attacks against journalists”.

”Journalists (even) themselves are to be blamed ”

Katja Kušec, HNiP president, estimated that lately ”there had been more freedom then ever, but also more unverified facts, journalistic bad work and spins”.

Some Committee members found that violence should be clearly condemned but that journalists should take part of responsibility. That opinion had been expressed even before by former Minister of culture Zlatko Hasanbegović, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who just two days ago, at the occasion of day of remembrance of pro-Radio 101 protest said that ”for spoken and written words all should be responsible”.

The most radical opinion was one of Stevo Culej, HDZ member, who said that Saša Leković’s introductory speech sounded like „proMilošević’s Gebbelslike speech back from 1990 and 1991 that caused Homeland War as he in his speech dealt with Ustashas and produced that atmosphere regardless of SOA’s (Croatian Security and Intelligence Agency) report on Chetnics in our society.”

Goran Dodig, HDS member, explained that journalists encourage aggression and then become its victims. Vladimir Lulić, CJA secretary general, responded to that and said it was the same reasoning that blamed female for being raped because she had short skirt.

Ema Tarabochia

Saopštenje povodom prijetnji i odlaska iz BiH Slobodana Vaskovića

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22/11/2016

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Sarajevo, 22.11.2016.-Upravni odbor Udruženja/udruge BH novinari i Linija za pomoć novinarima zahtijevaju od nadležnih sigurnosnih i policijskih agencija u Bosni i Hercegovini da hitno istraže kontinuirane pritiske, prijetnje i ugrožavanje sigurnosti blogera i novinara Slobodna Vaskovića iz Banja Luke, koji je prije dva dana obavijestio javnost kako napušta BiH zbog straha za vlastiti život.

Državna agencija za istrage i zaštitu (SIPA), Ministarstvo sigurnosti BiH i Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Republike Srpske moraju sa dužnom pažnjom, političkom nepristrasnošću i temeljito istražiti prijetnje koje su Slobodanu Vaskoviću, kako on tvrdi, upućivali najviši dužnosnici i članovi Saveza nezavisnih socijaldemokrata (SNDS).

UO BH novinara istovremeno upozorava na učestalost prijetnji i ugrožavanja sigurnosti novinara koji iznose kritičke stavove o osjetljivim temama iz oblasti političkog, ekonomskog, vjerskog i društvenog života u BiH. Bloger Slobodan Vasković je treća osoba koja je morala napustiti ovu državu zbog kršenja prava na slobodu izražavanja, nesigurnosti i nezaštićenosti. Istovremeno, Linija za pomoć novinarima bilježi da je u period od 2006. do 2016. godine, prema novinarima počinjeno više od 70 krivičnih djela a samo njih 20% su riješeni u korist novinara i sa sankcijama za počinitelje. Više od 45% napada i prijetnji nikada nisu istraženi ili su “arhivirani” zbog navodne nemogućnosti utvrđivanja idetiteta počinitelja.

Zbog toga UO BH novinara još jednom javno zahtijeva da SIPA, Ministarstvo sigurnosti BiH i Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova RS hitno provjere navode o prijetnjama Slobodanu Vaskoviću, a prema osobama za koje se utvrdi da su upućivale prijetnje poduzmu zakonom propisane sankcije.

Call for punishment the one who threaten journalist Sajma Redzepefendic

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21/11/2016

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BELGRADE, 21.11.2016. – Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia strongly condemns threats and insults sent via social networks to journalist Sajma Redzepefendic from Novi Pazar. At the same time, IJAS calls on the Prosecutor’s Office and Novi Pazar police to identify the persons who sent threatening messages and initiate proceedings against them in accordance with the Criminal Law urgently.

Association “Zajedno” from Novi Pazar informed IJAS that Sajma Redzepefendic, its activist and journalist of Radio Television Novi Pazar, “as well as her family and her child (a 10 months baby) was a target of judgments and death threats”. Insults and threatening messages to Redzepefendic came after she had published the following in her post on Facebook profile “confession of women, single mothers, who experienced unpleasantness and verbal assaults from the employees of the Islamic Community in Serbia.” When the status was republished by Glas Pazara portal, judgments and threats followed and continued even after Glas Pazara portal deleted its post.

In its letter to IJAS, “Zajedno” Association points out that “in the previous two weeks an aggressive campaign was lead against all those who loudly and clearly raised their voice against existing problems in Novi Pazar… The activists of civil society organizations and journalists have become sitting ducks and various individuals and members of various organized groups are directing them open threats in public, on the street, and through social networks and, hence, are preventing their actions and tireless work .“

The case was reported to Police Administration in Novi Pazar on November 20, while criminal charges were laid against a person who threatened Sajma Redzepefendic.

IJAS reminds the public that the sentence prescribed for the crime of endangering the safety of journalists is six months to five years in prison.

IJAS Secretariat

AJM rewarded the best photographs from the refugee crisis

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21/11/2016

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SKOPJE, 21.11.2016 The Association of Journalists of Macedonia in cooperation with the US Embassy in Skopje, UNHCR and the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association, on Friday held a ceremony at the Museum of Macedonia in Skopje and presented awards for best photography on the topic refugee wave in 2015 in Macedonia.

The first prize for best photography was given to Maja Zlatevska from the newspaper “Dnevnik”, the second went to Ognen Teofilovski from “Vest” and the third to Gjorgji Licovski from the portal “Sakam da kazam”.

The President of AJM Naser Selmani, in his welcoming speech congratulated the winners and thanked all those who participated in the contest. Selmani said that the refugee wave was a test of ethical reporting for Macedonian photographers, who from the first day followed the refugee crisis reporting for domestic and foreign media.

“Through their photos we comprehended the difficult fate of these desperate people. Migrants were presented in the true light, as victims of senseless wars. Before their photos no human being can not remain indifferent to the plight of the refugees, “said Selmani.

He added through giving awards to professional photographers we strengthen the unity of the journalistic community. “I want to call to remain united so that together we can easily deal with common challenges such as the escalation of attacks against journalists, photoreporters and cameramen” said Selmani.

Laura Brown, the person responsible for public relations at the American Embassy said that the safety of journalists is very important so that they can fulfill their mission. “We in the United States believe that the work of journalists is very important, especialy in times of crisis, as the refugee and political crisys in Macedonia,” said Brown.

She praised the courage and professionalism of photographers because their work contributes to the transmission of the human dimension of the refugee crisis.

UNHCR Representative in Skopje, Tihomir Nikolovski said that by the images of photographers are the voice of refugees.

Nita Cavolli, a representative of the Macedonian Young Lawyers Association said that an image is the most piercing communication channel, because, through it the suffering of refugees is passed and it develops a sense of solidarity and compassion.

After the award ceremony, held at the Museum an exhibition was held where the the 50 best photographs of 20 photoreporters were presented who participated in the contest.

This activity of AJM is part of a project supported by the US Embassy dedicated to Macedonian photographers, within which a Manual for safety of photoreporters and professional ethics was printed.

Photo Source: SDK

AJM, November 20

2016, Skopj

Determine who endangered the safety of Dusan Vojvodic, Za media owner

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15/11/2016

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BELGRADE, November 15, 2016. – The Coalition of journalists’ and media associations (JAS, IJAS, IJAV, ANEM and Local Press) requested from the Zajecar police and prosecutors to launch an investigation regarding loosening screws on journalist and Za media production owner Dusan Vojvodic’ car wheels, and to determine whether this incident is related to his journalistic work. Vojvodic described the incident that took place on November 2, when he left Zajecar for Sokobanja with a colleague Dejan Todorovic.

“Between Zvezdan and Banja Gamzigrad, we heard a sound of a car that resembled the vibrations. First, we did not pay any attention. When we left from Sokobanja to Belgrade, the sound grew louder. On the highway, we concluded that we cannot drive faster than 100 kilometers per hour. We made a few stops to check what it is. When we stopped at the motel ‘Pojate’, Dejan Todorovic took the wheel wrench and found that the bolts on the front and the rear right wheels were loosed. We tightened them and arrived to Belgrade, ” Vojvodic said, adding that he had changed the tires on October 28, and drove his car the day before, and there was no problem with wheels.

“I think that someone did that overnight, between November 1 and 2, before my trip to Sokobanja” says Vojvodic.
As he points out, he thinks that the loosening of bolts is caused by his journalistic job, because “through his research and journalistic work (he) pointed a number of abuse and fraud in the City Administration of Zajecar, but also the destruction of artesian fountain in the city, as well as the pollution of the artesian water by Hotel Serbia Tis”.

“The owners of this hotel have filed a criminal complaint against me because of the letter I sent to the authorised ministry the day before the inspection, but the Prosecutor’s Office in Zajecar rejected it. I was treated by the actor Vujadin Milosevic and Bosko Nicic, former Mayor of Zajecar, and they said that the crystal night is awaiting for me once they take the power “, Vojvodic said.

He added that Za media, in addition to “the stories about fountains, is engaged in serious research on the public funds spending and embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dinars in Zajecar.”

As he says, he does not want to “point the finger” at anyone, but wants to point out the possible motives for the attack because “dealing with journalism earned him a lots of enemies and it is quite certain that this was done intentionally.” Dušan Vojvodic reported the incident to the police.

The Coalition points out that the duty of the police is to ensure the safety of all citizens, particularly journalists who do the work of public importance and facing threats by those whose illegal activities indicate.

Coalition expect from Zajecar police and prosecutors to investigate as soon as possible, and to inform the public about results.

Journalists Association of Serbia (JAS)
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS)
Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (IJAV)
Independent Association of Electronic Media (ANEM)
Business Association Local Press

AJM agrees with EU assessments of the media

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10/11/2016

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SKOPJE, 10.11.2016 The Association of Journalists of Macedonia agrees with the opinion of the European Commission that the state of press freedom this year in Macedonia deteriorated. Commission report on Macedonia’s progress this year, rightly concludes that most Macedonian media lack political pluralism and that national television stations are backing the ruling party.

We conclude that most assessments of the Commission regarding the violence against journalists, media financing and the Macedonian Radio Television and the media regulator coincide with the views of AJM.

The Commission confirms that journalists are exposed to all sorts of attacks, while the authorities do nothing to punish abusers, which include politicians. Clearly it states that physical assaults, illegal wiretapping and poor working conditions of journalists aim to encourage self-censorship.

The European Commission does not seek to legitimize government campaigns that serve to exert pressure on the media, but requires full transparency for money spent so far for this purpose. The report insists on the criteria for publishing the free media campaigns that are of genuine public interest.

Unequivocally confirmed concerns of AJM editorial and financial independence of the Macedonian Radio and Television, which is still unable to provide objective and accurate reporting of different views and opinions of the public.

The Commission appreciates the efforts of the news organizations for media reform, but concluded that there was no political commitment to promote media pluralism and independence.

AJM supports the European Commission calls for an inclusive dialogue with the journalistic community to take drastic measures to strengthen the independence and pluralism of the media.

Photo: MIA

Skopje, November 10, 2016

Association of Journalists of Macedonia

Reaction to the President Hashim Thaçi’s press conference

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01/11/2016

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kosovo-president-hashim-thaci — Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci

PRISTINA, 30.10.2016 – Association of Journalists of Kosovo considers the actions of the President Hashim Thaci as unacceptable, who did not take any questions from the journalists. We wish to remind President Thaci that he is bound by law to answer to the interests of journalists. Today’s act of the presidency reflects the disrespect of journalists and neglect of our work. At the same time we demand from the presidency to apologize to all journalists for what happened today.
The President should have in mind to accept questions by journalists and answer them in his future addresses, since the presidency as an institution should be a focal point for transparency. We would also like to take this opportunity to call on all heads of institutions to be more open to media. Facebook statuses are not a proper way of communication, therefore all those individuals holding senior institutional positions in Kosovo have to seriously think about improving their communication with the journalists.

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