Photo credit: CIN 

Sarajevo, 27.10.2021. – The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association demands from the Directorate of Federal Police (FUP) and the federal minister of internal affairs Aljoša Čampara to immediately sanction Zoran Čegar, head of the Uniformed Police Sector, for brutal threats to journalists from the Center for Investigative Journalism from Sarajevo!

Working on the story about how he acquired multimillion-dollar property in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, CIN journalists contacted Čegar to get the necessary information. In a telephone conversation, they asked Čegar for an interview, but he refused, with threats and curses. Čegar ended the conversation with journalists by saying: “Don’t even think of calling me again, so that I don’t come to you from where you’re calling me”, and he cursingly called the journalist a “Chetnik”.

A similar attack on CIN journalists was repeated yesterday in front of the Dubrovnik Municipal Court, where Zoran Čegar’s trial for the criminal offense of fraud began. After the CIN journalist asked Čegar for a comment, he reacted violently and threatened: “Don’t make me rip your throat out!”.

Such monstrous threats and insults to journalists come from a high-ranking person in the police hierarchy, who should be responsible for law enforcement and protecting citizens from all kinds of brutality, physical and verbal attacks, and not be the one who will attack and threaten!

The fact that a high-ranking police officer in a public position verbally attacks CIN journalists and directly threatens with physical violence has additional weight and requires an urgent response from the federal police structures! At the very least, the aforementioned actions towards our colleagues deserve the immediate suspension of Zoran Čegar from the position he holds.

If the FUP and federal minister Čampara have not already found it appropriate to react due to the fact that the indictment against Čegar for the criminal offense of fraud was brought up in Croatia in 2019, justifying that they “did not know” about it because “Čegar didn’t inform them” (?!), then brutal threats and violent behavior towards journalists should be reason enough to dismiss such a person from all official duties and sanction him in accordance with the law.

The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) will report this case to the Directorate of Federal Police, as well as other competent domestic and international institutions, and insist on the sanctioning of the police officer Čegar and his prosecution for assaulting and endangering the safety of journalists.

Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association/Free Media Help Line

On 25 October 2022, eleven journalists were arrested following raids on their homes in the cities of Ankara, Istanbul, Van, Diyarbakir, Urfa and Mardin in Turkey. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) join their affiliates TGS and DISK Basin-Is in urging the authorities to immediately release the detained journalists and stop the raids on their homes.

According to IFJ and EFJ affiliates, Turkish authorities raided the homes of 10 journalists as part of “terrorism-related” investigations led by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to DISK, the journalists were flown to the floor head down, handcuffed with weapons pointed at them.

Premises of the two pro-Kurdish media outlets were searched and the alleged relations of these journalists with outlawed Kurdish militants supposedly led to their arrests. Journalists of Mesopotamia Agency and JINNEWS were targeted, both pro-Kurdish media newsrooms.

A 24-hour restriction order was issued against the detained journalists. Restrictions on lawyers have been imposed and journalists’ offices are also being sought.
The arrested journalists were:

• Diren Yurtsever, Selman Güzelyüz, Emrullah Acar, Hakan Yalçın, Berivan Altan, Zemo Ağgöz, Ceylan Şahinli, Mehmet Günhan (former reporting intern) from Mesopotamia Agency
• Habibe Eren, Öznur Değer, Derya Ren from JINNEWS

According to the Mezopotamya, over 100 books but also, computers, newspapers, Kurdish magazines and ID cards were confiscated by the police.

Turkey’s parliament passed on 13 October a highly criticised law that could see reporters and social media users jailed for up to three years. The law criminalises free flow of information by providing a framework for extensive censorship of online information. Journalists found guilty of deliberately publishing “disinformation and fake news” could face up to three 3 years in prison. This enables the government to further subdue and control public debate in the lead up to Turkey’s general elections in 2023.

DISK Basin-Is said: “We are concerned that this number will increase. Journalism is not a crime. We appeal to our colleagues and the whole community. Don’t be silent against pressure. If you keep quiet, one day it will be your turn.”

TGS said “These operations are an attack on the citizen’s right to be informed. We want our colleagues to be released as soon as possible. Journalists cannot go to the elections by being detained! You will not be able to criminalise journalism with these applications! ”

The Federations said “We are highly concerned by this new development just a few weeks after the adoption of the new Disinformation law. We call for the immediate release of the journalists and urge the authorities to stop the crackdown on our journalists colleagues.”

Roma people are usually only given space in the media when it is either World Roma Day or through media coverage of government support programmes for the Roma community. Even then, the reporting remains purely factual, without a deeper analysis and a critical view on the position of the Roma in Serbia. 

Media reports fail to draw attention to the discrimination against Roma people in Serbian society, although their reality is filled with prejudice, discrimination, but also physical and racist attacks.

Additionally, when reporting on the Roma, there is very little space for positive stories, even on the public broadcasting service, which is financed by all citizens of Serbia, thus including Roma people.

“When we talk about reporting on the Roma population, it is inevitable to mention that reporters are insufficiently informed about the current position of the Roma. Also, when Roma people participate in “positive stories”, that is, when they participate in joint programs and when they fight together with the citizens of Serbia for a better society, the media does not recognise that the participants are Roma. However, when a negative story is conveyed, for example a theft, then, even though that information is not relevant, it is emphasized that the perpetrator is Roma. “This creates prejudice”, says Mihajlo Jovanović, an activist from the Roma Association of Braničevo district and the author of the Youth for Youth podcast.

The media plays a role in creating the image that shapes public opinion. However, media workers are also citizens who live in a certain society and therefore adopt the dominant narrative of that society. Mainstream media reporters rarely question their standpoints, and therefore run the risk of reproducing deeply ingrained stereotypes. When we report on marginalized groups (in this case the Roma), we must be aware of their position in society, the prejudice, and the stereotypes that exist in society, but also in our attitudes. “Roma are good musicians” is also a stereotype about the Roma community. Although it is not negative and does not directly cause harm, it nevertheless creates generalization of all members of one group. Generalisation of any kind contributes to building negative attitudes towards the whole group based on individual examples. In this way, when media, for example, report on theft and mention that the perpetrator is Roma, we get a generalised, negative attitude about all representatives of that community. This is precisely why the Code of Journalistic Ethics forbids mentioning the ethnicity of perpetuators unless it is essential to the story. However, the Code is violated on a daily basis.

Due to ignorance and deeply ingrained stereotypes, journalists can create a negative image when reporting, even when their intention is good. Exactly for that reason, it is important to create space for genuine Roma voices, but not just to speak about issues related to the Roma community but also on different topics relevant for all citizens of the society we live in.

Jovanović pointed out that young Roma men and women are working towards a more inclusive society, breaking down walls of misunderstanding, as well as informing citizens about the position of the Roma through the regional conferences Decade of Roma Inclusion.

In the media, there is almost no critical analysis of the government support programs for the Roma community, and the reporting is initiated by pseudo-events that promote state policy on the Roma and government support for the Roma community.

The media has a long way to go to replace factual reporting with a critical analysis of the position of the Roma community in society, the effectiveness of the implementation of the state’s minority inclusion policies, as well as issues of discrimination and racism. There are examples of good practice, but it is time for the mainstream media, more generally, to become more inclusive and provide a platform for those who have been silent for too long.

Author: Ivana Jovanović

Article originaly published at mladi.org.rs

BRUSSELS, 19.10.2022. – On freedom of expression, limited progress was made on last year’s recommendations. The legal framework for the protection of journalists and other media workers has improved thanks to the adoption of amendments to the Criminal Code laying down more stringent penalties against attacks and threats against journalists and obstructing or preventing them from performing their work.

This is stated in the latest European Commission report on Montenegro’s joining process.

Amendments to the Criminal Code were initiated by Action for Human Rights and the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro and were later supported by seven non-governmental organizations dealing with media freedom. The advocacy process lasted more than ten years.

The Criminal Code has been amended so that the penalties for criminal offenses in which journalists and other media workers are victims have been increased.

However, as written in the Report, the position of media employees has not improved: “Journalists continued to report overall poor working conditions, including low salaries, unpaid overtime work, security risks and different forms of pressure and undue influence on their work, both from media owners and third parties. The trend of media outlets and journalists launching defamation lawsuits against their competitors has continued. The socioeconomic situation and working conditions are particularly difficult in local public broadcasters, which are directly exposed to editorial influence and financial control by local authorities.”

Also, in the report, the EC notes the “strongly worded public criticism of the work of both public and private media outlets” by high-ranking officials, as well as the lack of effective judicial proceedings in important older cases of attack on journalists.

“The institutional and law enforcement response to address new cases of violence against
journalists and media workers has improved. However, there has been no breakthrough in
critical old cases, including the 2004 murder of the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper
Dan. In December 2021, the police arrested two individuals, one of whom a police officer, on suspicion of being involved in the 2018 shooting of an investigative journalist.”

It also states that the adoption of the draft media laws and strategy is pending.

“Deep political polarisation of the media scene persisted, while growing competition from big regional media placed additional strain on the local media market. Further sustained efforts are needed to establish effective self-regulatory mechanisms. The public broadcaster Radio Televizija Crne Gore (Radio Television of Montenegro –RTCG) continued to pursue a balanced editorial policy, featuring politically diverse content.”

Turkey’s parliament yesterday approved a tough new media law that provides for up to three years in prison for journalists and social media users spreading false or misleading information. The Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) denounced the law as a move by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to stifle critical voices ahead of the general elections in June 2023. We spoke to EFJ Vice-President Mustafa Kuleli about the impact on journalism and free speech in Turkey.

What will the law passed yesterday change for Turkish journalists?

The purpose of this law is not to fight disinformation but to end factual reporting and freedom of expression. Now that it is passed, the last remnants of the freedom of expression risk being lost. The highly politicised Turkish judiciary has “a stick of censorship” in its hands, allowing courts to hand down jail sentences of up to three years to journalists and regular social media users who allegedly “openly spread misleading information”. Basically, any critical posts on social media could be denounced as “misinformation”. It will provide a legal basis for many abuses by a judiciary, which is already politically controlled and lacks independence. Millions of Internet users in Turkey will risk imprisonment.

What are the most concerning articles of the new proposed law?

Article 29 introduces a new crime of “public dissemination of misleading information” into the Turkish legal system. As this crime is defined in rather vague and open-ended terms, it is unclear how prosecutors will determine “fake news” and those who participate in its dissemination. Social networks and internet sites will be required to hand over personal details of users suspected of “propagating misleading information”. In addition, the law includes concepts such as “disinformation”, “baseless information” and “distorted information” without providing legal definitions. It also refers to “security”, “public order” and “public peace”, which have been used repeatedly against journalists in legal harassment cases. Criminalising such actions might lead to developments that could shake the roots of democracy and the core principles of freedom of expression.

Why is Erdogan’s AKP party introducing this legislation now?

The haste with which this law was passed may indicate that the government’s objective is to increase pressure on journalists and social media users before the elections. The proposal, prepared without consultation with journalists’ organisations and civil society, has been controversial even within the government.

Source: EFJ