hrvatsko novinarsko društvo croatian journalists' association
Perkovčeva 2 | 10 000 Zagreb | Tel: 482-8333 | Faks: 482-8332 | E-mail: hnd@hnd.hr

Arhiva priopćenja

SEEMO upuæuje prosvjed makedonskoj vladi

03.10.2007.

SEEMO PROTEST MACEDONIA

H.E. Branko Crvenkovski
President of the Republic of Macedonia
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)
Fax: +389 2 3112 147

H.E. Ljubisha Georgievski
President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)
Fax: +389 2 3113 643

 

H.E. Nikola Gruevski
Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)
Fax: +389 2 3112 561

 

CC:
Ms. Gordana Jankuloska
Minister of Interior of the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)

Vienna, 2 October 2007


Your Excellencies,
 
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about recent physical attacks by security and police forces on journalists in Macedonia.

On 25 September, after a debate in parliament over electoral reform, Lirim Dullovi, a reporter for the private TV station A1, was assaulted by a person with the initials B.A, a security guard of the ethnic Albanian party Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).
One day after this incident, Igor Ljubovcevski, a camera crew member of the private TV station ALSAT-M, was physically attacked and injured by the Macedonian police. The incident happened in the town of Tetovo after Ljubovcevski refused to hand over his video footage to the police.

During these two days camera crew members for several other TV stations were also forced to hand over their video material to the police.

SEEMO supports the initiative of those Macedonian journalists who boycotted the government press conference on 27 September out of protest against the physical attacks on their colleagues. SEEMO also welcomes the police warrant issued against B.A. for assault and battery charges in the Dullovi case and urges the authorities to investigate the police attack on Ljubovcevski.

SEEMO strongly condemns physical attacks on journalists and would like to remind Your Excellencies that an open media environment, allowing for the free work of media representatives, is a fundamental principle of any democratic society. Violence and threats, as well as other pressures on journalists, have no place in a democratic society.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic
SEEMO Secretary General

PRESS RELEASE SLOVENIA

IPI calls on Slovenian government to hold an independent inquiry into allegations of political pressure on the media, expresses support for petition by Slovenian journalists
 
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in over 120 countries, and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), have expressed their support for the “Petition Against Censorship and Political Pressures on Journalists in Slovenia”, signed by 438 journalists from the major media outlets in Slovenia and sent to the heads of state, prime ministers and parliamentary speakers of all EU member states.
 
The concerns outlined in the Petition correspond to the issues brought up in an IPI/SEEMO press release of 31 August.
 
One of the allegations mentioned in the press release was that the Slovenian government is indirectly influencing the media through its exploitation of business relationships with companies that have financial holdings in a range of media organisations. “Business relationships and share holdings should never be used by the government as leverage to induce independent media organisations to publish favourable news stories,” IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said at the time.
 
IPI also shares the concerns expressed in the Petition over the number of instances of censorship exercised on individual journalists who have written articles critical of the government of President Janez Janša.
 
Slovenia will take over the presidency of the European Union (EU) during the first half of 2008 as the first of the new member states that joined the EU on 1 May 2004. Countries that assume the EU presidency must lead by example. If the principle of editorial independence is breached, it is not only of serious concern for the media, but also for the public who rely on their information. IPI therefore calls on the Slovenian government to hold an independent inquiry into the allegations of political pressure on the media.
 
Three months remain until Slovenia will assume the presidency of the EU on 1 January 2008. This allows the Slovenian government enough time to set up an independent inquiry and to ensure that the executive branch of government is always held at arm’s length from the media.
 
If no progress is made in this direction, IPI/SEEMO will be obliged to send a high-level mission of international media representatives to Slovenia at the beginning of 2008 to investigate the situation of the media environment and put pressure on the key decision makers to ensure editorial independence.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SEEMO is a regional network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe.
 
****
SEEMO - IPI, Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria, Tel (SEEMO+HELP LINE): +43 1 513 39 40, Tel (SEEMO): +43 1 512 90 11 11, Fax: +43 1 512 90 15, E-mail: info@seemo.org, Web: http://www.seemo.org
 
****

Povratak

AKTUALNO