Napadnut grèki sportski novinar

04.10.2005.

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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3 October 2005
Another sports journalist assaulted

SOURCE: International Press Institute (IPI), Vienna

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a letter by the South East Europe Media
Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate:

H.E. Jorgos Voulgarakis
Minister of Public Order
Athens, Greece
Fax: +30 210 691 2661, 692 0487, 692 9764

H.E. Jorgos Orfanos
Deputy Minister of Culture (Responsible for Sports)
Athens, Greece
Fax: +30 210 820 1373, 324 6085, 322 8831

Vienna, 3 October 2005

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 alarmed about  the recent assault on yet another sports journalist in Greece.

According to information before SEEMO, on late Friday evening, 30 September  2005, Periklis Stellas, sports journalist and director of the Thessaloniki  branch of the sports daily newspaper, Goal News, was attacked by an unknown  person as he was leaving his office in the centre of Thessaloniki. The  unknown person hit him several times in the head and face, leaving him with concussion, a fractured jawbone and other minor injuries. The journalist was
subsequently rushed to hospital. According to the police there were no eyewitnesses to the attack.

We would like to remind your Excellencies that this is the third attack on a sports journalist in Greece in the past year. In October 2004, sports journalist and head of the Sports Department of the Eleftherotypia daily newspaper, Philippos Syrigos, was attacked in the car park near the Super Sport FM radio station when walking to his car after a radio show. His attackers were two unidentified individuals wearing helmets, who hit him on the head with a metal bar and stabbed him several times in the back. The two  perpetrators managed to escape. On 7 May 2005, Kostas Nikolakopoulos, a journalist for the sports daily Fos ton Sport and the radio station Super  Sport FM, was attacked by four unknown men in front of his wife and two  young daughters, only metres away from his home in Ilion, Athens. During the  attack, Nikolakopoulos was repeatedly hit on the head and about the body with knuckledusters and iron bars. Once Nikolakopoulos had fallen to the  ground, the men disappeared. Nikolakopoulos was later taken to a nearby  hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

SEEMO regards these attacks as a very serious violation of press freedom and  the rights of journalists. We ask Your Excellencies to start an  investigation into this case and to take all necessary legal steps. We would like to remind Your Excellencies that a safe working environment for  journalists is a fundamental principle in every democratic society.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Vujovic
SEEMO Secretary General

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Similar appeals can be sent to:

H.E. Jorgos Voulgarakis
Minister of Public Order
Athens, Greece
Fax: +30 210 691 2661 / 692 0487 / 692 9764

H.E. Jorgos Orfanos
Deputy Minister of Culture (Responsible for Sports)
Athens, Greece
Fax: +30 210 820 1373 / 324 6085 / 322 8831

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact IPI at Spiegelgasse 2/29, A-1010 Vienna,
Austria, tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14, e-mail:
ipi@freemedia.at, Internet site: http://www.freemedia.at, or SEEMO,
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, Internet site://www.seemo.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of IPI.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit IPI.
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