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To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (CJES), center@cjes.ru
Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations www.cjes.ru
DANGEROUS PROFESSION
Weekly bulletin of events in CIS mass media Issue No. 22 (279), May 28 –
June 03, 2007
I. Lawsuits against Journalists
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov on May 31 accused the website
of the newspaper Realny Azerbaijan, which is founded by Einulla Fatullayev,
of making a terrorist threat.
It follows from Garalov's words that the site contains addresses of several
state-run objects that, according to the paper, are under the threat of
bombing by Iran. "This information is a terrorist threat. Therefore, the
National Security Ministry has opened a criminal case based on Part 1 of
Article 214 of the Criminal Code."
***
The appeal filed by the newspaper Azadlyg and the information agency Turan
with the Court for Economic Crimes on May 26 regarding their eviction from
their offices has been rejected.
Intigam Aliyev, who represented the media organizations in court, said
Azadlyg and Turan are planning to go to the European Court.
Kazakhstan
The administration of the newspaper Karavan on may 31 received a bailiffs'
warning stating that the paper has violated the court ruling banning the
publication of the paper by having its materials published on an Internet
site, Svetlana Shamychkova, a senior legal adviser with he publishing
house Alma-Media, told reporters.
The website has now been closed.
"The bailiffs have found that the warning issued b a specialized
interdistrict economic court applies not only to the print edition of the
paper, but also to its electronic version," said Shamychkova.
Shamychkova also said a court clarification was needed to close the website
'The thing is that the prosecutor in his claim seeking the suspension of
the paper spoke about a print publication with a registration number.
Therefore, l the court had no right to go beyond the limits of the claims
and banned the publication of only the print version of the paper," she
said, adding that the bailiff most likely misinterpreted the ruling.
The Karavan administration has sent a letter to the bailiff of the Almaty
Courts Administrator, in which he is being asked to come to court to
clarify his position.
Kyrgyzstan
The state-run enterprise National Company Kyrgyz Temir Zholu on May 28
filed a lawsuit against Kairat Birimkulov, a journalist with the National
Television and Radio Corporation (NTRK), who is accused accuses of
disseminating information defaming the company staff. The information,
which company officials have found to be defamatory was voiced during a
press conference given by Birimkulov and Viktor Gorev, chairman of the
Public Association for the Protection of Consumers' Rights in the AKIpress
agency on January 29.
The company is demanding that the journalist Birimkulov refute the
information stated by him during the press company. The plaintiffs are
seeking to recover from Birimkulov and Gorev 1 million ($26,315) in moral
damages.
The journalist believes he is being persecuted for the statements he made
at the press conference, which addressed issues relating to corruption in
the Kyrgyz railway and television reports on the matter.
Justice Margarita Melnikova of the Bishkek Leninsky District Court on May
31 postponed the trial till July 2007, the public association Journalists
reported citing information received from Birimkulov.
Ukraine
The press service for the Prosecutor General's Office on May 28 issued a
statement accusing Channel 5 journalists of providing a biased coverage of
the work of the Prosecutor General's Office and Prosecutor General
Svyatoslav Piskun. Among other things, the press service links the position
of Channel 5 wit the investigation into the criminal case against two
Ukrainian nationals working for Channel 5, who are charged with smuggling
drugs over the Ukrainian, German, and Polish borders. The criminal case was
opened by the Polish law enforcement agencies and is being investigated by
the Kyiv prosecutor's office.
In his turn, journalist Vladimir Aryev, who heads the producing center
Zakrytaya Zona, said he intends to ask acting prosecutor general Viktor
Shemchuk to conduct an investigation and give a legal evaluation to the
actions by Prosecutor General's Office officials, whom he is accusing of
disseminating untrue information.
The journalist is also denying the drugs smuggling charges and says these
accusations are pressure on the media. He says the cigarettes containing
narcotic substances, which he bought in Holland, were had been taken by him
from Holland to Ukraine as a journalistic experiment. "For nine months, no
one contacted us. Nobody summoned me to the prosecutor's office, nobody
asked me to explain anything, nobody made any claims against me, and I did
not sign anything," he said in an interview with 1+1 television.
At the same time, Piskun has promised to investigate the statement made by
the press service for the Prosecutor General's Office, in which Channel 5
was accused of bias, ad aid he will apologize to the channel if the
information contained in the information proves to be untrue.
When asked what he personally thinks about Channel 5's objectivity, Piskun
said: "I personally believe Channel 5 sometimes provides a distorted
coverage. I can think so, it's my right as a citizen." "If the journalists
from the press service for the Prosecutor General's Office have gone a
little overboard, they will be punished," he said. He also called on
Channel 5 to seek protection in court.
Acting prosecutor general Viktor Shemchuk said no statement could have been
prepared in the prosecutor General's Office as Money, May 28, was a
non-business day. At the same time, he promised to get to the bottom of
this situation and punish those responsible for it.
The observer council, administration and staff of Channel 5 also believe
the statement made by the press service for the Prosecutor General's Office
accusing Channel 5 of bias is "an attempt to put pressure on journalists
and an encroachment on freedom of speech in Ukraine."
"We are calling on the press service for the Prosecutor General's Office to
be guided by facts, not assumptions, and not discredit an important public
body such as the Ukrainian Prosecutor Genera's Office by its ungrounded
statements," the channel said in a release signed by Pyotr Poroshenko
(Channel 5 observer council chairman and a parliamentarian), Ivan Admachuk
(Channel 5 general director), and Oleksandr Narodetsky (Channel 5
editor-in-chief).
"Since the creation of Channel 5, our journalists have followed the
principles of objectivity and the editorial staff have protected and
continue to protect the principles of balanced information coverage. For
this reason, we disagree with Svyatoslav Piskun. In effect, by making
accusations against journalists Aryev and Fitsych, you are trying to
discredit the entire staff f Channel 5, making hasty and ungrounded
conclusions about its professionalism," says the release.
II. Other Forms of Pressure on the Media. Conflicts with the Authorities
and Political Organizations
Armenia/Azerbaijan
The 25-31 May weekly edition of the Yerevan Press Club's bulletin published
information that the Azerbaijani media have received "a package of
materials from the Armenian Union of Journalists" containing a statement by
the Union's chairman Astkhik Gevorkyan. In that statement, ten journalistic
organizations of Armenia protest the arrest of Einulla Fatullayev, editor
of the newspaper Realny Azerbaijan, and demand his urgent release. The
second material included in the package contained the same text, but it
also stated the names and contact details of the heads of ten journalistic
organizations of Armenia and was made o an official letterhead of the NGO
Journalists-Investigators. The third part of the package was an article by
journalist nelson Aleksanyan entitled Enema for Bitter Pill, which was
taken from the website www.analitika.am. The article was accompanied by
several photos, including a copy of the passport of an Armenian citizen
(the citizen's name is withheld by CJES) and a photo of a man resembling
Fatullayev. The package allegedly came from Gevorkyan's electronic address
astqik_gevorkyan@mail.ru
The Yerevan Press Club has found out that Gevorkyan has never had the
above-mentioned email and Gevorkyan, Journalists-Investigators, and the
other journalistic associations stated in the "materials" have never made
or sent out any statements regarding Fatullayev. As to Aleksanayn's
article, it was indeed posted on the website
www.analitika.am on May 21,
but was accompanied by only one photo, a portrait of Fatullayev.
The Yeveran Press Club believes the reasons for Fatullayev's persecution
stated in the article are solely the viewpoint of the author of that
article and can in no way be a consequence of the wave of protest against
Fatullayev's conviction in Armenia.
"The journalistic community of Armenia has always opposed criminal
persecution of journalistic for heir professional activities. However,
Armenian journalists have never initiated any protest actions in connection
with the arrests and convictions of Azerbaijani journalists (which have
recently become especially frequent), primarily because of the sensitive
nature of he relations between our two countries. In this situation, the
principle of not harming has become the priority. Who needed this fake? We
believe Azerbaijani journalists will have no problem finding an answer to
that question," the Yerevan Press Club said in its bulletin.
Kyrgyzstan
An explosion occurred in the toilet of the KyrgyzGIIZ (the Main Institute
for Engineering Research) building in Osh, where the newspapers Eklho Osha
and Ush Sadosi are headquartered, at 12:30 on May 30. The explosion did no
cause any casualties as all journalists were out for lunch at the time of
the blast.
A BMU-3 detonator was found in the debris, the Osh police said on May 31.
On the same day, the city prosecutor's office opened a criminal case on the
basis of Article 226 of the Kyrgyz Criminal Code (terrorism). The case
materials have been forwarded to the department of the State National
Security Committee for Osh and the Osh region.
III. Restrictions of Access to Information
Azerbaijan
The satirical website TinsoНbeti.com, which was set up by Azerbaijani
emigrants in Germany, has experienced a hacking attack and has been closed
in Azerbaijan, the Institute for Reporter's Freedom and Safety has
reported.
The Institute believes the attack was carried out on the orders of the
Azerbaijani authorities, whom this site has sharply and regularly
criticized. Several days before being closed, the site published videos and
photos of the seizure of the office of the newspaper Realny Azerbaijan and
its subsequent eviction.
Kazakhstan
The company Kazakhtelekom and decided to suspend the operation of the
webiste the www.kz-today.kz, the information agency Kazakhstan Today has
reported.
Technical support experts from the publishing house Alma-Media, of which
Kazakhstan Today is part, Kazakhtelekom began blocking IP packages coming
from networks owned by Alma-Media (which supports Kazakhstan Today's DNS
servers) on May 26.
The office of Gazeta.kz has recently been broken into, Gazeta.kz has
reported. Unknown individuals broke into the publications office and
rendered some of the computer programs used by Gazeta.kz inoperable. The
unknown burglars also changed the passwords and took all of the information
stored on the editorial computers. Several days later, Gazeta.kz received
letters containing an offer to restore all data and repair all of the
damaged programs for only $5. The letter stated an electronic money account
to which to transfer the money.
***
Journalist Aliya Akhmediyeva, a representative of the Kazakhstan
International Bureau for Human Rights and the Observance of Law, and her
colleague Aidar Khadzhimuratov were unable to attend the May 26 hearing of
the lawsuit filed by the newspaper Vecherny Taldykorgan against the city
administration.
The Taldykorgan City Court security barred the journalist from the
courtroom, citing an order from the Almaty region's administrator A.
Zhaksybayev.
***
The international foundation Adil Soz, which is campaigning for freedom of
speech, has a copy of departmental decree № 1464-4 issued by the
Almaty region's court administrator on May 4, 2007, which is addressed to
the chairmen of the district courts and senior bailiffs of territorial
divisions. The decree is signed by court the Almaty region's administrator
A. Zhaksybayev.
The directive calls for the "prevention of uncontrolled presence in
buildings of people unrelated to legal proceedings" and "the prevention of
sabotage by a certain category of persons." The document also prohibits
people visiting courts from bring in photo and video equipment, cell phones
and other electronic and radio devices without permission from the court
chairman and having "non-procedural contacts with judges and court
officials in court and outside it."
Adil Soz believes this directive contracts the current legislation. In
particular, the Rules Governing Citizens' Presence in the Court Buildings
(Premises) cited by Zhaksybayev directly states that "media assistants […]
have the right to enter court buildings during office hours with work IDs
[…] to attend court hearings and officials events open to the press." The
Rules also state that "court visitors have the right to be present at
hearings as observers […] if the hearing is not closed to the press."
In addition, this directive contracts Article 29 of the Criminal Code,
Article 19 of the Civil Code, Article 24 of the Code of Administrative
Violations, and the current decrees issued by the Supreme Court and Letter
of Instruction № 10-9/1017 issued by the Supreme Court on November 7,
2000, which are aimed at ensuring the openness of trials.
Tajikistan/Uzbekistan
The sale of Uzbek print publication has been banned in the northern part of
Tajikistan, REGNUM has reported.
Until recently, some 20-30 Uzbek print publications have been sold in
Tajikistan, Nurullo Ziyeboyev, director of the department of the Tajik
press authority Todzhikmatbot in the Sogdiisk region, said on May 30.
"The authorities do not know how these media organizations get into the
region and who sells them. For this reason, a decision was made to ban the
sale of these products," said Ziyeboyev.
The official also said the sellers and suppliers of Uzbek media products
will now be required to have special permits. "These permits will be
determined by the Tajik Culture Ministry," he said.
Uzbekistan/Russia
Virtually all Russian news websites and major CIS Internet resources were
blocked in Uzbekistan for an unknown reason on May 28.
The long list of the blocked Internet sites (which includes Newsru.com,
Radio Liberty, RIA Novosti, Lenta.ru, Gazeta.ru, Gzt.ru, Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, Vesti.ru, Trud.Ru, Obozrevatel.com, Redtram.com, Zonakz.net, and
Day.az.
Commentary Prepared by CJES Lawyer Viktoriya Blonskaya (III. Kazakhstan)
The reason why journalist Aliya Akhmediyeva and her colleague were unable
to attend the trial of the lawsuit filed by the paper Vecherny Taldykorgan
was departmental decree № 1464-4 issued by the Almaty region's court
administrator A. Zhaksybayev on May 4, 2007. We believe this decree
contradicts the right of journalists to "seek, request, receive and
disseminate information; make recordings, including with the use of audio
and visual equipment, except for cases envisioned by legislative acts of
the Republic of Kazakhstan (Article 20 of the Kazakh law On the Mass
Media).
The provision of the directive prohibiting visitors from carrying into
courts audio and video equipment, making recordings and taking photographs
also contracts Article 19 of the Civil Code (which deals with the openness
of trials).
Under Article 352 of the Code of Administrative Violations (which deals
with the prevention of the lawful professional activities of journalists),
"the creation of conditions preventing journalist from fulfilling their
professional duties is punishable by a fine in an amount of up to 50
monthly units."
Best regards,
Oleg Panfilov
director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations
phone/fax: +7 495 637 7626
mobile: +7 495 233 2593
address:room 101, 4 Zubovsky blv.Moscow 119992 Russia panfilov@cjes.ru
http://oleg-panfilov.livejournal.com/
www.panfilov.org
**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole
responsibility of CJES**
