22.5.2015. (Tanjug, B92) - The key problem in the Western Balkans is that regional countries "have not yet overcome the system of controlling the media," says Dunja Mijatovic.

The OSCE media freedom representative also believes that "the main threats to media freedom in the OSCE countries are the increasingly frequent attacks on journalists and the attempts to filter out content on the internet and block access to it."

Speaking for the European Western Balkans website, Mijatovic stated that the scale of the problem of media freedom varies from region to region, but the essence remains the safety of journalists and the freedom on the internet.

"The main problem that prevails in the Western Balkans is that the region has not yet overcome the legacy of the previous system. By that I mean, controlling the media," she said.

According to the OSCE official, some positive steps have been observed in Macedonia when the first press council was established, and in Montenegro that is now drafting the code of ethics of journalists.

"I am also aware that there are efforts, led by the Council of Europe, to formalize a network of self-regulatory bodies in Southeast Europe which, in my opinion, could significantly improve the quality of journalism and solidarity among journalists in the region. I am awaiting the implementation," said Mijatovic.

Another positive step is the formation of independent commissions that monitor investigations into murders of journalists, she noted.

"However, there is no way to replace the responsibility of state institutions and the sorely needed political will and effort to bring the murderers and those who ordered the horrific attacks on the media to justice. Safety of journalists will always be a priority for my office," said Mijatovic.

She added the attack on the editorial board of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris earlier this year was "an unprecedented assault on freedom of speech and freedom of the media."

"I think we will be facing the consequences of that terrible attack for a long time," Mijatovic said, and concluded:

"I believe that the best response is continued expression of the right to freedom of expression without any restraint or self-censorship."

24.4.2015. (Tanjug) - The situation concerning freedom of the media is not good anywhere in the Western Balkans, and in its annual reports reviewing the progress made by candidate countries, the European Commission (EC) will dedicate much attention to the topic, it has been said at a panel discussion on the region's media, held in Brussels.

BRUSSELS - The situation concerning freedom of the media is not good anywhere in the Western Balkans, and in its annual reports reviewing the progress made by candidate countries, the European Commission (EC) will dedicate much attention to the topic, it has been said at a panel discussion on the region's media, held in Brussels. The media are at risk, not only in candidate countries, but also in the Eastern neighborhood, even in the EU itself, said the EC's Principal Adviser on Civil Society and Media Andris Kesteris in the panel discussion organized by the European Policy Center on Thursday. In our next annual progress report, we will devote much more attention to the issue than it was the case in previous years, Kesteris said, adding that the EC expert delegation would come to Serbia in July to review the implementation of the set of media laws to date. There are no uniform criteria for freedom of the media in the EU, so the issue is addressed within Chapter 23, which covers the field of fundamental rights, and it is the Commission's stance that in accession negotiations with Serbia, the chapter should be opened as soon as possible, he said. 

23.4.2015. (B92) - VIENNA -- Dunja Mijatovic has called on Macedonia's authorities to immediately investigate the death threat against the NOVA TV editor Borjan Jovanovski and his family.

The OSCE representative on freedom of the media issued a statement on Wednesday saying that "this horrendous act adds to the already fragile media environment situation in the country and sends yet another message that critical voices are to be silenced."

"Acts like these acts have a clear chilling effect on free media and are not acceptable in a democratic society," she added.

The OSCE statement specified that "on April 21, a funeral wreath with a message 'Final Farewell' was placed in front of Jovanovski's home in Skopje," and that the threat was reported to the police.

Mijatovic noted that the VMRO-DPMNE political party, the Journalists' Plenum, Macedonian Institute for Media, the Agency for Audio and Audio-visual Media Services, and both journalists associations AJM and MAN condemned the incident.

"I call on the authorities to launch an immediate and thorough investigation. For many years Jovanovski has been exposed to threats and widespread criticism for his critical reporting. The authorities need to show that there can be no impunity for such acts, and they should start with fully investigate this death threat and bring perpetrators to justice," the OSCE official said.

The statement also said that on April 22, journalist Zoran Bojarovski received death threats via Facebook and reported the incident to the police, with an investigation launched.

Mijatovic "called on the government to reverse the trend of deteriorating media freedom in the country."

"The recent developments include conviction and subsequent release on parole of journalist Tomislav Kezarovski; the declaration of Jadranka Kostova as a secret services informant and the allegations of over 100 journalists being wiretapped," said the OSCE statement.

6.4.2015. (Beta, AFP, B92) - ANKARA -- Turkish authorities have ordered access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube blocked to prevent publication of images of a Turkish prosecutor killed last week.

Mehmet Selim Kiraz and his two captors linked to Marxist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party Front were killed after a shootout at a courthouse in Istanbul on Tuesday, AFP reported.

Turkey's telecommunications authority (TIB) on Monday enforced the ban via "an administrative measure."

Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that a total of 166 websites that published the images have been blocked, among them Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

"A day after the standoff, Turkish prosecutors launched a probe into four newspapers for disseminating 'terrorist propaganda' after they published the controversial images," the French agency said.

A year ago Erdogan, then the country's prime minister, blocked access to Twitter and YouTube ahead of local elections, after audio recordings about alleged corruption in circles close to him surfaced on the internet.

Dragan Trivan, president of the Serbian Association of Corporate Security Managers, believes that exchange of experiences was crucial and that we should arrange for corporate security experts from other countries to visit the region of Southeast Europe.

"There is a need to develop an awareness of the importance of this type of security in Serbia, because the majority of companies do not have internal organizational units for corporate security operations," a Friday's release from the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce quoted Trivan as saying.

Trivan said Serbia had adopted its law on private security in 2013, but no bylaws so far, which was an impediment to implementing more efficient security systems on the ground.

Very little investments have been made to incorporate such systems, he added.

He cited the results of an earlier poll that showed 97 percent of respondents believing that the main problem in Serbia's corporate security sector is absence of relevant legislation, 88.24 percent pinning the blame on the bad economic situation and 76.4 percent thinking that the main problem is a lack of awareness of the importance of corporate security.

According to Europol data, cyber crime causes a global damage of around EUR 290 billion to citizens, institutions, governments, cities and states, more money than the total global trade in heroin, cocaine and marijuana, said Alen Ostojic, president of the Croatian Association of Security Managers.

There is no data to show how far the governments in southeastern Europe are involved in dealing with the problem, but it is extremely important that we work through all forms of public-private partnerships, said Ostojic.

He pointed out that the number of perpetrations of this type of crime was still larger than the number of perpetrators found, and recommended that that companies should become more open when it came to speaking about cyber security attacks.

Many companies remain silent about hacking attacks because they think that their reputation might be damaged if they go public about it, but it is really necessary to do the very opposite and to follow the trends and develop new models of protection, he said.

The conference was organized by the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, Serbian Association of Corporate Security Managers, Southeast Europe Corporate Security Association (SECSA) and the Security Academy (Poslovno uciliste Integralna Sigurnost i Razvoj) in Zagreb.

20.1.2015 (Tanjug, B92) - ANKARA -- The Turkish prime minister and any cabinet member could be given the right to block any website, without a court order.

A new bill submitted to the Turkish parliament envisages that government members may use this right "for broad reasons such as protection of public order," the daily Hurriyet reported.

If passed, the law would give the ministers the authority to demand that the Telecommunications Directorate (TIB) closes websites "within four hours on the basis of national security, protecting public order or preventing crime."

A last-minute amendment to this effect was submitted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Similar legislation was passed on Sept. 10 last year "sparking protests from internet rights groups," the newspaper reported on its website.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul the changes, "arguing that they further restricted internet use in Turkey and increased the government's control of web traffic."

On Oct. 2, 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled as "unconstitutional" the TIB's authority to close websites within four hours without a court ruling, the Hurriyet said.

20.1.2015 (Tanjug, AP, B92) - LONDON -- GCHQ "saved emails" from journalists at BBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post and other major news organizations, the Guardian reported, according to AP.

The newspaper said on Monday its information was based on an analysis of documents provided by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

The journalists' emails were "among 70,000 emails gathered in less than ten minutes in November, 2008," the newspaper said, adding that "the information was gleaned from a GCHQ tap on fiber optic cables used for internet communications."

According to the report, the British agency also "intercepted" emails of other media organizations: Reuters, the Sun, NBC and Le Monde, "and that the journalists' emails were available on the spy agency's intranet site."

According to AP, the Guardian "said some emails included correspondence between editors and reporters discussing stories," but "did not say if the journalists were specifically targeted."

GCHQ "told the newspaper its actions meet strict legal guidelines."

16.1.2015. (Tanjug, B92) - VIENNA -- The OSCE'S 57 participating States have adopted a declaration condemning last week's terrorist attacks in France.

"We need to be unequivocal in condemning all forms of terrorism while ensuring that our societies remain united against attempts to create divisions on the basis of religion or ethnicity," OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said.

"With the same vigour we need to stand united in defending freedom of expression as a fundamental right," he said at the first meeting of the Permanent Council of the year on Thursday.

"Terrorism has no justification, whatever its motivation or origin are and should not be associated with any race, ethnicity, nationality or religion," the declaration reads.

The declaration recognizes that "the freedom of expression is a fundamental and internationally recognized human right" and in condemning manifestations of intolerance, including against Christians, Jews, Muslims and members of other religions and non-believers, reaffirms the States' "will to foster non-discrimination and tolerance, mutual respect and understanding in our societies."

Participating states expressed their "profound solidarity with victims of acts of terrorism, their families, as well as with the people of France" and stressed "the need to prosecute the perpetrators."

15.1.2015. (RT.com, B92) - PARIS -- A founder of Charlie Hebdo has condemned the murdered editor Stephane Charbonnier of "dragging the team" to their deaths, RT is reporting.

According to the report, Henri Roussel suggested that Charbonnier did so "by overdoing the satirical magazine's provocative cartoons."

80-year-old Roussel participated in 1970 in the creation of the first issue of Charlie Hebdo (then called Hara-Kiri-Hebdo) and now "addressed Charbonnier posthumously with the words, 'I really hold it against you'," RT said.

The column appeared in a column in the left-wing magazine Nouvel Obs.

Roussel, who writes under the pen name Delfeil de Ton, said that Charbonnier was "an amazing lad, but also an obstinate blockhead."

"What made him feel the need to drag the team into overdoing it?," he asked, referring to the 2011 Mohammed cartoons.

Richard Malka, Charlie Hebdo's lawyer, responded by writing to one of the Nouvel Obs owners, Mathieu Pigasse:

"Charb has not yet even been buried and Obs finds nothing better to do that to publish a polemical and venomous piece on him. The other day, the editor of Nouvel Obs, Matthieu Croissandeau, couldn't shed enough tears to say he would continue the fight. I didn't know he meant it this way. I refuse to allow myself to be invaded by bad thoughts, but my disappointment is immense."

3.11.2014 (RWB, B92) - PRIŠTINA -- An investigative journalist with the Priština-based Albanian language daily Koha Ditore has "received threats" from EULEX, said Reporters Without Borders.

According to the organization, which issued a statement, Vehbi Kajtazi said he was "directly threatened by members of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) over his reports that senior mission officials were suspected of corruption."

Last week the newspaper "began running a series of articles on suspected corruption on the part of senior EULEX officials," said the statement, noting that "mission head Gabriele Meucci,told a press conference that the allegations would be pursued vigorously."

"Before publishing his stories, Kajtazi sought the mission's views on the information in his possession. In response, he was summoned to an interview with Kate Fearon, special adviser to the head of mission, who asked him to hand over the documents to EULEX if he wanted a response. Legitimately, he refused the request," said the Reporters Without Borders statement, and added that after Kajtazi said he "received threats originating from the higher echelons of EULEX" after the interview:

"The main advisor to the head of EULEX warned me that if I write about the case in question that I could be prosecuted."

Such behavior is a serious matter within an EU mission whose goal is to help restore the rule of law in Kosovo and establish respect for European democratic values, said the Reporters Without Borders statement, and quoted Secretary General Christophe Deloire as saying, "By putting pressure on an investigative journalist, the EULEX mission is acting contrary to all fundamental principles of the European Union regarding freedom of information."

"EULEX has lost a great deal of credibility and the mission has sent a highly negative signal to the local authorities. Why would they think twice about putting pressure on journalists from now on if the EU, which is supposed to be leading Kosovo along the path to democratic norms, thinks it can threaten them with prosecution?," he said.

The editor of Koha Ditore, Agron Bajrami, was quoted as saying his newspaper had previously received such threats, "but this was the first time in its history that they have been made by members of an international mission":

"We do experience these kind of threats from local politicians and institutions frequently. In few instances, there were also attempts from internationals to "negotiate" publications which they didn't like. But, I don't recall seeing an organized attempt from an international institution, an EU mission, to pressurize journalists to prevent publication go this far!"

According to Reporters Without Borders, EULEX spokeswoman Dragana Nikolic-Solomon gave the organization "a different version of events," saying she was "present during the interview and did not witness threats of any kind being made against the journalist":

"The mission met Vehbi Kajtazi in good faith in order to give more specific answers to his questions... His allegations of threats are incorrect. He was asked to hand over the documents in his possession so that (EULEX) could respond to his questions more appropriately."

According to Reporters Without Borders, "she spoke of 'a little bit of misunderstanding,' insisting that EULEX had no interest in preventing the publication of any articles and stressing that the mission's deep commitment to press freedom."

The statement noted that during a press conference, "EULEX representatives gave assurances that no proceedings had been launched against the journalist."

22.10.2014. (B92) - OSCE Media Freedom Representative Dunja Mijatović has called on authorities in Albania, Bosnia and Serbia to investigate all hacker attacks on media websites.

The attacks "represent a clear danger to media freedom," a statement said on Tuesday.

"We have seen malicious denial of service attacks recently that obstruct the lawful activity of journalists. They must be investigated by law enforcement agencies of all countries," Mijatović said.

The OSCE statement noted that in the past two days Internet servers of the FENA news agency and BUKA magazine in Bosnia-Herzegovina were hacked, while last week the website of the Albanian Public Broadcaster was hacked and replaced with provocative images. Media outlets in Serbia: 24sata.rs, Blic, e-novine, Kurir and Telegraf, were also subject to attacks.

"Such attacks are a threat to cyber security, which is vital for free media and the free flow of information," Mijatović said. "We have witnessed an exponential increase in such attacks which must be thoroughly investigated to protect online portals and allow journalists do their jobs without hindrance."

Monopolies, non-transparent means of finance, weak unions, no possibility of coming together with other journalists, cliques and closed professional networks are among the main factors obstructing media freedom in Italy, Southeast Europe and Turkey. These are some of the preliminary findings of a research by Professor Eugenia Siapera from the School of Communications at the Dublin City University, carried out as part of the Safety Net for European Journalists* project.

The results were made available at the VIII Southeast Europe Media Forum 2014 (SEEMF 2014) organised by the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) in Skopje, Macedonia on 16-18 October.

Journalists in the region work in an environment where business interests prevail on free information, directly through stakes or indirectly via advertising money, emerged from the research based on 110 in-depth interviews with journalists. Moreover, despite the existence of legislation regulating media transparency in many countries, owners seem to find a way to bypass it by selling their stakes to people under their control.

Lack of solidarity among journalists is another serious problem. In many cases, journalists who suffered violations do not encounter support from their colleagues or professional organisations. Trade unions are weak and professionals do not view them as a point of support; on the contrary, in many cases they are suspected of serving the government's interests. Strong ownership concentration and affiliation with political and business interests is another source of rivalry between journalists. "If you're working for two different owners, your colleague is actually your biggest enemy," Zrinka Vrabec Mojzeš - who joined Croatian President Ivo Josipovic's team as adviser for social affairs in 2010 after having worked as reporter, editor and anchor for her country's Radio 101 for 26 years - told Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso (OBC) on the sidelines of SEEMF2014.

The fear of losing their jobs, especially amid the global economic and financial crisis, is widespread among journalists. This fear serves as a strong tool used by owners to control their employees and the contents they produce. Physical violence, slander, trolling, hacking, cyber-bullying, and sexual harassment are also common forms of threats. They vary in their intensity among different countries, but are present everywhere.

Raising public awareness and providing concrete support to journalists is exceptionally important in this situation. "Media freedom is important not just for journalists, but mostly for citizens as it is part of their right to obtain balanced and true information," OBC's Francesca Vanoni said.

*About the project:

Safety Net for European Journalists is an EU-supported initiative aimed at supporting threatened journalists in 11 countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey). It is implemented by Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso in partnership with SEEMO, Ossigeno Informazione, Professor Eugenia Siapera (Dublin City University) and involves a broad network of media partners in South and South-East Europe.

For further information, materials, or interviews, please do not hesitate to contact us at: press@balcanicaucaso.org or or borisova@balcanicaucaso.org. 

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart GCHQ, with the help of the program known as Treasure Map, access information that German telecommunications companies possess on individual computers and smart phones.

The New York Times wrote about Treasure Map last year, based on the information revealed by former NSA employee Edward Snowden. Treasure Map can collect between 30 and 50 million addresses in possesion of internet providers - information that reveal the owner and current location of a computer or a mobile device.

Der Spiegel warns that such information can be used for planning sophisticated cyber attacks, BBC reports.

According to Der Spiegel, the attacks could target the largest German telecommunications companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Netcologne and satellite teleport operators "Stellar" and "Cetel".

Representatives of Deutsche Telekom and Netcologne said to Der Spiegel that they have not "identified any proof of manipulation or external access to their networks".

"The accessing of our network by foreign intelligence agencies," says Deutsche Telekom Head of IT sector, "would be completely unacceptable."

Data leaks from NSA, enabled by Snowden, revealed spying by the U.S. authorities in extreme proportions.

Among the revaled information is that NSA tapped the mobile phone of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

As a result of the diplomatic-spying scandal on both sides of the Atlantic, Berlin requested that the employee of the U.S. Embassy in charge of intelligence leaves Germany.

Chancellor Merkel asked Washington for additional information related to alleged spying. Along with Germany, other traditional allies of the U.S. have expressed strong dissatisfaction related to Snowden's claims.

Lawyer Thomas Olson said that a new hearing has been requested, reports Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter".

The defence points out that the arrest warrant, issued in November 2010, shoud be revoked because the prosecution refused to travel to London to question Assange (43), who found refuge in the Equadorian embassy in this city.

A judge in Stockholm confirmed in mid-July that the warrant for Assange's arrest remains in force, Itar-Tass agency reported.

Assange launched the Wikileaks website in 2006 where he published a large number of classified diplomatic and military documents of governments world-wide in 2010. A bulk of published documents is of the U.S. government.

Assange requested asylum from Equador in June 2012, after an exhausting battle before British courts to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Assange fears that Sweden could hand him over to the U.S. because the U.S. also demands Assange's extradition as they consider that publishing secrets about U.S. politics and diplomacy harmed the U.S. national security.

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) demanded that Yahoo acts in accordance with new surveillance rules, which the company considered unconstitutional and attempted to prove that in court, BBC reported.

Yahoo did not win the court battle regarding the government demands, dating back to the George Bush mandate.

The secret proces became public on Thursday, when the federal judge ordered that some documents from the proceedings be made public, which Yahoo greeted as „victory of transparency".

The American Civil Liberties Union stated that the case shows that much more openness is needed regarding the government's surveillance program.

Former NSA employee Edward Snowden, who fled the U.S, exposed the secret surveillance program last year.

Court documents reveal that the battle over surveillance between technology companies and the U.S. government has been led for years before Snowden exposed the existence of such program, AP reported

The Commission stated that it will allow British TV network BskyB, in whih Murdoch owns 39,5%, to acquire Sky Italy and 57,4% shares in Sky Deutchland, AFP reports.

"The newly formed entity will not raise concern regarding violation of competition as all the three companies are geographically complementary", the Commission said in the statement.

The Security Council further stated that such acts of barbarism stiffen the resolve of the international community to counter ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and other groups associated with Al-Qaida.

Sotloff was a 31-year old free lance reporter, born in Miami, Florida. He worked for magazines Time and Foreign Policy. He disappeared in Syria in August 2013.

20.8.2014. (Tanjug, B92) - The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has published a video claiming to show its members behead American journalist James Foley.

The 40-year-old freelancer went missing in Syria almost two years ago.

The extremists said that Foley was murdred in retaliation for the recent airstrikes the United States launched in Iraq, AP reported.

The family confirmed his death in a Facebook page set up in support of his release.

"We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people. We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world," James Foley's mother wrote.

Foley went missing in northern Syria while he worked as a freelance journalist for the Boston-based Global Post, and the AFP agency.

ISIS also published a video claiming to show another U.S. journalist held hostage, and identified him as Steven Sotloff.

The video was accompanied with a message to U.S. President Barack Obama, saying the life of the American citizen depended "on his next decision," i.e., U.S. moves concerning Iraq.

"I call on the authorities to thoroughly review the circumstances behind these incidents and to ensure that journalists covering news in Ferguson can work freely and safely," Mijatović said in the OSCE press statement.

Getty Images photojournalist Scott Olson was arrested yesterday and in a separate incident state police arrested and took German journalists Ansgar Graw and Frank Herrmann into custody. All three were later released.

The journalists were covering demonstrations in Ferguson, which have been taking place following the fatal shooting of a local resident last week.

The press statement says that on 13 August local law enforcement officers arrested Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery and Huffington Post reporter Ryan J. Reilly, and an Al Jazeera TV crew was sprayed with tear gas while reporting on the demonstrations.

"I fully recognize the sensitive situation in Ferguson but the right of media to cover public protests must be taken into account when law enforcement officials are maintaining public order," Mijatović said. "Journalists should not be intimidated by police."

Mijatović also noted U.S. President Barack Obama's condemnation of the arrests of journalists in Ferguson last week, the OSCE press statement says.

OSCE reacted following the decision of the de-facto Crimean authorities to ban journalist Ismet Yuksel from entering the peninsula.

On 9 August Yuksel, the General Co-ordinator of QHA Information Agency and contributor to the Turkish TRT channel, was barred from entering Crimea for a period of five years. The de-facto authorities did not present any reason for the ban, the OSCE press release states.

"I call on those responsible in Crimea to stop intimidating members of the media and refrain from stifling critical voices. Such an arbitrary and restrictive measure cannot be tolerated as it affects the free flow of information and free media.", Mijatović said.

Earlier this month Mijatović condemned the seizure of the property of the Chernomorskaya company, the largest independent broadcaster on the Crimean peninsula.