MFRR partners and 11 press freedom organisations express our grave concern over the barrage of vexatious defamation lawsuits targeting journalists working for the investigative news website Necenzurirano in Slovenia over the last two months.

Since August journalists Primož Cirman, Vesna Vukovic and Tomaž Modic have each had 13 different criminal lawsuits lodged against them by Rok Snežić, a tax expert and unofficial financial advisor to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, bringing the total so far to 39.

The lawsuits target the journalists’ joint reporting over the last three years on Snežić’s business dealings and alleged involvement in an illegal loan to Janša’s ruling SDS party. The reporting was published in siol.net and then necenzurirano.si, the portal the three journalists founded in January 2020.

The International Press Institute (IPI) expressed serious concern over reports that the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested its embassies in EU countries to monitor Hungarian journalists and media workers and deliver information to the Hungarian government.

The first case which Media Freedom Rapid Response representatives will monitor is scheduled for 18 September 2020 in the Regional Court in Warsaw, 24th Civil Division (case No: XXIVC 520/17).

The case concerns an article published on wyborcza.pl website titled “Jacek Kurski cenzuruje Opole” (Jacek Kurski censors the Opole Festival) where a journalist expressed a critical opinion regarding public broadcaster director’s engagement in censoring artists at the famous music festival, Opole. The case was brought by the public broadcaster Telewizja Polska SA (TVP) “for protection of personal rights” [in Polish ”pozew o ochronę dóbr osobistych”] under Articles 23 and 24 par. 1 of the Civil Code against Agora SA, the paper’s publisher, Agnieszka Kublik, author of the article, and Dorota Goluch, editor-in-chief of wyborcza.pl. The plaintiff demands to publish an apology and a payment of PLN 20 000 [EUR 4600, US $ 5200] to a nominated charity.

Hungary’s Media Council, which is controlled by Viktor Orbán’s FIDESZ party, rejected the renewal application of Klubrádió, meaning that the Budapest-based commercial talk and news radio station’s license will expire on February 14, 2021, potentially forcing it off the airwaves for good.

Justifying its ruling, the Media Council said that during the last seven years Klubradio had repeatedly violated Hungary’s Media Law. András Arató, chairman of the Board of Directors of Klubrádió, previously denied the station had committed violations that could result in its license extension rejected.

On 7 September 2020, police in the eastern city of Van arrested Candemir, who writes columns for the pro-Kurdish news site Nupel. The next day, he was released after being charged with “insulting the memory of a dead person”, which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment. As part of the conditions of his release, Candemir is banned from travelling abroad and must check in with police regularly. His computer and personal archive were confiscated.

The charges against Candemir relate to a satirical tweet, posted on his personal twitter account on 3 September, in which he mocked a historical drama series produced by state broadcaster, TRT. According to the authorities, the tweet insulted Sultan Ertuğrul Ghazi, who lived in the 13th century and was the father of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman dynasty.

Photo Credit: MLSA

Authorities in Italy must conduct a thorough investigation into the death threats and brutal beating of journalist Michele Santagata in Cosenza and ensure his physical safety is guaranteed

As part of the MFRR, the International Press Institute (IPI), expressed dismay after a court in Belgrade overturned the convictions of those found guilty of the 1999 murder of Serbian journalist Slavko Ćuruvija and ordered a retrial.

On 2 September 2020, people took to the streets of Sofia to protest against corruption and abuses of power, calling for the resignation of the government led by Boyko Borissov and of the country’s recently instated Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev. As seen in a number of other countries in Europe in 2020, the police used increasingly militarised tactics against the protestors.  According to numerous reports, police officers used excessive force against several journalists and media workers covering the protests, including the indiscriminate use of pepper spray, physical assault and unlawful detention.