From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Tue Feb 11 2003 - 08:43:35 EST
Weekly report of events in the mass media of CIS states
Issue no. 6 (56), February 3 - 9, 2003
I. Attacks and Threats
Armenia
As Constitutional Right Union presidential candidate Aram
Karapetian was touring the country, a member of his retinue journalist
Aik Babukhanian, deputy chairman of the party, member of parliament and
chairman of the editorial council in Iravunk weekly, came under attack
in the town of Ashtarak. Three assailants kicked him and one stabbed him
in the back. Following a surgery in Yerevan's hospital No. 6 his life is
out of danger.
Georgia
Malkhaz Khvedeliani, chief witness for the prosecution in the
case of killing journalist Georgy Sanaya, was reported to strike
journalist Tike Peikrishvili of Rustavi-2 TV company when she tried to
find out whether it had been he who had reported the accused. Video
cameras recorded the event.
II. Detentions and Arrests
Georgia
The police detained on February 7 Georgy Udzilauri, a
correspondent of Novoye Pokoleniye newspaper, who had published numerous
articles critical of local legislature chairman Mikhail Saakashvili. As
he was passing by the town hall, the journalist shouted abuse about
Saakashvili. According to the guards, Udzilauri was drunk and used foul
language. The guards called the police who sent the man to an addiction
treating center. There he was found to be slightly intoxicated and
released. Immediately after that Udzilauri told the press that he had
indeed staged a protest outside the town hall but never used foul
language.
Uzbekistan
Lutfullo Mamsoliyev, a correspondent of Uzbekiston Ovozi (Voice
of Uzbekiston) newspaper, the mouthpiece of the People's Democratic
Party, was arrested in Samarkand on February 5 on charges of extortion.
His colleagues attribute the arrest to his article critical of the
region's governor Shavkat Mirziyayev published a week before.
II. Judicial and Legal Persecution
Azerbaijan
Baku's Sabaili district court will hear a suit that Hasan
Zeinalov, the Nakhchyvan Autonomous Republic's commissioner in Baku,
field against Monitor magazine. Zeinalov wants the magazine's
editor-in-chief and author of an article headlined Godfather brought to
criminal justice for slandering and insulting the country's President
Heydar Aliyev. This is Zeinalov second suit against the magazine. In the
previous one he demanded that Monitor publish a denial and pay 100
million manats as damage.
***
The same court brought to completion on February 7 two cases
against Yeni Musavat newspaper. It ruled in favor of former Defense
Minister M. Beidullayev who had demanded a denial of a report of events
in a military school and 300,000 manats as damages. The court ordered
the paper to publish a denial and pay the man 2 million manats.
In the other case the court heard the case of Capt. N. Mamedov
against the paper and T. Gordeyeva, deputy chairperson of the
Azerbaijani Committee of Soldiers' Mothers. Mamedov argued that he had
never said "A soldier may leave the army in a coffin," words that
Gordeyeva had put into his mouth and the paper made into a headline. He
wanted the paper and Gordeyeva pay a fine of 50 million manats. The
court ordered the paper to publish a refutation and Gordeyeva to pay
Mamedov 500,000 manats as compensation of the moral damages.
***
The Baku Military Court chaired by Akif Iskenderov handed out on
February 7 a ruling in the case of military journalist Uzeir Cafarov. It
gave him a suspended three years and three months sentence. The defense
attorney said that the trial had shown that the charges had no leg to
stand on, the investigation had failed to prove its case and witnesses
had withdrawn their testimony. The accused rejected all the charges and
described them as trumped up. Certain groups in the Defense Ministry and
the military prosecution service are behind the case against him,
Cafarov said. They wanted avenge for his objections to his chiefs in the
ministry's press service trying to cover up numerous cases of death of
enlisted men in peace times because of sickness and poor treatment by
commissioned officers and cases if corruption and transgressions against
the law in armed forces. The sentence is suspended for one year.
Kazakhstan
It was reported on February 7 that the staff of Delovoye
Obozreniye Respublika newspaper were summoned to investigator Askar
Baimuratov in the Almaty Financial Police Department and told that three
criminal cases had been opened against editor-in-chief Irina Petushkova.
Kyrgyzstan
Kuban Mambetaliyev, head of Journalists association, sent on
February 3 an official letter to Supreme Court Chairperson N.
Beishenaliyeva about the situation in which Portret Nedeli weekly finds
itself in the wake of a court case filed by E. Moldogaziyev,
administration head of Moskovsky district in Chui region. The lower and
appeal courts that had ruled in favor of the plaintiff who had filed a
libel and business reputation harming case and told the paper to pay a
heavy fine had ignored Item 3, Article 26 of the Mass Media Law.
***
Mairamkan Kadyrkulova, head of the Kyrgyz Basmasoz company's
Dzhalal-Abad branch, filed on February 7 a suit against A. Bekilov,
journalist of the regional state-run Akyikat newspaper, pedagogical
newspaper Dil and Karamat Toktoubayev, former correspondent of Asaba
newspaper. Bekilov had published an article in Akyikat accusing
Kadyrkulov of numerous financial offenses. The plaintiff wants the man
and the paper to pay 2 million soms each and Toktoubayeva, 1 million
soms.
Turkmenistan/Tajikistan
Turkmen and Tajik diplomats have been trying to neutralize the
impact of critical articles about the Turkmen president in Tajik media.
Experts note that Tajik authorities are doing their best because of the
long-term importance of relations between the two countries. Journalists
who do not abide by ethical standards do much harm to the relations
between the two countries, said Igor Satarov, head of the Tajik Foreign
Ministry's Information Department. He attributed the origin of the
conflict to the low professional level of Tajik journalism. Turkmen
authorities were especially indignant over an article headlined Lord of
Turkmens in the Commonwealth Leaders series authored by Aziya-Plyus
newspaper's Marat Mamadshoyev about the life and career of Saparmurad
Niyazov. Its publication was followed by a diplomatic note demanding
punishment for the paper. The editor was summoned to the Foreign
Ministry where officials had a quiet talk with him. The paper had to
publish a response by the Turkmen ambassador. Simultaneously, the
Turkmen Foreign Ministry sent a note to Tajik ambassador in Ashgabat
Todzhiddin Mardonov who sent later a letter to his government about the
importance of and outlook for Tajik - Turkmen cooperation. The letter
could be understood as a call on state agencies to influence mass media.
IV. Restriction of Access to Information
Kyrgyzstan
The Kyrgyz Cabinet was reported on February 6 to intend to amend
the Mass Media Law. The goal is to strangulate independent media,
opposition member of parliament and former journalist Adakhan Madumarov
believes. "Under the proposed amendments, the founder of the media
outlet will bear some responsibility for information reported. Because
the founders of governmental media outlets are not accessible, it will
be independent media that will bear the brunt of the amendments," he
believes. Government officials also want electronic media to register
and the information disseminated through the computer network to be
treated on the same footing with that printed or aired by audio and
visual media outlets.
Comment by Viktoriya Blonskaya, apprentice legal adviser of the Center
for Journalism in Extreme Situations
(III, Kyrgyzstan) It is surprising that the courts ruled in
favor of the plaintiff who wanted to protect his business reputation.
Any business or businessman engaged in for-profit activities or doing
contractual jobs may have a business reputation but the Center for
Journalism in Extreme Situations has found that officials and state
agencies, too, also find it necessary to protect their business
reputation. Any criticism directed against them is construed as
undermining their business reputation. A state official or a civil
servant can, however, have only a service reputation. The section on
basic duties of civil servants in the Kyrgyz Cabinet's ordinance of
April 3, 1997 says that civil servants may not be engaged in business
activities or be involved directly or indirectly in managing businesses.
We believe that their fitness in their position rather than business
reputation can be at stake.
Also important is the report that the court ignored Item 3,
Article 26 of the Kyrgyz Mass Media Law that says: "Mass media are not
liable for untrue reports that are verbatim reproduction of public
utterances." In effect, the court rulings may be rightly appealed in
higher courts.
Event
Quantity
Attacks on journalists 1 - Armenia
1 - Georgia
2 - Ukraine
Journalists
Killed
Journalists detained and arrested 1 - Georgia
2 - Uzbekistan
Legal and judicial persecution 4 - Azerbaijan
1 - Armenia
1 - Belarus
1 - Kazakhstan
1- Kyrgyzstan
1 - Ukraine
Other kinds of harassing editorial boards and journalists 1 -
Tajikistan
1 - Turkmenistan
1 - Ukraine
Restriction of access to information 1- Belarus
1 - Kyrgyzstan
1 - Moldova
1 - Ukraine
Disappeared journalists
Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations
4 Zubovsky Boulevard,
Moscow 119021, Russia
phone: (+ 7 095) 201-7626; 201-3550 comm. 124
fax: (+ 7 095) 201-7626
e-mail: panfilov@monitoring.ru
Web site: www.cjes.ru
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