He saw the world again for eight days 🔔 Newsletter 14 November 2019

Dear <<First Name>>

Ahmet Altan’s memoir, which he wrote as a prisoner, was titled ‘I Will Never See The World Again’. But when a Turkish court ruled Altan, along with journalist Nazli Ilicak, were to be released on 4. November based on time served, we were all elated. He would see the world again.

Photo: Stefan Hopf for Medien Stiftungen der Sparkasse Leipzig

However, only eight days after his release, the elation is cut short. The prosecutor in Altan’s case submitted an application for his re-arrest, due to Altan being deemed a ‘flight risk’.

When Altan was released, it was done under the condition of a travel ban. But this did not seem to make a difference to the judge who reviewed the prosecutor’s application. On the evening of Tuesday 12. November, the Istanbul police force arrested Altan in his home, in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul. Our journalist-in-residence from Turkey, Gamze Kafar, gives a synopsis of the developments in this piece written in Turkish.

Here at ECPMF, we are appalled at the court’s decision to re-arrest Altan. We are appalled by this unjust decision - which is pure judicial harassment - steered not by rule of law but by political motivations. Three years in pre-trial detention, eight days of a suspicious release, the psychological torture and human rights abuse of Altan's rights are immense and beyond comprehension.

Together with other partner organisations, ECPMF will continue to tirelessly fight for Ahmet Altan’s release, and the release of all Turkey’s 121 journalists currently under arrest, held on spurious charges. We will fight so that Ahmet Altan can see the world again, and never again behind bars. #FreeAhmetAltan

SLAPPS - what can we do to protect journalists?
From France to Croatia, Malta to Italy, judicial harassment of journalists in the European Union is rising, as more and more journalists are subjected to lawsuits. Yes, they are called SLAPPs, Strategic Litigations Against Public Participation.

Like their acronym, they are slapped on journalists, media houses, human rights defenders and other critics, to silence them. Ensure they stop investigative research or squash political expression.

This theme was at the centre of discussions at the European Parliament on 12 November. As MEPs, David Casa, Stelios Kouloglu and Viola von Cramon joined ECPMF and several press and media freedom organisations to find solutions, political and practical. The meeting concluded with the urgent need to find an EU solution, particularly when it comes to the place where one can be sued. Discussants advised for cases to be filed in the place where the defendant is domiciled, unless the parties agree otherwise.

Ukraine mission underway
Our deputy managing director Andreas Lamm was in Kyiv, Ukraine last week attending "re:start democratic discourse", a conference we co-hosted with the Regional Institute for Development of the Press (RPDI). This is part of the new media literacy training project for rural Ukraine, ECPMF and RPDI launched in 2018. The project 're:start democratic discourse' is supported by the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

And we are excited to welcome the ten Ukrainian journalists coming to Germany for a study trip this week!

Our first scholar - The Helpdesk initiative
We interview Heba Alkadri who is currently interning at taz and is ECPMF's first scholar, under the Helpdesk’s scholarship initiative.

The Helpdesk was launched in September and offers practical assistance to journalists who are exiled in Germany. We offer exiled journalists in Germany the opportunity to develop their professional skills through a stipend for an internship. Each scholar is granted max. 3.000 € for a period of two or three months, depending on the individual situation.

Heba tells us, "With the stipend I can pay my rent. At the weekend I can do research and write. I can relax and go to interesting events. I don’t need to worry about the money. I can discover Berlin and concentrate on what’s important."

SAVE THE DATE:

4. December 2019
European Police Codex Launch: We are launching a European Police Codex, to help police and journalists work together to defend human rights. | Brussels, Belgium – More soon

12.December 2019
NEWSOCRACY conference: Protecting Public Service Media against political interference

NEWS FROM OUR NETWORK

Spain: Spain’s VOX party bans journalists from election coverage (via Council of Europe)

Austria: Austria’s independent journalists under attack from trolls and fake news (via International Press Institute)

Belgium: Change the words, change the world (via European Federation of Journalists)

Turkey: Award-winning Turkish journalist freed from jail exhibits art she made in prison (via Index on Censorship)

If you spot a press freedom violation, please sound the alarm!

Subscribe to our newsletter

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) is a non-profit European Co-operative Society, based in Leipzig, Germany. The ECPMF was founded in 2015 to promote the European Charter on Freedom of the Press throughout Europe. The ECPMF helps to shape a common European media space. It preserves, defends, protects and expands press and media freedom by monitoring violations of free media in Europe, advocating on media freedom issues, initiating a diverse range of activities and providing practical support to journalists at risk.

The ECPMF is supported by: European Commission, Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig, Free State of Saxony, the City of Leipzig and diverse project funding.

Imprint

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom SCE ltd

Menckestraße 27
04155 Leipzig, Germany

Phone: +49 341 200 403 13
E-Mail: info@ecpmf.eu

Cooperative register of the District Court Leipzig: GnR 534

Executive Board:
Henrik Kaufholz (Chair),
Stephan Seeger,
Ljiljana Smajlović,
Mogens Blicher Bjerregårds,
Galina Arapova

Chair of Supervisory Board:
Lucie Sýkorová

Managing Director:
Dr Lutz Kinkel

www.ecpmf.eu