Concerns in Europe January June 2001
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Investigations into ill-treatment by law enforcement officials
- Imprisonment in violation of the right
Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
Amnesty International September 2001 journalist for the Sarajevo Start BiH magazine; he sustained head injuries as a result. The attack was apparently connected with his reports on crimes committed in Sarajevo during the war by the Bosnian Government army; the magazine had started receiving threats immediately after his reports on this issue. In May, journalists working for the Banja Luka- based independent radio station Radio Kontakt were threatened following their reports on the violence which had broken out during the laying of the foundation stone for the Ferhadija mosque (see above). Aleksandar Trifunovi , editor-in-chief of the youth magazine Buka, received threats after he wrote an editorial on the need to bring to justice those who had committed war crimes, irrespective of their nationality. Similar threats were received by reporters working for the TV station Alternativna televizija which had broadcasted several reports on the arrest and transfer of former FRY President Slobodan Miloševi
. AI fears that these attacks, and the fact that perpetrators have not been identified and brought to justice for them, have a chilling effect on journalists and jeopardize the right to freedom of expression in the country.
There were several allegations of police ill-treatment throughout the country. In addition, police reportedly failed to react adequately to violent attacks on citizens. For example the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights reported that in February, in the Una-Sana Canton, a member of the Federation Army and three others attacked and seriously injured the wife and children of a former supporter of Fikret Abdi (the war time de facto leader of that region), an attack apparently condoned by the local police. In February, criminal proceedings started against six former RS police officers before the Sokolac Basic Court, in connection with their alleged ill-treatment and torture of persons suspected of murdering the Pale deputy police chief, Srdjan Kne evi , in August 1998. The murder of Srdjan Kne evi - allegedly ordered by former RS government officials and their associates opposed to his investigations into corrupt business transactions in the entity - remains unresolved. Mostar Southwest police reportedly refused to initiate criminal investigations into the serious ill- treatment of Bosnian Croat businessman Andrija Beljo, which had taken place during his arbitrary detention in Mostar in August 1999 (see AI Index: EUR 01/01/00). The head of police claimed that disciplinary measures had already been taken against the officers involved.
B U L G A R I A
to freedom of expression
(update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2001)
On 23 April, Pleven County Court convicted Aleksander Kandjov for aggravated hooliganism under Article 325, paragraph 2, point 2, of the Penal Code, and sentenced him to four months’ imprisonment suspended for three years. On 10 July 2000 Aleksander Kandjov had organized the signing of a petition calling for the resignation of the Minister of Justice, who was described as “the top idiot of the judiciary”. He was arrested and held in custody for four days. In its April judgement the court found that Aleksander Kandjov had expressed his political views “in a manner which is not compatible with the generally accepted norms of conduct”, and described Aleksander Kandjov’s peaceful protest as “a flagrant breach of public order. The perpetrator manifested a brutal demonstration against the constitutional order, as his actions had intentionally been public”. Furthermore, the court found that Aleksander Kandjov’s conduct was considered as an aggravated form of hooliganism “perpetrated with particular cynicism and impudence”, noting that “hooliganism committed with impudence...consists of a violation of the established public order by conduct which results in a significant damage to the public order. In this case the accused Kandjov publicly displayed posters which described a government representative, entrusted by the society to carry out certain authority, as a ‘top idiot’”. Kandjov’s conduct was also considered as an act of “particular impudence, [because] the accused, in spite of being told more than once that his conduct is not legal, publicly and in the face of law enforcement officials, stated that he intended to carry out his activity, which he then proceeded to do until he was stopped by the police officers”. Aleksander Kandjov appealed his conviction. In January four men and a minor were detained in Sofia for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression. In the morning of 6 January, in
of the “Che Guevara” Youth Movement and The Socialist Youth Union attended a public ceremony on the occasion of 153rd anniversary of the birth of Hristo Botev, a poet and national hero. Stefan Stefanov Stoyanov, aged 16, brought a banner with the inscription “Out NATO supporters!”. The letter O of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) logo had been altered to resemble a swastika. During the official ceremony to mark the poet’s birth, attended by the President of Bulgaria Peter Stoyanov and other high state officials, the banner was held up by Iliyan Obretenov and Milen Iliev. Iliyan Obretenov refused to put the banner away after he was approached by two police officers, explaining that he was not doing anything illegal. After the
ceremony President Stoyanov reportedly stated to the journalists: “This is blasphemy! It is high time that we take decisive measures against such ruffians, who not only violate the memory of Botev but of the Bulgarian national identity.” Subsequently the police arrested Iliyan Obretenov, Milen Iliev, Stefan Stefanov Stoyanov, who held up the Bulgarian national flag, Iliya Zlatev, who held a flag depicting Che Guevara, and Vilyam Ignatov. They were taken to a police station where the Yüklə 1,36 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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