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 News From You
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Week ending September 7, 2013
Award-winning journalist has residence searched and computer equipment seized in dawn raid that raises serious concerns over protection of sources in Switzerland.
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA), the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), and the World Editors Forum have condemned the actions of a Swiss prosecutor in seizing source material and searching the home of prominent Le Matin journalist Ludovic Rocchi, warning of the resultant implications for press freedom in the country.
“The independence of journalists and the protection of their sources are essential to their work and, if compromised, risk silencing investigative journalism and encouraging self-censorship. The repercussions for democracy, transparency and accountability are greatly disturbing,” the organisations said in a letter to Swiss Prosecutor General Pierre Aubert.
Mr. Rocchi’s private residence was searched in the early hours of 13 August, with police confiscating computer equipment and notebooks. Mr. Rocchi’s wife, who was present during the raid, was reportedly questioned about her husband’s professional activities.
Following legal advice from his newspaper, Mr. Rocchi’s computer was officially sealed before he surrendered it later the same morning to investigators who had called at the hotel where he was staying on assignment.
Mr Rocchi has been instrumental in exposing bad practice and suspected plagiarism at the University of Neuchâtel. His investigations, published by Le Matin newspaper, led to an official inquiry into the institution. As a result, he faces charges of defamation, slander and violation of secrecy that were brought by one of the University’s directors - accusations that Mr. Rocchi denies.
Such a heavy-handed police response is unprecedented for an investigation of this nature. “Only in extreme cases, when serious crimes have been committed and where indisputable evidence requires it, should the seizure of journalistic materials be considered,” continued the letter.
By the prosecutor’s own admission, evidence pointing to serious criminal acts was not available ahead of the search and seizure.
“This latest incident further demonstrates that press freedom in Europe is on a worrying decline. We are extremely concerned by developments across the continent that increasingly undermine the ability of the independent press to fulfil its watchdog role over our democratic institutions,” said WAN-IFRA CEO Vincent Peyrègne. “Public authorities in Europe have shown an all too easy willingness to interfere in the freedom of the press, which is a dangerous precedent suggesting they wish to circumvent public accountability and are seeking to control open debate.”
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have called for the release of editor Rodney Sieh from prison in Liberia, a country whose president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, committed to repeal criminal defamation laws last year.
Mr Sieh, Managing Editor of FrontPageAfrica, has been hospitalized after beginning a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment and the exorbitant US$1.5 million libel judgment against him. He wrote about his case on the op-ed page of the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/opinion/jailed-for-journalism.html
In a letter to President Sirleaf, and in a conference call with government officials and local press representatives on Tuesday, WAN-IFRA and WEF called on the government to honour its commitment to press freedom.
In July last year, President Sirleaf became the second African head-of-state to sign the Declaration of Table Mountain, a continent-wide campaign that calls for the repeal of insult and criminal defamation laws and for setting a free press higher on the agenda.
The jailing of Mr Sieh “called into disrepute the spirit of the Declaration… as well as the pledges made by you and your government to make Liberia freer and more accountable,” said the letter to the president.
The Declaration, initiated by WAN-IFRA and WEF at the World Newspaper Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2007, has been endorsed by numerous press freedom and civil society organisations. It identifies criminal defamation and insult laws as amongst the most severe obstacles to securing the future of the independent press in Africa.
The closure of FrontPageAfrica, and the excessive libel damages and imprisonment imposed on Mr. Sieh for reporting the findings of an official government inquiry into corruption, are serious setbacks to press freedom and the fight against corruption in Liberia, WAN-IFRA said in the letter to the president.
WAN-IFRA said the heavy fine appeared politically motivated and had been deliberately applied to silence a critical media outlet. FrontPageAfrica has repeatedly reported on corruption, official misconduct and human rights abuses.
In a conference call on Tuesday, Liberian Minister for Information Lewis G. Brown II said a new bill to repeal criminal defamation would be introduced before parliament in January 2014. But he characterized the libel case as a private matter between a journalist and a citizen.
WAN-IFRA and representatives from local media organisations – Malcolm Joseph from Liberia’s Centre for Media Studies and Peace Building, and Peter Quaqua of the Liberian Press Union – called for Mr Sieh’s release and pointed out that President Sirleaf had requested a repeal of the legislation but that it had yet to be done.
“We are keen to work with all stakeholders in Liberia, including the government and international organisations, to ensure the bill goes before parliament as soon as possible”, said Alison Meston, WAN-IFRA Director of Press Freedom.
WAN-IFRA and the WEF hold that a civil award of reasonable damages is adequate and appropriate relief in all proven cases of defamation.
Broadcasting Board of Governors Chairman Jeffrey Shell today announced that distinguished journalist and broadcast executive Kevin Klose has accepted an offer, unanimously supported by the BBG, to serve as President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
In its capacity as RFE/RL's corporate board of directors, the BBG had hired Klose as Acting President in January 2013. Meeting today with RFE/RL leadership and staff at the organization's headquarters in Prague, Shell noted that the entire board approved a multi-year contract for Klose, to be reviewed annually.
“Kevin Klose’s seasoning in international media -- here and over his entire career -- makes him the right person to carry out this critical mission,” Shell said. ”His stewardship as brought steady progress. We look forward to working with Kevin and the talented team at RFE/RL to bring news and information to priority countries from Iran to Russia and across Eurasia."
Klose said, "As great an honor as it was for me to return to the Radios in January, I am even more excited to take this opportunity to lead RFE/RL as it continues its digital transformation while building on its hard-earned reputation for extraordinary, fact-based journalism."
Klose was president of NPR from 1998 to 2008, and named President Emeritus in 2008. Before joining NPR, he directed the International Broadcasting Bureau at the U.S. Information Agency from 1997-1998. Klose first joined RFE/RL in 1992 as director of its Radio Liberty division, and as president of the network from 1994 to 1997 oversaw its relocation from Munich to Prague. Prior to this, he was an editor and reporter for The Washington Post for 25 years, including posts as Moscow bureau chief, city editor and deputy national editor. Klose is currently a tenured professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland and served as dean of the journalism college from April 2009 to July 2012. He will be on leave from his faculty position while serving at RFE/RL. He earned a B.A. from Harvard and is the author of five books, including Russia and the Russians: Inside the Closed Society.
"Kevin has extensive experience in transformational leadership and has brought important changes to this highly respected media organization," said BBG member Susan McCue, who serves as the RFE/RL board's vice chair and spearheaded the effort to recruit Klose earlier this year. "I have full faith in his ability to move things forward. We are grateful that he could take an extended leave from the University of Maryland to remain at the helm of RFE/RL."
Upon accepting the position in January, Klose said he was eager to lend a hand, adding, “I look forward to re-connecting with many friends in Prague and Russia and to working with the entire RFE/RL team.”
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