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 News From You
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Week ending March 17, 2012
In a tribute to the life and work of Vaclav Havel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and RFE/RL announce the launch of the Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellowship. The inaugural Vaclav Havel fellow, Franak Viachorka, will be in Washington for a week of training beginning on March 19, and will also be recognized at a reception hosted by the Czech Embassy.
Petr Gandalovic, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the U.S., described the goals of the program by invoking the legacy of his country's former president. "Havel was a playwright, dissident and political leader. He had an uncompromising belief in the power of words and the power of truth to unite people and overcome tyranny. This Fellowship carries the spirit of his convictions to places struggling against censorship where -- even in 2012 -- people are still denied the fundamental human right of free speech."
Fellowships will afford independent journalists from countries lacking a free media six months of professional, on-the-job training and development at RFE/RL's Prague headquarters. The program initially targets EU Eastern Partnership countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, and may expand to include fellows from other countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"RFE/RL has a special relationship with the Czech people," says RFE/RL president Steven Korn. "This partnership will give promising young journalists an opportunity to work for impact in their own countries without fear."
During his fellowship, Viachorka, a journalist and documentary filmmaker from Belarus, will train with RFE/RL's Belarus service, Radio Svaboda. His visit to Washington will also include high-level meetings with journalists, diplomats, congressional staff members, and think tanks.
Viachorka has worked as a journalist and editor for several independent publications in Belarus, including as a freelancer for the BelaPAN news agency and the independent Polish satellite TV station, Belsat. He first came to the attention of Radio Svaboda at the age of 13 when he appeared from 2001-2002 on the program "Young Voices." In 2006 he starred in the award-winning documentary, “A Lesson of Belarusian,” which chronicles his teenage years in Aleksandr Lukashenka's Belarus. Viachorka is also the author of the European travel book "Wanderer's Guide" and director of the Citizen Journalist blog.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have welcomed the release of four Turkish journalists held for over a year on spurious charges of aiding a terrorist group, and called on Turkish authorities to do more to respect freedom of the press.
Nedim Şener, Ahmet Şık, Coşkun Musluk and Sait Çakır had been arrested and accused of involvement with Oda TV, a news website that authorities allege acted as the media wing for the so-called “Ergenekon” conspiracy.
While commending the decision of an Istanbul court to release the four on Monday, WAN-IFRA and WEF called on the Turkish authorities to do more to respect freedom of the press and urged the government to end its harassment of critical journalists.
“Attacks against the press risk creating a climate in which journalists practice self-censorship, eroding democratic principles and stifling public debate,” said a WAN-IFRA statement, echoing a press freedom resolution issued on 1 March by the Board of the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers.
“The influence that Turkey has in the Middle East and North Africa region following the Arab revolutions, coupled with its desire to strengthen ties with European neighbours, makes it all the more critical that the government reverses its alarming trend of targetting critical media and arresting journalists,” the statement said.
Authorities have arrested hundreds of people from across Turkish society in the “Ergenekon” conspiracy, in which ultra-nationalists and elements of the Turkish security services are said to have plotted to use terrorism to bring down the government.
Such charges are routinely used to imprison journalists, with international observers identifying many journalists arrested in direct connection to their professional work. There are currently more journalists in jail in Turkey than in any other country in the world.
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