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Continued fury about pointed documentary
Tit for tat, ratta-tat-tat
The Australian Parliament is set to tweak Indian prime minister Narendra Modi visiting the land of the down under this week. A screening (May 24) at Parliament House of the BBC documentary India: The Modi Question has been organized by We The Diaspora, a collective of human rights groups including Amnesty International, reported the UK Independent (May 23). The documentary explores the circumstances surrounding deadly riots by Hindu nationalists in 2002 when PM Modi was governor of Gujarat state. It has been banned in India.
PM Modi has been howling about the documentary - and the BBC generally - since it was first broadcast in January in the UK. There have been a series of police searches of BBC facilities in New Delhi and Mumbai. India’s financial crimes agency has undertaken an investigation of the BBC for violations of foreign exchange rules, reported the Financial Times (FT) (May 22). The UK and India governments are currently in the midst of “delicate” economic and defense negotiations, the FT also noted.
Hindu nationalist group Justice on Trial obtained permission from the Indian Supreme Court to sue the UK public broadcaster BBC as “an indignant person.” The Delhi High Court issued a summons (May 22) with a hearing set for September 23. Justice on Trial claims the documentary “maliciously defamed India,” noted Reuters (May 22). In a statement, BBC lawyers said they were “aware” of the summons but would reserve further comment. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has stalled visa renewals for two BBC reporters working in New Delhi.
Journalism and civil liberties advocates were in disbelief as a jury acquitted an underworld character accused of involvement in the murder of an investigative reporter. Impunity has a lasting hold in those circles. They have seen this all before.
In 2018 gunmen shot and killed Slovak investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancé Martina Kusnirova, both 27 years old. Within days the Slovak National Crime Agency rounded up several individuals associated with Italian drug gangs, which had been the subject of Mr. Kuciak’s last reporting. Six months after the killings, four individuals were arrested for complicity. One was Alena Zsuzsova, arrested for paying for the murders. Another of those arrested implicated crime world boss Marian Kocner for ordering the killings. (See earlier post on the murder of Jan Kuciak here)
Slovak prime minister Robert Fico and other politicians had resigned under pressure in 2018. Ms Zsuzsova, Mr. Kocner and two others were tried for the crimes in January 2020. Damning evidence was presented, which set loose considerable public condemnation. The court returned verdicts in acquitting both Ms Zsuzsova and Mr. Kocner, in jail for a separate corruption conviction. The Slovak Supreme Court overturned that decision and ordered a re-trial in an expanded form. New verdicts were announced last week (May 19), convicting Ms Zsuzova of murder. Mr. Kocner was acquitted, though he remains in custody for an unrelated corruption conviction. Families of the victims are pursuing a new trial through an appeal to to Slovak Supreme Court. (See more about press freedom here)
"This case follows an all-too-common pattern in which the killers and accomplices involved in such crimes are put behind bars, while the suspected masterminds who ordered the killing escape justice," said the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Article 19, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and International Press Institute (IPI) in a joint statement (May 19). “We take note of the conviction of a mastermind of the killing of Jan Kuciak, but the verdict leaves a bitter taste,” said Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) secretary general Christophe Deloire, in a statement (May 20). “Full justice has not been served. We deplore a debacle of the five-year judicial procedure against businessman Marian Kocner. RSF expresses its solidarity with the families of the reporter and of his fiancée. We will continue seeking full justice and full truth for the crime which undermined press freedom in Slovakia and Europe.”
Everything reported by official Belarusian sources should always be taken with grain of salt. OK, truck load of salt. The BelTA news agency (May 22) posted a release that Roman Protasevich had been pardoned. Few other details, as usual, were included. About three weeks ago (May 3) he and two other former opposition channel Nexta Telegram reporters and editors were sentenced, Mr. Protasevich to 8 years, Yan Rudyk and Stepan Putsila to 19 and 20 years, respectively, both in abstentia, noted Ukrainian media news portal Detector Media (May 22). They had been charged with “conspiracy to seize power” as well as insulting Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko.
Almost exactly two years ago (May 23 2021), Belarusian fighter jets forced a Ryanair flight, operated by Polish subsidiary Buzz, from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk, on instructions from Minsk air traffic control warning of a bomb threat. Mr. Protasevich and companion Sofia Sapega, a Russian Federation citizen, were removed from the airplane and detained. This set off a wave of airline cancellations over Belarusian territory. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary, quoted by BBC News (May 24 2021), called the Belarusian action “state-sponsored hijacking.” Dictator Lukashenko said the threats had come from Switzerland, reported Reuters (May 26 2021).
For a period of time, Nexta was a major name in opposition reporting, mostly due to extensive coverage of riots following dictator Lukashenko reappointing himself as president. It was originally a music channel on YouTube. Nexta currently operates from Warsaw, Poland when Mr. Putsila removed himself from Belarus. In 2020 Nexta was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. (See more about media in Belarus here)
On arraignment, Mr. Protasevich begged forgiveness and said he would cooperate with Belarusian authorities. His parents, noted Meduza (May 22), said the statements were made under duress. Ms Sapega was sentenced to 6 years in jail and appealed to be transferred to the Russian Federation. Her father offered €67,000 for a pardon from dictator Lukashenko, which was rejected.
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