News Updates for 16 March
Two US Journalists and Ukrainian Producer Killed in Russia's Invasion
Two American journalists and a Ukrainian producer killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine as they were documenting attacks and the plight of refugees were targeted by Russian military forces, media reports said.
Award-winning documentary maker Brent Renaud was the first to be killed, in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin. Fellow reporter, Juan Arredondo, who was injured in the same incident.
"Somebody offered to take us to the other bridge and we crossed a checkpoint, and they start shooting at us. So the driver turned around, and they kept shooting. There's two of us. My friend is Brent Renaud, and he's been shot and left behind,” Arredondo said in a video shared widely on twitter.
Ukrainian producer Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova, 24, and Fox News cameraperson Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, were killed during shelling in Horenka, at the capital’s northwest city limits.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoula said, “Journalists have a critical role in providing information during a conflict and should never be targeted.”
Turkish Court Releases Journalist Jailed for Insulting President
Television journalist Sedef Kabas was freed despite being sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kabas, who has been detained since late January, was tried on a charge of insult that has been brought against thousands of people under Erdogan’s rule. Turkey’s use of the law to stifle criticism has been denounced internationally.
“I will continue to tell the truth despite the experiences the current leadership is making me and others go through,” Kabas told Balkan Insight.
Kabas had served two months’ imprisonment for saying that, “A crowned head becomes wiser. But we see it is not true. A bull does not become king just by entering the palace; the palace becomes a barn” on Turkey’s TELE 1 channel.
President Erdogan was reportedly infuriated by the incident and the ramifications are not limited to Kabas personally. Turkey's state agency for regulating TV and radio broadcasts has stopped five TELE 1 programmes and the channel could also be fined 8 percent of its profits.
Bulgaria Gave Passports to Top Russian Bankers
Bulgaria's new Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, elected on an anti-corruption platform, said he is moving to end the country's Golden Passport program, that offered the possibility of an EU passport to wealthy foreigners.
The EU has become increasingly concerned about Golden Passport schemes throughout the Union. Bulgaria and Malta are the only two countries that still offer this kind of scheme after Cyprus ended its own Golden Passport programme in 2020
The announcement came in the wake of a report from the Bulgarian investigative outfit Bird.bg that highlighted three high profile Russian bankers who were able to obtain Bulgarian passports without making real investments in the Bulgarian economy. Euractive Bulgaria estimates that the number of individuals holding Bulgarian Golden Passports is small (less than 100) and around 40% hold Russian citizenship.
Those taking advantage of the scheme include the director of Credit Suisse's office in Moscow, a former Director of Investment Banking at Russian bank VTB Capital and a former Director of the Eurasian Development Bank. The required investment of at least 1 million Bulgarian levs ($560,000) may have been achieved through the purchase of Bulgarian government securities.
Albanian Police Targeting Journalists
Albania's repressive government is trying to control the flow of information and allows police to employ violence against media workers, according to a report from the International Press Institute.
The report highlighted fourteen separate alerts impacting on 24 individuals or media entities. These included reports of police violence against journalists, particularly in the context of protests.
Ora News journalist Isa Myzyraj was physically restrained by the Mayor of Tirana's security detail.
The report noted online harassment of journalists with women often “facing the brunt of such attacks,” citing a death threat against Exit reporter Alice Taylor that police have failed to act on.
Albanian action on 'fake news' may also have implications for the freedom to report. Prime Minister Edi Rama's communications chief has been appointed to head a centralized Media and Information Agency with the responsibility to determine what qualifies as news.
More Protection Demanded for UK Whistleblowers
The UK has been slow to update its ageing whistleblower protection law, the Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998) and, having left the EU, does not have to implement the EU’s recent Directive on Whistleblower Protection. Nonetheless, pressure has been building for change in the context of new anti-corruption legislation.
The British government is rushing through an Economic Crime Bill, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctioning of Russian individuals and banks. London has long had a reputation of being a haven for dirty money, from the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. It is also a frequent point of origin for SLAPP suits brought against reporting on these issues.
The Economic Crime Bill is being rushed through Parliament. A sequence of amendments laid to protect whistleblowers and campaigners intend to put on the pressure to have them incorporated a later round of legislation. .
Proposed changes include increasing the number of regulators empowered to receive whistleblower reports, introducing a duty of care for regulators towards the whistleblowers who come to them and instituting a single agency to oversee whistleblower protections. One version of the later provision would establish an Office of the Whistleblower with powers to reward those who come forward with evidence of financial crimes.
Kevin Hollinrake MP said, "The problem is this touches the wider perception of whistleblowing, and whether it’s worth coming forward," Hollinrake said. Disclosure "could have devastating consequences for those who do it," he added.