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Kosovo - Wave of threats against print media journalists

March 10, 2010 by Anonymous

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Reporters Without Borders condemns three separate cases of threats against investigative journalists in the past month.

The target in the most recent case was Vehbi Kajtazi, who wrote a story for the 18 February issue of the daily Koha Ditore about internal wrangling and divisions resulting from recent decisions by President Fatmir Sejdiu and the judicial system, in particular, a presidential amnesty granted for the second anniversary of Kosovo's independence, on 17 February.

The beneficiary was Alban Geci, the son of Sabit Geci, a former local commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), although he together with his brother Kushtrim had been charged as recently as 22 June by the Pristina public prosecutor with indirect participating in an attack on Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's home.

The day after the story appeared, Sabit Geci phoned Kajtazi and threatened him with reprisals if he did not end his “smear campaign.” With the agreement of Koha Ditore's editors, Kajtazi told Geci several times that the newspaper was willing to print his response, but he declined.

“He told he me he would settle his problems without going to the courts and asked me to make a public apology for the harm I had done his family,” Kajtazi said. Geci already threatened Kajtazi in April 2009 when charges were first brought against his two sons.

When Koha Ditore contacted Gaci to express its surprise about his threats, he responded: “I don't threaten. I act.”

Kajtazi filed a complaint with the police but a senior police official, speaking confidentially and on condition of anonymity, advised him to forget the threat and withdraw his complaint as there was little chance that any court would act on it. Kajtazi quoted the police official as saying: “There is no prosecutor who will take on a case against Sabit Geci and his sons. They have all abandoned any intention of prosecuting someone they regard as one of the most dangerous criminals.”

Earlier this month, Musa Sabedini, the daily Lajm's correspondent in the eastern city of Gjilan, received several anonymous phone calls threatening him over a story he wrote about a 16-year-old youth's murder in Gjilan. He filed a complaint but the police have failed to identify the source of the threats.

“It is unacceptable and very disturbing that the police and judicial authorities should refuse to act on a journalist's complaint about threats,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We can accept that a police investigation does not always succeed in identifying the culprit, but it is outrageous to see officials doing everything they can to dissuade the media from asserting their legitimate rights. We urge the European authorities to pursue their efforts through the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) to quickly address this culture of impunity.”

The management of the state telecommunications company, Telecom of Kosovo, threatened to prosecute Arbana Xharra and Lavdim Halimi of the daily Zeri at the end of January after they wrote an investigative piece about director-general Shyqyri Haxha's management of the company.

Since then, the company has refused to give interviews or answer any questions from Zeri. Kosovo's biggest state company, Telecom of Kosovo has never appreciated scrutiny and media attempts to enquire about its activities have usually had little success.

“It is astonishing that a public company refuses to answer questions about how its assets are used,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Journalists have a duty to investigate possible embezzlement within a major national corporation. If the Kosovar government really wants to join the European Union, it must ensure respect for the media's right to investigate all areas of the economy, especially public companies that are controlled and managed by the state.”

Vietnam - Human rights lawyer and blogger arrested just three days after completing jail term

March 10, 2010 by Anonymous

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Reporters Without Borders condemns the way the authorities are treating human rights lawyer and blogger Le Thi Cong Nhan, who was detained for three hours yesterday, just three days after she was released on completing a three-year jail sentence.

Police took her to a Hanoi police station for allegedly violating the terms of the supplementary sentence of three years of house arrest that she is now supposed to serve. Some sources said their real reason for detaining her was to prevent her from meeting a foreign journalist.

“We hail Le Thi Cong Nhan's release, which unfortunately did not take place until she had completed the prison sentence,” Reporters Without Borders said. “But it is unacceptable that this brilliant lawyer and courageous activist should be made to serve an additional three years of house arrest in the capital after three years in jail.”

The press freedom organisation added: “As far as we are concerned, she is still not free. She is now imprisoned in her home in order to punish her for her continued commitment to human rights.”

When Le Thi Cong Nhan was released on 6 March from Prison No. 5 in the northern province of Thanh Hoa, she was escorted to her Hanoi home to begin serving the three additional years of house arrest to which she was sentenced in 2007.

Aged 30, Le Thi Cong Nhan told international radio stations she would continue to be committed to human rights. Before her arrest in March 2007, she made extensive use of the Internet to promote human rights and she defended free expression eloquently at her May 2007 trial.

Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediately release of fellow lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, who was convicted at the same time Le Thi Cong Nhan on the same charge of “hostile propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under article 88 of the criminal code. Dai was given a four-year sentence.

Information on the sentences that were imposed on appeal:
http://www.rsf.org/Jail-sentences-f...

Petition for the release of Dai and Nhan and more information about their case:
http://www.rsf.org/en-petition27774...

Reporters Without Borders has asked the European Union to suspend its human rights dialogue with Vietnam in protest against the fact that it is currently holding at least 21 journalists and netizens.

Italy - State broadcaster suspends political discussion programmes ahead of regional elections

March 4, 2010 by Anonymous

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Reporters Without Borders is dismayed by a decision by the board of governors of the state-owned broadcaster RAI to suspend all political discussion programmes on its three TV stations during the one-month run-up to regional elections scheduled for 28 and 29 March. The reason given was the difficulty of ensuring “equality of treatment.”

“This move is doubly intolerable,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Firstly, an election campaign is under way and Italy's citizens have more need than ever for political information, especially programmes about the various contending parties, so that they can cast an informed vote. Secondly it is above all the job of state broadcasters such as RAI to provide this information.”

It is extraordinary that RAI should be backing away from the obligation to provide the detailed political information that viewers appreciate by temporarily suspending its current affairs programmes prior to the elections.

The ability of a country's public broadcast media to allocate air-time fairly to the various political parties is a key indicator of its democratic credentials. RAI's inability to do this – acknowledged in the decision taken by the board of governors – is utterly incomprehensible in a democracy such as Italy, which was one of the European Union's founders.

The decision, taken on 1 March, seems to have been politically influenced, especially as polls show support for Silvio Berlusconi's coalition falling and various political scandals would normally give rise to closer scrutiny and more detailed reporting during an election campaign.

There is still time for RAI's governors to reverse this decision and fulfil their obligation to inform the public, as the journalists employed by RAI's three TV stations are demanding.

More than a thousand people protested against the decision outside RAI's headquarters in Rome on 2 March in response to a call from the National Union of Italian Journalists (FNSI) and the state TV unions. Reporters Without Borders representatives took part in the demonstration.

Greece - The German government does not control the national media

February 25, 2010 by Anonymous

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Paris, 25 February 2010

Helenic Parliament Mister Philippos Petsalnikos
President Palais du Parlement 10021 ATHENES

Subject: Summons issued to German ambassador over German coverage of Greece's financial crisis

Mister President,

Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom organisation and winner of the 2005 Sakharov Prize, firmly condemns the summons you have issued to the German ambassador about the German media's coverage of Greece's financial crisis.

It is disturbing and utterly unacceptable that Greece, whether through you or other leading officials, should give the impression that one European Union member government can ask another one to influence its media. Such behaviour, which is more typical of regimes that rank very poorly in our world press freedom index, is a direct violation of article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Under international law, and especially within the European Union, a state cannot and must not under any circumstances be held responsible for the editorial content of its news media, regardless of the form of media. In Germany, as in all European Union countries, the media are free to cover any subject in accordance with an editorial policy which they themselves determine with complete freedom. Their editorial freedom may in some cases result in their having to defend themselves in the courts, but they never have to account for their actions to government officials.

The German authorities therefore cannot and must not under any circumstance interfere in the way the German media cover the economic crisis in Greece or any other subject.

We call on the Greek parliament and all other government authorities to publicly undertake to respect the independence of the media and their editorial freedom in a lasting manner at both the national and international level.

We thank your in advance for giving this matter your attention.

Respectfully,

Jean-François Julliard
Secretary-General

Cc : Permanent representations of member states to the European Union

Belarus - Leading journalist harassed over coverage of trial of top officials

February 19, 2010 by Anonymous

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Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about the continuing harassment of investigative journalist Maryna Koktysh, the deputy editor of the Minsk-based independent newspaper Narodnaya Volya, over her coverage of a case involving senior police officers and interior ministry officials in the southeastern city of Homyel.

“The independent press has just done its duty by reporting developments in a scandal implicating senior officials that elicited comments from President Alexander Lukashenko,” Reporters Without Borders said. “As a journalist, Maryna Koktysh should not be regarded as a police auxiliary or as an accomplice to the criminal activity she covers.”

Police raided Narodnaya Volya's Minsk headquarters on 17 February, seizing her computer and some of her files in the course of a one-hour search. Officials said the raid was ordered by the Homyel police and prosecutor's office in connection with her coverage of the trial of three Homyel police officers and Viktar Yermakow, the head of the interior ministry's Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Department, on charges of abuse of authority and blackmailing KGB agents.

Held behind closed doors before the supreme court since October 2009, the trial ended on 17 February with three of the officials getting jail sentences ranging from three to four years. The case has led to a series of revelations about corrupt practices within the police and security agencies and President Lukashenko even publicly accused one of the defendants of having hunting lodges built illegally in Zhobin, in an area when senior officials and state company executives hunt illegally.

Koktysh told Reporters Without Borders that the police questioned her in connection with a defamation action brought by a senior KGB official, whose identify has not been confirmed, over reports posted on several opposition websites about the hunting lodges. Details of the lawsuit are still not clear.

She cannot provide more details as she had to undertake to treat the case as confidential. The defamation action has been brought against persons unknown, so Koktysh is not directly targeted, at least for the time being. But there is reason to think that the reason her computer was seized was to try to establish whether she wrote the offending website articles.

Andrei Bastunets of the Belarus Association of Journalists (BAJ), a Reporters Without Borders partner organisation, said he was concerned that Koktysh's status “could change from being a witness to being a suspect” and that she could end up being charged with criminal defamation, which is punishable by imprisonment.

Reporters Without Borders shares the concern of the BAJ, which won the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2004. Koktysh is a high-profile journalist with a reputation for investigative reporting. She has worked for Narodnaya Volya since its launch in 1995 and has been its deputy editor since 2006.

She was the first reporter to probe the disappearances of government opponents Viktar Hanchar and Yury Zakharanka, businessman Anatol Krasuski and cameraman Dzmitry Zavadski. On her initiative, Narodnaya Volya published documents demonstrating the existence of death squads involved in political assassinations in Belarus. She has repeatedly been threatened and harassed by the authorities and was illegally stripped of her parliamentary and government press accreditation.

Reporters Without Borders regards the raid on Narodnaya Volya and the interrogation of Koktysh as attempts to intimidate her and calls on the authorities to put a stop to the harassment.

After appearing to relax pressure on the independent media slightly as part of a bid to revive its relationship with the European Union, Belarus has now clearly embarked on new crackdown. On 13 January, the justice ministry ordered the BAJ to stop issuing press cards to journalists and stop providing them with legal aid.

On 1 February, the president promulgated a repressive Internet law and, a few days later, the authorities announced new regulations placing additional restrictions on the dissemination of foreign news media.

(Photos: Belorusskie Novosti, BAJ, Khartiya'97)

- Reporter Without Borders in Berlin presents new desk “Help for Journalists in Need“ / European Union must abandon restrictive granting of visas for victims of political persecution

February 19, 2010 by Anonymous

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With the newly created desk “Help for Journalists in Need” the German section of Reporters without Borders (RWB) can now systematically offer help and support to persecuted media professionals. The organisation, which works to protect press freedom and freedom of speech, is reacting to the high number of journalists in danger and those who have had to flee their home countries. “These people depend on help“, said Jean-François Julliard, the General Secretary of the organisation at the press conference in Berlin on the 19th of February. Legal assistance in case of persecution, financial aid, organising safe accomodations in severely threatening situations as well as help for those trying to escape are the main goals of the new area of work for Alexandra Tryjanowski, the lawyer in charge.

At the opening event of the new office of RWB in Berlin, General Secretary Julliard pointed out the high number of refugees working in media worldwide and strongly criticised the European Unions´ visa policy for political refugees. “Many journalists and online activists risk their lives trying to illegally enter countries because it is practically impossible for refugees to gain an entry visa for a European country.” The states of the European Union have to stand up to their responsibilities and immediately and unburocratically help persecuted media professionals, bloggers and human rights activists”, demanded RWB General Secretary. It is the only way for these people to find enough protection. It would be cynical to publicly show solidarity with the people in Iran, who are marching in the streets for freedom or report about their protests, but then at the same time abandon those who are targets of political prosecution for publishing independent information.

The visa policy of the European Union determines that only those people already located on European ground can apply for asylum. The efforts to secure the “fortress Europe” and the unwritten law of “not giving refuge to foreigners outside of Europe” does not give those persons concerned any other alternative. They need to choose between remaining in often precarious situations in neighbouring countries or taking on the dangers of illegally crossing the border to Europe.

Granting visas in emergency cases is both essential and possible, which can be seen with the current Iran situation: “France has generously handed out emergency visas to journalists who had to flee from Iran during the critical situation there. Other European countries have followed suit – Germany however did not”, Julliard criticised. Since the end of October RWB has been urging the German government to issue humanitarian visas for emergency situations. No decision has been made on that matter so far.

This dubious policy forces many journalists and activists to remain in neighbouring countries such as Yemen, Sudan, Iraq or Turkey for several months or even years. They often have no source of income, are still a target of their former persecuters and are additionally harrassed by the local authorities of the countries where they are seeking refuge. Supporting these people by providing them with accomodation or financing medical care is only one aspect of the RWB's emergeny assistance for many years. An assistance desk was additionally set up in 2006 at the organisation´s headquarters in Paris to support journalists facing imminent danger.

Establishing the new department within the German section has been made possible by the “Roland Berger Award for Human Dignity” 2009. RWB was awarded the prize by the Roland Berger Foundation last year for the efforts taken to protect press freedom and journalists living in danger. “Reporters without Borders has made it their duty to document offences against press freedom and to support journalists in need”, said Prof. Dr. h.c. Roland Berger, the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Roland Berger Foundation. “Awarding this organisation with this prize should encourage us all to protect press freedom and freedom of speech and as active citizens put them to good use.”

Alexandra Tryjanowski, who is responsible for the new department for “migration law, refugee work and emergeny assistance“, can build upon the help for media professionals that RWB has been providing since 1994. “Now we can provide help and support directly here in Berlin by having access to a gradually growing professional and cross-linked structure. The support we can provide is more effective and gets there faster”, said Tryjanowski, who wants to put emphasis on providing local help: “Journalists who are assaulted or subjected to unjustified criminal proceedings because of any critical statements they make as a part of their job must know they are not alone. At the same time our work must also set an example to all those who disregard press freedom and freedom of speech.”

Bulgaria - Broadcast licence blackmail and disturbing increase in violence

February 12, 2010 by Anonymous

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Reporters Without Borders is disturbed by renewed cases of threats and physical violence against Bulgarian journalists in the past few days. An assault on TV reporter Dimitar Varbanov on 10 February and a police spokesman's threats against news agency reporter Ivan Yanev in the city of Stara Zagora on 8 February show that a climate of intimidation continues.

These incidents and major irregularities in the handling of Radio K2's application for an official broadcasting licence suggest that the new government's promises of reform have not yet begun to materialise. The Communications Regulation Commission's refusal to approve the license obtained by Radio K2 has been referred to the Supreme Administrative Court.

“We had been hoping for clear signals from the new government and a determined policy on press freedom,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Death threats by a police spokesman against a journalist are as unacceptable as the authorities' failure to firmly condemn murders of journalists. Georgi Stoev's murder and the attempted murder of Ognyan Stefanov in 2008 showed that such threats must be taken seriously in Bulgaria.

“The irregularities and blackmail attempts that often mark the issuing of broadcasting licences are intolerable in a European Union member country. It is time the Communications Regulation Commission disregarded political considerations. The rules for allocating licences need to be clarified and implemented.”

Reporters Without Borders added: “We urge the government and regulatory authorities to actively guarantee Radio K2's intellectual, commercial and administrative ownership of its licence. Bulgaria has few independent radio stations and Radio K2's disappearance would be a blow to independent news coverage.”


 Reached by telephone, the staff of Radio K2 told Reporters Without Borders they have initiated an appeal. “We filed our petition today before the Supreme Administrative Court's five judges, who have 30 days to issue a ruling,” a member of the staff said. “We are under a lot of pressure. It seems our audience interests many people, who clearly want to control the licence or want our commitment to give them favourable coverage. We hope the judges confirm that we are the owners of the licence, which we acquired in December.”

Varbanov, a reporter for Gospodari na Efira (Masters of the Antenna), a current affairs programme on privately-owned BTV, was attacked with a hammer by real estate entrepreneur Kristo Chapanov on 10 February in the northern city of Veliko Tarnovo, where Varbanov was investigating fraudulent real estate transactions.


 The attack took place when Varbanov went with a TV crew to an apartment complex where buyers have been unable to obtain title to the apartments they bought. He was rushed to a hospital with multiple contusions while the police arrested Chapanov.

Cases of harassment and physical attacks on the press are on the rise again, especially in regions that have been badly hit by the economic crisis, while corruption in the real estate market is now a hot topic in Bulgaria. It falls to the authorities to combat the corruption but investigative coverage of the problem by the media should also be encouraged and protected.

Yanev, who is a reporter for the BGNES news agency, was threatened by Yonka Georgieva, the regional police spokesman in the central city of Stara Zagora, while trying to cover a policeman's murder in the nearby village of Enina, where he was one of the first people on the scene although he is now banned from going back.

“How dare you report this before the police has given the official version,” Georgieva told him. “You are dead. Do you understand? You are already dead!”

The head of BGNES, Neshkov, told Reporters Without Borders: “Ever since the threats were made against our correspondent, the interior minister has been repeating in the media that it was ridiculous to believe that a man who weighed only 50 kilos (the police spokesman) could threaten anyone. He nonetheless refuses to get back to us although we have had our phone number passed to him several times. We have asked him, so far without success, to take a clear position on the threats made by a member of his staff.”

Neshkov added: “Mr. Georgieva has for several days been waging a campaign of denigration against BGNES, accusing it of sensationalism and profiting from this policeman's death. Nothing is farther from the truth. Ivan contacted the spokesman before going to the murder scene. We have not been given any other information. Since this altercation, we have not been able to go to any crime scenes and we have not had access to information.”

Darfuri refugees exposed to increased attacks if UN withdraws from Chad

February 11, 2010 by Anonymous

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Amnesty International today called on the Chadian government to allow UN peacekeepers to continue protecting 250,000 refugees from Darfur and 170,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the east of the country.

The government has insisted that the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) must leave Chad when its mandate expires on 15 March 2010, arguing that the force has failed its mandate.

"Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians would be exposed to increased attacks by Chadian armed opposition groups, irregular militias, criminal gangs and members of the Chadian security forces, if MINURCAT were to leave" said Tawanda Hondora, Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

MINURCAT has been deployed to eastern Chad since March 2008 to protect and enable humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of refugees and IDPs that have sought shelter in the area.

Deployment has been slow over the past two years but the force is now for the first time deployed at around 70 percent of the level set by the UN Security Council and has received technical support from various countries.

Attacks on humanitarian workers and civilians, which reached alarming levels in the last months of 2009, have begun to decrease as MINURCAT soldiers have been able to carry out patrols in sensitive areas they were previously unable to patrol.

"The Chadian government has the responsibility and duty to protect its own population and other persons living on its territory but for many years it has shown itself incapable and unwilling to do so with respect to Eastern Chad."

Human rights violations including rape and recruitment of child soldiers are carried out with almost total impunity in eastern Chad, by members of Chadian and Sudanese armed opposition groups, bandits and members of the Chadian security forces.

Amnesty International also fears that humanitarian agencies that assist refugees, IDPs and the local population in eastern Chad would be forced to close some or all of their programmes if MINURCAT were to pull out as the security vacuum left behind by the UN withdrawal would make it too dangerous for many to operate.

"This would leave hundreds of thousands without essential humanitarian assistance and facing increased security risks due to the absence of an international presence."

"The UN Security Council must not accede to the request of the Chadian authorities until it is clear that the government of Chad is capable and prepared to protect the human rights of people living in eastern Chad.

Background

In January 2010, the government of Chad sent a note verbale to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) requesting it to not renew the mandate of the United Nations Mission to the Central African Republic and Chad.

Following this request, the United Nations Secretary-General sent a Technical Assessment Mission to Chad to discuss the issue with Chadian authorities.

Chadian officials who met the UN team are reported to have confirmed the government's insistence that MINURCAT's mandate not be renewed when it expires on 15 March 2010.

On 8 February 2010, during a trip to Sudan, Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno reaffirmed that it is his government's position that MINURCAT must leave Chad at the expiration of its mandate.

The UNSC passed Resolution 1778 (2007) on 25 September 2007 establishing both a military and policing component to MINURCAT.  The military force was deployed on 15 March 2008.  For the first year it was under the command of the European Union.  Command of the military force was transferred to the UN as of 15 March 2009. MINURCAT has the mandate, inter alia, to contribute to the protection of refugees, displaced persons and civilians in danger by facilitating the provision of humanitarian assistance in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic.

Iran - Number of journalists and netizens in prison now tops 65

February 9, 2010 by Anonymous

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Reporters Without Borders deplores the fact that, as a result of arrests in the past few days, the number of journalists and netizens detained in Iran now exceeds 65. “This is a figure that is without precedent since Reporters Without Borders was created in 1985,” the organisation's secretary-general, Jean-François Julliard, said. “The detainees include journalists based in Tehran and the provinces.”

At the same time, the Internet has been experiencing a great deal of disruption since the evening of 6 February and some mobile phone companies are no longer allowing users to send SMS messages. The measures appear to be part of a concerted effort by the authorities to prevent opposition protests during the Islamic Revolution's 31st anniversary celebrations on 11 February.

Intelligence ministry officials arrested at least eight journalists yesterday and the day before and took them to unknown places of detentions. Those arrested include:

- Akbar Montajabi of Etemad-e Mell (a daily closed by the authorities)


- Ahmad Jalali Farahani (arrested a day after being fired from the Meher News agency)


- Mahsa Jazini of the Isfahan-based daily Iran


- Somayeh Momeni of the monthly Nasim Bidary


- Zeynab Kazem-Khah, an arts reporter for the ISNA news agency


- Amir Sadeghi, a photographer with the daily Farhangh Ashti


- Hassan Zohouri of the Mirass Farhanghi news agency


- Ehsan Mehrabi of the daily Farhikhteghan


- Vahid Pouristad of the daily Farhikhteghan

Reporters Without Borders has not received any news of several other journalists and netizens who were also reportedly arrested in recent days.

The press freedom organisation has learned that Ali Mohammad Islampour, editor of the Qasrnews blog and editor of the Navai Vaghat newspaper, was arrested on a charge of “publishing false information liable to upset public opinion” on 3 February after being summoned by a revolutionary court in the western city of Kermanshah.

In a press release yesterday, the intelligence ministry announced the arrests of seven journalists for “collaborating with Zionist satellite TV stations.” The journalists are accused of “receiving professional training abroad in the preparation of a velvet revolution,” disturbing public order and “collaborating with Radio Farda (Radio Free Europe).” A senior Radio Farda representative denied the allegation and said the station had no journalists in Iran.

In an open letter to international media that have been invited by the Iranian authorities to cover the 31st anniversary celebrations, ten Iranian exile journalists said they had detailed information from Iran about the government's plans to give the impression that it is supported by most of the population. It not only wants to prevent an opposition rally on Azadi Square, where President Ahmadinejad will give his speech, but also to ensure that there will only be government supporters in the square, the letter said.

Inviting foreign journalists to cover the Islamic Revolution's official anniversary was a trap, the journalists wrote. A government that has already arrested, jailed and charged journalists working for foreign news media, now wanted to demonstrate its popularity to the entire world and thereby conceal the protests, they said.

The letter added: “You are going to Iran not only as media representatives of the free world, but also as representatives of your Iranian fellow journalists who are either in prison or in exile outside Iran. Your host is a government that is anti-freedom, anti-free media, and one that violates the most basic human rights of its people.”

Reporters Without Borders wrote to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay on 4 February voicing concern about the situation in Iran and requesting an interview. The organisation also wrote to the foreign ministers of the European Union's 27 member countries urging them to recall their ambassadors from Tehran “to protest against the arbitrary repression of government opponents, denounce the judicial farce of the Stalinist-style show trials and publicly express your concern about the imminent risk of executions.”