News and press releases

VIENNA, 13 April 2018 – Today OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir called on the Tajikistani authorities to release from pre-trial detention Khayrullo Mirsaidov, a reporter with a number of national and international media outlets in Tajikistan in the past years. Mirsaidov is facing charges of embezzlement of funds, falsification of documents, making false accusations, and incitement to inter-ethnic hatred.

VIENNA, 13 April 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today called upon the Czech authorities to respect journalists’ rights to protect confidential sources, following complaints by investigative journalists Jaroslav Kmenta (of The Reporter), Janek Kroupa (of Czech Radio) and Sabina Slonkova (of Neovlivni.cz) regarding pressure by police investigators to disclose their sources. The journalists allege that in recent months, they have been repeatedly questioned by the police and the General Inspection of Security Corps (GIBS) over their reporting related to corruption cases...

A three-day training course on anti-corruption reviewing of draft legislation for 30 representatives of government institutions, academia and civil society concluded on 13 April 2018 in Astana...

Public monitoring of the environment was the focus of a training seminar co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the Zhaiyk-Caspian Aarhus Centre that was held on 13 April 2018, in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, for some 30 representatives of the government, environmental NGOs, the private sector and the media...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on civilian casualties caused by shelling in Staromykhailivka, near Donetsk city. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it observed ceasefire violations assessed as inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as, again, near Dovzhanske (near the border with the Russian Federation).* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema and water pipelines in Obozne and Zolote-5.

KYIV, 12 April 2018 – A recent upsurge in violence in eastern Ukraine threatens the lives and wellbeing of the civilian population and further undermines the ceasefire upon which their security and safety depend, said the OSCE Chairperson’s Special Representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), Ertugrul Apakan, today...

VENICE, 12 April 2018- The Commissioner of the Municipality of Venice, Mr. Simone Venturini, and the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova, signed an agreement today strengthening co-operation between the OSCE and the Municipality of Venice regarding victim protection and the fight against organized criminal networks involved in trafficking.