The executive board of the International Press Institute unanimously agreed to keep South Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela on its "IPI Watch List," while adding Zimbabwe to the list at a meeting held in Paris, France, Saturday. The board also decided to extend jailed Chosun Ilbo owner Bang Sang-hoon's term as IPI vice chairman and board member and urged the Korean government to release three newspaper owners in detention.
Speaking of the Korean media situation, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said, "The prosecution authorities recently demanded a prison term of seven years in the case of the president of the Chosun Ilbo, Bang Sang-Hoon. This provides further evidence that the present prosecution, under President Kim Dae-Jung's control, are attempting to suppress and intimidate the media."
Fritz went on to say "the judiciary should act fairly and equitably when deciding the cases of those indicted, particularly with the three media owners currently in detention. In addition, the judiciary should take into consideration such important factors as the international principles of freedom of the press and the government's obvious utilization of a tax investigation to suppress freedom of expression. IPI simply does not understand why the three media owners were not given bail and demands that they should be immediately released".
IPI Chairman Hugo Buetler, editor-in-chief of the Neue Zuercher Zeitung, said, "In recognition of the courage shown by IPI Vice Chairman Bang Sang Hoon, IPI has decided to keep him not only as a board member but also as the vice chairman of the IPI, despite the fact that his term ends next year at the IPI General Assembly. The IPI Board unanimously agreed to continue their coordinated efforts in every possible way until the Korean media crisis is resolved."
Following is a part of the Executive Board of IPI resolution adopted on October 20, 2001.
ˇ°With regard to South Korea, where a politically motivated tax probe has led to the indictment of thirteen media owners for tax evasion and embezzlement, with three of the newspaper owners being held in custody until their trial, IPI strongly believes that:
The arrest and detention of the newspaper owners were undertaken as a means of suppressing and intimidating the media,
The South Korean government should call a halt to its attempts to infringe the editorial independence of the critical media,
The South Korean government should refrain from applying financial pressure on the management of the media, and
The South Korean government should recognize that, in seeking to intimidate the media, it is undermining its reputation abroad as a democratic country which upholds the fundamental principles of press freedom and freedom of expression.
Taking the above into consideration, the Executive Board re-affirmed its previous decision to place the country on the IPI Watch List.ˇ±
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