(02/12/2017) Comme l’a laissé entendre le président Petz Lahure lors de l’assemblée générale de sportspress.lu le 2 novembre à Hesperange, notre association ne sera pas représentée au prochain congrès de l’Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS) qui se tiendra au printemps prochain à Antalya (Turquie). Cette décision a été prise à l’unanimité par le comité.
“Nous ne pouvons pas participer à un congrès de journalistes dans un pays où on jette les journalistes en taule” avait notamment remarqué Petz Lahure.
sportspress.lu n’ira donc pas en Turquie de même que d’autres associations européens. Douze d’entre elles (dont la nôtre) ont d’ailleurs adressé vendredi 1er décembre une lettre au président de l’AIPS Gianni Merlo que nous reproduisons ci-dessous:
For the attention of the AIPS President and the members of the AIPS Executive Committee on behalf of the Sports Journalists Association in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Dear Mr President,
Dear members of the AIPS Executive Committee,
We have major concerns regarding next year’s AIPS Congress. Given the current situation in Turkey, we cannot participate in the 2018 Congress to be held in Antalya.
Several media outlets in Turkey have been forcefully shut down and many Turkish journalists have been imprisoned for doing their job. Attending the Congress would signal that we as journalists do not object to these practices. We therefore believe that the actions of the Turkish government regarding freedom of the press and the treatment of our Turkish journalist colleagues call for a reaction.
We regret how this might affect our sports journalists colleagues in Turkey, who are of course not to blame in this unfortunate situation. We respect their effort in organising the Congress, and look forward to cooperating with them inside AIPS. Hopefully we can come to Turkey another time, when conditions for the Turkish press have improved.
On behalf of the Sports Journalists Associations in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Hans Peter Trost, Sports Media Austria
David Naert, Sportspress.be
Andreas Kraul, Danske Sportsjournalister
Kalle Virtapohja, Sportwriters Association Finland
Jean-Marc Michel, Union des Journalistes de Sports en France
Erich Laaser, Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten
Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson, Sportpress.is
Petz Lahure, Sportspress.lu
Gio Lippens, Nederlandse Sport Pers
Reidar Sollie, Norske Sportjournalisters Forbund
Lisa Edwinsson, Svenska Sportjournalist Forbundet
Janine Geigele, Sportpress.ch
