To: Danica Bensmail (Federal Managing Director of the German Journalists’ Union) Frank Werneke (Chairman of ver.di)
Dear Danica, dear Frank,
on May 20, 2025, the German journalist Hüseyin Doğru was sanctioned by the EU.
Since then, his accounts have been frozen, his assets seized, and his freedom of travel restricted. He is unable to continue working as a freelancer or employee; even minimal humanitarian aid is only available upon application and is at the discretion of the authorities.
As trade unionists, we defend democracy, the rule of law, and human rights standards. These are being trampled on in the case of Hüseyin Doğru. Doğru has not committed a crime but has become a victim of political arbitrariness. In fact, this is a political sanction aimed at his critical reporting.
The sanctions are justified by the claim that Doğru, with its pro-Palestinian reporting, “supports Russia’s destabilizing activities.” No evidence of links to Russia is presented. The fact that Doğru condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops is also irrelevant. The sanctions are “preventive in nature” and were imposed without prior hearing, official charges, or judicial review.
A legal opinion (by Prof. Dr. Ninon Colneric, former judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities and Professor of International Law at the University of Angers, and Prof. Dr. Alina Miron) concludes unequivocally that “the EU has crossed the Rubicon with the restrictions on freedom of expression imposed by the new EU sanctions regime against disinformation.” Terms such as “information manipulation” are so broadly defined that they grant the Council “virtually unlimited discretion,” which raises the risk of politically motivated persecution. Since nothing illegal needs to be said or done, it remains completely unclear where the boundaries lie between permissible reporting and alleged “information manipulation“.
The treatment of Hüseyin Doğru is a serious attack on press and freedom of expression, on the rule of law and democracy—and thus a dangerous precedent that concerns us all.
Meanwhile, there is a petition in which many artists, academics, trade unionists, and politicians from Germany and abroad are demanding the lifting of the sanctions against Doğru: https://free-dogru.com/?lang=de.
Anyone who accepts the economic ruin of a critical left-wing journalist and his family (he has three children) without protest damages the credibility of our community of solidarity.
We therefore urge you:
Take a public stand against the EU sanctions against your member Hüseyin Doğru.
Speak out against the intimidation of independent journalistic work.
Trade union solidarity is a promise that must hold true, especially in times of political rightward shift and political pressure. We would appreciate a positive response.
With kind regards,
Initial signatories:
Gotthard Krupp, Member of the ver.di State Sector Board A, ver.di State District Board Berlin-Brandenburg
Ralf Kramer, Union Secretary, ver.di
Volker Prasuhn, Member of the ver.di District Board Berlin
Steffen Fust, Chair of the ver.di Local Specialist Group Oldenburg-Westerstede-East Frisia (IKT); Chair of the ver.di District Specialist Committee Weser-Ems IKT
Dr. Lydia Krüger, ver.di, Working Group BSW
Cornelia Barth, GEW, Spokesperson Group of the Bremen Peace Forum
Clemens Hehmann, ver.di, Spokesperson for the Working Group BSW (Lower Saxony)
Markus Widera, Member of the GEW District Board Ortenau-South Baden
Supporters:
Michael Altmann, Member of the ver.di State District Board Hesse; Norbert Arndt, Retired Union Secretary, former Deputy Managing Director of the ver.di District Central Ruhr Area; Britta Brandau, Member of the ver.di Union Council; Christian Haß, Board Member ver.di Northwest; Raoul Didier, Union Secretary, Deputy Chair of the DGB District Association Tempelhof-Schöneberg; Armin Duttine, ver.di; Michael Koeditz, GEW, District Association Chair; Sascha Kraft, ver.di, Works Council Member; Wolfgang Mix, GEW State Delegate; Rainer Perschewski, Federal Executive Board Member of the EVG; Charlotte Rutz-Sperling, ver.di State District Sector Board; Sigi Stenzel, ver.di EA; Detlef Bahr, ver.di, ISA; Evelin Becken, ver.di; Bettina Becker, GEW; Horst Bohmbach, GEW; Kirsten Claus, GEW; Marion Dreiner, GEW; Maria Eboisse, GEW; Karsten Ebbrecht-Hashimoto, ver.di; Anke Ehlers, ver.di; Susanna Eiermann, GEW; Magdalena Farkas, ver.di; Waltraud Frank, GEW; Nina Großmann, GEW; Michael Gobicke, ver.di; Kerstin Goring, ver.di; Gerda Guenther, GEW; Georg Heidel, ver.di; Eberhard Henze, ver.di; Robert Horak, GEW; Wilfried Juch, GEW; Brunhild Keller, GEW; Konstantin Kieser, GEW; Brigitte Klein, GEW; Tilmann Krogoll, ver.di; Faye Mentzen, GEW; Margit Natterer, GEW; Carmela Negrete, ver.di; Sean Nowak, ver.di; Jörn Rieken, IG BAU; Stephan Sauvageot, ver.di; Inga Schmalz, ver.di; Birgit Schüller, ver.di; Gabriele Sterke, ver.di; Dr. Christiane Thole, GEW; Armin Wojdschiski, ver.di; Narges Yelaghi, GEW; Susanne Zierl, ver.di; Axel Zutz, GEW; as well as 7 other colleagues.
