The European Union claims that "the fundamental right to freedom of expression" only applies to journalists "acting in good faith," and that authorities do not have to give due process before freezing people's bank accounts, as these sanctions are "temporary and are not criminal in nature," according to a legal letter shared by a sanctioned journalist.
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sanctions → claim → journalist
Last year, the European Union blacklisted 21 people for allegedly spreading Russian propaganda, banning them from doing business in Europe.
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Union → blacklist → Europe
One of them, Hüseyin Doğru, was falsely listed as a Turkish citizen living in Istanbul.
asserted
One → list → Istanbul
In fact, Doğru is a German journalist in Berlin, making him the first European citizen on European soil to be sanctioned this way.
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him → make → soil
It was like being sentenced to "civil death," Doğru told American journalist Chris Hedges.
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Doğru → sentence → Hedges
He was banned from holding a job in Europe or having a European bank account, and authorities have restricted Doğru to a €506 ($567) per month allowance from his own money.
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authorities → ban → money
"The sanctions are designed for people outside of Europe, so they don't really know how that should function with me, because I'm a European citizen and I'm living in Europe," Doğru told Hedges.
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Doğru → design → Hedges
Last month, the civil libertarian Wau Holland Foundation hired lawyers to contest the sanctions against Doğru.
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Foundation → hire → Doğru
And earlier this month, the Council of the European Union sent a response letter, which Doğru shared on social media, promising to escalate the case to the E.U. General Court.
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Doğru → send → Court
Although the council conceded to Doğru that he is not a Turkish citizen living in Turkey, it still insisted on the authority to punish him for his speech.
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it → concede → speech
The council quoted a 2022 court case between the Russian news outlet RT and several European countries: "The protection of the right of the media and, more particularly, of journalists to impart information on issues of general interest is subject to the proviso that they are acting in good faith and on an accurate factual basis and provide 'reliable and precise' information in accordance with the ethics of journalism."
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they → quote → journalism
Doğru's lawyers insisted that he should be treated as innocent until proven guilty.
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he → insist → ?
But the council responded that sanctions fall short of a criminal punishment, so any complaint about a "violation of the presumption of innocence is therefore unfounded."
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complaint → respond → innocence
In other words, because he is not accused of a crime, Doğru has fewer rights than a criminal suspect.
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Doğru → accuse → suspect
"People need to understand sanctions are an extrajudicial measure.
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sanctions → need → ?
There is no hearing, no evidence, there is no sentence by the court, nothing," Doğru told Hedges.
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Doğru → be → Hedges
"When you're sanctioned, you are not informed….The
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you → sanction → ?
day when I was sanctioned, me and my wife, my wife was pregnant back then, we went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for her, and her cards did not work."
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cards → sanction → her
The original blacklisting decision accuses Doğru of supporting "actions by the Government of the Russian Federation which undermine or threaten stability and security in the Union" by spreading "false information on politically controversial subjects with the intent of creating ethnic, political and religious discord amongst its predominantly German target audience."
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which → accuse → audience
Doğru and his wife, British journalist Lizzie Phelan, previously worked at the Russian-funded publication Redfish.
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Doğru → work → publication
A few months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he split off to create a new website called red.media, insisting to The Left Berlin that "we are not Russian.
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we → split → Berlin
red.media is not funded by Russia or any other state."
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red.media → fund → Russia
In the same interview, Doğru called Russia an "imperialist" regime.
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Doğru → call → Russia
But in September 2024, a Biden administration "fact sheet" on Russian propaganda offhandedly mentioned red.media, citing a hit piece on Doğru by the German newspaper Tagesspiegel.
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sheet → mention → newspaper
Doğru told Hedges that the U.S. fact sheet created a circular logic in German media: "They said red.media is Russian because [U.S. Secretary of State Antony] Blinken said so.
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Blinken → tell → State
But what they never said is that Blinken is referring to your articles where you never say it like that.
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you → say → that
You say there is a suspicion, it might be so."
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it → say → ?
Doğru shut down red.media in May 2025 due to the bad press.
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Doğru → shut → press
The European Union sanctioned him a few weeks later.
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Union → sanction → him
Doğru's lawyer, Alexander Górski, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine earlier this year that the European Union didn't "even attempt to make an evidentiary case" about any ongoing connection to Russia.
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Union → tell → Russia
The blacklisting decision also claimed that, during a pro-Palestinian student protest at Humboldt University in Berlin, red.media "coordinated with the occupiers to disseminate images of their vandalism—which included the use of Hamas symbols."
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which → claim → symbols
Doğru told Hedges that these accusations are an attack on journalists' freedom to do their jobs.
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accusations → tell → jobs
The European Union does not have the same protections for the freedom of the press as the U.S. Constitution.
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Union → have → Constitution
Earlier this year, the Curia of the European Union ruled that simply reposting clips from Russian media could be a violation of European sanctions, even if no money changes hands, something that is explicitly exempted from U.S. sanctions under the Berman Amendment.
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that → rule → Amendment
Still, U.S. authorities have tried to push the limits of international sanctions to censor speech.
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authorities → try → speech
The Biden administration told an American nonprofit that "the provision of a platform for [the sanctioned individuals] to speak" was illegal, backing down after the nonprofit sued.
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nonprofit → tell → platform
And the Trump administration sanctioned Italian academic Francesca Albanese for her "lawfare" calling for the prosecution of Israeli leaders and a boycott of Israeli industries.
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administration → sanction → industries
In addition to freezing her bank accounts, the sanctions forced Columbia University researchers to cut off their relationship with Albanese, and Georgetown University to close her email account.
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University → freeze → account
In the same statement accusing red.stream of being a Russian front, the Biden administration announced sanctions on two Russian news agencies.
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administration → accuse → agencies
"We encourage dissent, open debate, and free discourse.
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We → encourage → dissent
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
