The three major Greek newspapers; Athens News, Khatimerini and Eleftherotypia, have all refused to publish a commercial advertisement submitted by the International Tibet Support Network. (26-AUG-04)
 
Tibet_adOlympics´We are very disappointed in the Greek media for refusing to run our advertisement. Having successfully launched our Athens Olympics Tibet Campaign yesterday with excellent media coverage, we were hoping to continue with a high-profile media presence by using a common campaigning tool, advertising,´ said Dechen Pemba, spokesperson for the International Tibet Support Network.

The advertisement was intended to raise public awareness of the human rights situation in Tibet and the People´s Republic of China and would have shown 5 bullet holes replacing the Olympic Rings. The advertisement would have appealed to people attending the closing ceremony on Sunday, the 29th August, not to applaud and instead to turn their backs when the Olympic flag is handed over to Beijing – the host of the Summer Olympics in 2008. This peaceful action should be a powerful message to the Chinese government and the members of the IOC.

Despite numerous phone calls with the newspapers, none of them were able to provide a proper reason for the refusal and the chief editors were ´unavailable´ for a statement. ´To refuse to run a legitimate advertisement calling for human rights in Tibet is exactly the kind of behaviour we would expect in the People´s Republic of China, we are shocked that this is happening in Greece today and call on the newspaper editors to reverse their decision and make a stand for freedom of expression´, continued Pemba. ´All we ask for is to be given the same treatment as Coiffure Costas who have an advertisement on page 35 of Athens News today´.