(RSF/IFEX) – In a 23 September 2000 letter to the federal minister of information and telecommunications, Goran Matic, RSF protested the expulsion of Portuguese journalist Lumena Raposo, a reporter with the daily “Diaro de Noticias”. RSF asked the minister to reconsider his decision and to ensure that other foreign journalists currently in Belgrade to cover […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a 23 September 2000 letter to the federal minister of information and telecommunications, Goran Matic, RSF protested the expulsion of Portuguese journalist Lumena Raposo, a reporter with the daily “Diaro de Noticias”. RSF asked the minister to reconsider his decision and to ensure that other foreign journalists currently in Belgrade to cover the 24 September elections are not expelled, and are allowed to normally cover the elections. “Once again, the Belgrade authorities have demonstrated their unwillingness to allow the press to do its job. To expel foreign journalists on the eve of national elections is a particularly serious action, and leads us to doubt that tomorrow’s election will be fair. How can we speak of open and fair elections when representatives of the international press are not permitted to remain in the country?,” added Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general.
According to information collected by RSF, Raposo was expelled without explanation by Federal Republic of Yugoslavia officials on 22 September. About twenty other foreign journalists from Finland, Germany, Sweden and France did not receive accreditation and the Belgrade government asked them to leave the country.
RSF recalled that several European journalists were unable to travel to Belgrade to cover the elections, as they were unable to obtain visas.
