**Updates IFEX alerts of 12 and 10 May 2000** (WAN/IFEX) – In a 10 May 2000 letter to President Milan Milutinovic, WAN and the World Editors Forum (WEF), expressed serious concern at the arrest of journalist Miroslav Filipovic. According to reports, on 8 May Filipovic, a journalist for the Serbian independent daily “Danas” and a […]
**Updates IFEX alerts of 12 and 10 May 2000**
(WAN/IFEX) – In a 10 May 2000 letter to President Milan Milutinovic, WAN and the World Editors Forum (WEF), expressed serious concern at the arrest of journalist Miroslav Filipovic.
According to reports, on 8 May Filipovic, a journalist for the Serbian independent daily “Danas” and a correspondent for news agency Agence France-Presse, was detained in the central town of Kraljevo, where he lives and works. Filipovic, who also works with the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting and the Helsinki Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, was arrested at his home and taken to the town’s police station by six men in civilian clothes, two of whom presented themselves as members of Serbian State Security.
The arresting officers searched the apartment and seized a large quantity of documents, files, written notes, computer disks, the hard drive of his personal computer, his phone diary and his passport. No reason was given for Filipovic’s arrest, although the security agents left a document listing the items confiscated and stating that he was being detained under a law designed to prevent the destruction or concealment of “objects which have to be confiscated as evidence in a court case”.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
- stating that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights considers that “detention, as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights”
- respectfully reminding him that the prosecution of Filipovic is a clear breach of his right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions
- calling on him to ensure that all charges against Filipovic are dropped and that he is released immediately
- urging him to do everything in his power to ensure that journalists in Yugoslavia are free to practice their profession, as guaranteed by the country’s constitution and international law
Appeals To
His Excellency Milan Milutinovic
President
Presidential Palace
Republic of Serbia, Belgrade
Fax: +381 11 361 7513
Please copy appeals to WAN.
