(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 9 March and 8 March 1999; for background on other cases against “Dnevni Telegraf” see IFEX alerts of 20 October, 19 October, 15 October and 14 October 1998** Media Release 9 March 1999 IFJ Condemns Five Month Sentence for Dnevni Telegraf Workers […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ press release:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 9 March and 8 March 1999; for background on
other
cases against “Dnevni Telegraf” see IFEX alerts of 20 October, 19
October,
15 October and 14 October 1998**
Media Release
9 March 1999
IFJ Condemns Five Month Sentence for Dnevni Telegraf Workers
The IFJ today condemned the five month prison sentence which was handed
down
to Slavko Curuvija, Srdjan Jankovic and Zoran Lukovic of Dnevni Telegraf
in
Belgrade.
The sentence, which was passed by the First Municipal Court of Belgrade
on 8
March 1999, was for defaming Milovan Bojic who is director of the
Dedinje
medical institute as well as being Vice Premier of Serbia. The relevant
article related to the murder of Alexander Popovic, head of
cardiovascular
research at the Institute. The item stated that Popovic was said to have
been involved in exposing an invoice fraud by Bojic and staff involved
in
import and export at the Institute. The mention of this information in
the
article led the judge to conclude that the journalists had implied that
Bojic was responsible for the murder, and he therefore convicted them.
“Dnevni Telegraf has already been fined several times under the new
Serbian
Information Law and now its owner and two of its journalists have been
convicted of criminal defamation of a member of the government. It is
hard
to believe that these actions are not related” said Aidan White, General
Secretary of the IFJ.
“At a time when Serbia is in need of investigative journalism and
independent reporting, the prosecutorâs office continues to enforce
criminal
defamation claims on behalf of privileged individuals. Criminal
prosecution
is never appropriate for offences of defamation, but it is even more
dangerous in a country which imposes draconian measures on all media
which
attempt to maintain their independent coverage” he concluded.
The IFJ has already condemned the Serbian Information Law which can lead
to
crippling fines against individuals and media organs, and has campaigned
regularly for the removal of all defamation laws from the criminal
process.
