(IPI/IFEX) – IPI strongly condemns the sentencing of three journalists to five-month prison terms. ** Updates IFEX alerts of 9 March and 8 March 1999** On 8 March 1999, the owner of the daily “Dnevni Telegraf,” Slavko Curuvija, and two journalists, Srdjan Jankovic and Zoran Lukovic, were convicted of criminal defamation and sentenced by a […]
(IPI/IFEX) – IPI strongly condemns the sentencing of three journalists
to
five-month prison terms.
** Updates IFEX alerts of 9 March and 8 March 1999**
On 8 March 1999, the owner of the daily “Dnevni Telegraf,” Slavko
Curuvija,
and two journalists, Srdjan Jankovic and Zoran Lukovic, were convicted
of
criminal defamation and sentenced by a Belgrade court to five months in
prison for having published an article on 5 December 1998 which
suggested
that Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Milovan Bojic was linked to the
killing
of a medical doctor. The journalists were given eight days to lodge an
appeal.
The criminal suit against “Dnevni Telegraf” was filed by Bojic, who also
heads a medical centre in Belgrade, after the independent paper
implicitly
accused him of being involved in the murder of a surgeon, Alexander
Popovic,
who worked at the clinic. Judge Krsto Bobot said the jail sentence was
appropriate to the crime and would serve as a warning to others not to
use
the media to make murder accusations.
IPI maintains that journalists should be judged by civil laws and not by
criminal statutes, which are inappropriate for dealing with defamation.
Anybody who feels harmed can seek redress through the civil courts in
the
form of a retraction, apology or compensatory payment for demonstrable
damages. Issuing prison sentences to impede the free flow of ideas and
opinions is quite plainly not compatible with democratic principles.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the President:
sentences imposed on the three journalists are annulled
Appeals To
H.E. Slobodan Milosevic
Federal President
Savezna Skupstina
11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: +381 11 636 775
E-mail: slobodan.milosevic@gov.yu
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
