(IFJ/IFEX) – On 15 October 1998, IFJ released this letter of protest to FRY President Slobodan Milosevic in response to the recent crackdown on indep
(IFJ/IFEX) – On 15 October 1998, IFJ released this letter of protest to FRY
President Slobodan Milosevic in response to the recent crackdown on
indep<endent media:
Slobodan Milosevic
President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Fax: +381 11 367 25 48 Brussels, 15th October 1998
Dear Mr Milosevic,
The International Federation of Journalists, the world’s largest
journalists’ organisation representing over 420,000 journalists world-wide,
condemns most strongly the actions of your government in recent censorship
of independent media in Serbia.
Following a series of media bans during the year culminating in the closure
in recent days of three daily newspapers – “Danas”, “Dnevni Telegraf” and
“Nasa Borba” – the IFJ is calling on all of its members in more than 100
countries to protest strongly at this action against professional
journalists.
Each year the IFJ intervenes with many governments to protest at violations
of the rights of journalists. It is rare that we have to intervene in any
European country where a governmental campaign against freedom of expression
has reached such a stage of unprecedented intimidation and censorship.
We protest strongly at the actions of your government which are an affront
to democracy. In particular we condemn the steady denial of media freedom
and professional rights to journalists in the electronic media and in
particular against TV Pirot, Radio City, Radio Kontakt, Radio Senta, and
Radio Index.
We reject the intolerant and intemperate comments of Serbian Deputy Prime
Minister Vojislav Seselj who has launched a ferocious assault on the rights
of professional journalists.
We oppose the ban on re-broadcasting foreign news programmes.
We deplore the appalling actions of police in breaking into newspaper
offices and sealing them.
We reject the constitutional and legal basis for the special decree which
your government has used to muzzle press and broadcasting media. It is
scaremongering, unnecessary and is designed only to intimidate honest and
professional journalists.
The IFJ sees these actions as an attempt to introduce permanent censorship
and control over media. We shall campaign strongly against them while we
continue to press for a return to international standards of freedom of
expression. In this spirit we urge you to stop victimising our colleagues
and to embrace the press freedom consensus of European
democracies.
Yours sincerely
AIDAN WHITE
General Secretary
