(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: **Updates IFEX alert of 27 May 1999** 28 May 1999 – for immediate release POLITICAL GROUNDS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR SERB TV BAN, SAYS ANTI-CENSORSHIP GROUP ARTICLE 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, today asked the UK government for clarification of the grounds for […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:
**Updates IFEX alert of 27 May 1999**
28 May 1999 – for immediate release
POLITICAL GROUNDS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR SERB TV BAN, SAYS ANTI-CENSORSHIP
GROUP
ARTICLE 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, today asked the UK
government for clarification of the grounds for suspension of RTS (Serbian
state television) from Eutelsat. Although the press release from the UK
Department of Trade and Industry cited RTS transmissions “which included
propaganda inciting genocide and racial hatred”, when pressed by ARTICLE 19,
neither the Department nor Eutelsat could give further details of such
materials.
Malcolm Smart, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, said:
“Whilst incitement to genocide and racial hatred constitute grounds for
action against broadcasters, ARTICLE 19 would not support any decision to
terminate transmissions for broader reasons related to content which may be
regarded as political propaganda, yet falls within the boundaries of
legitimate speech.
“We are seeking to ensure that the process by which 31 governments were able
to cut off satellite transmission of RTS was transparent and based on
extreme circumstances warranting immediate action. If this is not the case,
a dangerous precedent will have been set,” he continued.
“We expect that material gathered as evidence of broadcast incitement to
genocide and racial hatred would be available for prosecutions by the war
crimes tribunal”, concluded Mr Smart.
As part of ARTICLE 19’s commitment to international standards on the free
movement of information and opinions across borders, the organisation
upholds the view that broadcasters should not be censored except in the most
extreme and narrowly defined circumstances.
Questions about the suspension process which ARTICLE 19 has addressed to
Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, include:
a.. Whether the decision to remove RTS from Eutelsat was taken as the result
of a formal process;
b.. Whether RTS had been issued with warnings that its content was liable to
render it subject to removal from Eutelsat;
c.. If the suspension is time-limited, based on improvement in the
performance of the channel;
d.. What remedies, if any, are available to RTS to challenge the decision.
