(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 28 March 1999 CPJ press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 29 March, 26 March, 25 March, 24 March and 23 March 1999** CPJ News Alert on the Crackdown on the Independent Media in Yugoslavia Since long before the initiation of NATO air strikes, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 28 March 1999 CPJ press release:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 29 March, 26 March, 25 March, 24 March and 23 March
1999**
CPJ News Alert on the Crackdown on the Independent Media in Yugoslavia
Since long before the initiation of NATO air strikes, Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic has been systematically targeting the independent media
in Yugoslavia. In the past few days he has stepped up his repression.
Several independent radio stations have been banned, a Pristina-based
independent newspaper was forcibly closed down and independent journalists
continue to be harassed and threatened for the slightest criticism of
Milosevic’s actions.
This alert presents media violations, documented by CPJ, from March 23-27,
1999. CPJ will continue to issue updates on the plight of the independent
media in Yugoslavia. For background see our website at http://www.cpj.org.
or contact Judith Leynse at (212) 465-1004, ext. 105.
March 27
The Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry banned the broadcasts of Television
Soko, an ANEM affiliate in the eastern Serbia town of Soko Banja. The ban
was issued after the television station re-broadcast segments of foreign
programs.
Dragoslav Rancic, a reporter for the Belgrade weekly magazine Nin, was
arrested at 3 a.m. Stevan Niksic, the chief editor of the magazine, was
summoned by police later that morning. Both Rancic and Niksic were released
on March 28. They were detained in connection with an article written by
Rancic which called into question President Milosevic’s negotiating tactics.
March 26
Independent newspapers in Belgrade reported difficulty in acquiring
newsprint. Most had to either stop printing or drastically reduce their
content and circulation. The daily Vreme was down to 16 pages, while the
daily Glas Javnosti was down to 8 pages from the usual 24. The daily Dnevni
Telegraph which, for the past several months had been smuggled in from
Zagreb, is no longer publishing.
March 25
The Serbian Minister of Information Alexander Vucic issued a statement
ordering all foreign correspondents from NATO countries to leave Serbia. The
statement said that the journalists had “instigated NATO’s aggressive
activities which were aimed at destroying the constitutional order and
territorial integrity of Serbia and Yugoslavia and of misinforming the
world.” This decree conflicted with statements from the Yugoslav government
which indicated that foreign journalists were welcome to stay as long as
their reporting was objective. Many foreign correspondents were detained
overnight, threatened and forced to leave, while others left on their own
accord after hearing the statement from the Ministry. By the end of the day,
nearly all foreign correspondents had left the country.
The Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore in Pristina was shut down by the
Serbian
police, who killed the security guard before ransacking the offices. Veton
Surroi, the newspaper’s editor and one of the signatories of the Rambouillet
peace accord, went into hiding. Bajram Kelmendi, a prominent ethnic Albanian
human rights lawyer who represented Koha Ditore, and his two sons, Kustrim
and Kastriot, were forcibly taken from their home by Serbian police, who
broke in and ransacked the house. All three were found dead the next day
with bullet shots to the head.
The Novi Sad-based Radio 021, an ANEM affiliate, was banned. The ban was
imposed on the grounds that the radio station had allegedly failed to pay a
tax of the equivalent of several hundred dollars in February.
March 24
At 2:50 a.m., Radio B92, the Belgrade-based independent station, was banned
from
further broadcasts. Two inspectors of the Yugoslav Federal Telecommunication
s Ministry, backed by about 10 policemen, entered the premises of Radio B92,
and instructed its staff to immediately discontinue broadcasts. They told
the B92 staff that “the Yugoslav federal inspector for telecommunications
had, according to Article 192 Paragraph 1 of the Law on the General
Administrative Procedures and to Article 1 Paragraph 1 Point 2 of the Law on
the Systems of Connections, passed the decision ordering Radio B92’s
immediate cessation of the illegal radio-broadcasts of its radio diffusion
station operating on the 92.5 MHz frequency… With the purpose of
preventing further operation of the radio station, the [inspectors] will
carry out temporary seizure of radio equipment until a decision is made by
the competent agency. Appeal does not suspend the enforcement of the
ruling,” read an official note presented to the staff.
At about 3 a.m., just after the ban’s imposition, Veran Matic, Radio B92’s
chief editor and chairman of the Association of Independent Electronic Media
(ANEM), was arrested by police who had accompanied inspectors from the
Telecommunications Ministry. He was taken to the Belgrade police station,
where he was detained for eight hours. He was released shortly before 12
p.m. While in detention, he was not allowed to contact his family or his
lawyers. He was not questioned by police nor was he provided with a
statement, written or verbal, outlining the reasons for his detention.
March 23
According to ANEM, Television Studio B and its editor Dragan Kojadinovic
were fined a total of 150,000 dinars (approx. US$10,000) for violation of
the Serbian Information Law. The fines were imposed in connection with a
Studio B broadcast which allegedly insulted Brana Miljus, a former nominee
for the post of prime minister of Serbia.
