(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 28 March 1999 IFJ press release: MEDIA RELEASE Brussels, March 28, 1999 IFJ Plans Urgent Mission to Belgrade to Support Journalists and to Monitor Media Crisis Following reports of arrests and mistreatment of journalists and the closure of independent media in the war-torn regions of Serbia and Yugoslavia, the […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 28 March 1999 IFJ press release:
MEDIA RELEASE
Brussels, March 28, 1999
IFJ Plans Urgent Mission to Belgrade to Support Journalists and to
Monitor
Media Crisis
Following reports of arrests and mistreatment of journalists and the
closure
of independent media in the war-torn regions of Serbia and Yugoslavia,
the
IFJ is preparing an international delegation of journalists’ leaders to
visit Belgrade.
The IFJ, which represents journalists’ groups in Serbia and Kosovo as
well
as unions in more than 100 countries worldwide, has condemned political
discrimination of journalists:
“We refuse to accept the political labels of NATO or Serbia,” said Aidan
White, IFJ General Secretary on March 27th in Prague. “Journalists are
trying to avoid being made a part of this conflict. They want, even in
these
difficult and terrifying circumstances, to remain independent.
Politicians
from all sides must stop trying to manipulate the flow of information.”
The IFJ has condemned the closure of the Radio Station B92 and protested
over the temporary detention of the station’s editor and journalists’
leader
Veran Matic. The Federation also protested over the expulsion of
journalists
from Belgrade and welcomed the change of mind from the government of
Slobodan Milosevic.
“People around the world need a clear and undistorted picture of what is
happening. This will only be possible if journalists are able to work
freely. Media must strive to remain independent. Just as journalists
should
not become perpetrators of war, they should not censor themselves or
turn to
propaganda in the name of peace,” said White.
The IFJ, acting jointly with its Dutch affiliate, NVJ, has asked its
member
organisations in Russia and Greece to nominate members of the
international
delegation which will include an IFJ officer from the region.
“Our aim is to protect all journalists caught up in this conflict. This
is
important for foreign correspondents, but it is equally important to
focus
on the problems facing our colleagues within the region. All journalists
who
strive to remain independent and to be professional – whether they work
for
public media or the independent sector – must be supported. Above all,
media
must not be used as weapons in this conflict as happened during the war
in
Bosnia-Herzegovina,” said Aidan White.
The IFJ action follows a series of events in which media personnel have
been
threatened and harassed. A Dutch journalist and her Hungarian cameraman
disappeared for 24 hours on March 25. They had been detained by Serb
forces
near Belgrade and were only released after the IFJ’s Dutch affiliate,
the
NVJ, and Net 5, their employer, intervened at a high level with the
European
Union, and successful diplomatic exchanges with political leaders in
Belgrade.
“We must try to ensure that journalists are secure and can do their
work,”
said White. “The IFJ wants to protect journalists from victimisation and
to
do this all sides must avoid trying to manipulate media in support of
military or political objectives. Journalism can promote openness,
tolerance
and democracy – even in the divided regions of the Balkans – but there
will
be no open debate and dialogue if media are the victims of
misinformation
campaigns and censorship.”
