**New case and update to IFEX alerts of 25 January and 20 January 1999** (AMARC/IFEX) – The following is a 28 January 1999 press release by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) distributed in its entirety by AMARC: ANEM press release New forms of pressure against independents in Serbia and Croatia Belgrade — January […]
**New case and update to IFEX alerts of 25 January and 20 January 1999**
(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is a 28 January 1999 press release by the
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) distributed in its
entirety by AMARC:
ANEM press release
New forms of pressure against independents in Serbia and Croatia
Belgrade — January 28, 1999
The Association of Independent Electronic Media in FR Yugoslavia (ANEM)
today protested the new forms of pressure against independent media outlets
at home and in the neighbouring Republic of Croatia.
On the night of January 25, perpetrators who remain unknown set fire to the
apartment of Velibor Ciric, a cameraman of ANEM’s affiliate RTV Trstenik.
Luckily, Ciric’s four-member family managed to escape the fire by climbing
to the roof of the building, only to find the message “Do not jam
frequencies, switch yourself off completely!” inscribed at their door.
ANEM has called for an official investigation of this and other cases of
threats and assaults on journalists and their families, which would bring
the perpetrators to justice and ensure media workers’ constitutional right
to free and unhindered work.
In Croatia, the main print distributor, the Tisak company, with close links
to top state officials, is nearing bankruptcy. Over a long period, Tisak has
failed to pay out sales revenues to the newspapers it distributes. The
greatest part of its debts is to the independent press. The company, for
instance, owes the Split weekly Feral Tribune over 350,000 Deutschmarks,
which poses a serious threat to the weekly’s survival despite its high
circulation.
ANEM has expressed solidarity with colleagues at the Feral Tribune and other
independents in Croatia, protesting this indirect but nevertheless dangerous
attempt to jeopardise their existence. After court verdicts asking high
damages from Feral Tribune and various other kinds of pressure, the Croatian
authorities seem to be trying to stifle the independent press on apparently
commercial grounds. ANEM hopes that solidarity from groups engaged in the
protection of the right to free information and from the general public
worldwide will help preserve another highly professional and economically
successful newspaper, operating at European and global standards, from
coming to ruin.
