(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is an 18 October 1998 statement by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) distributed in its entirety by AMARC: **For background on harassment of independent media in FRY, see recent IFEX alerts, as noted in text** According to ANEM’s information, both the Serbian government and parliament have proposed a privileged […]
(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is an 18 October 1998 statement by the
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) distributed in its
entirety by AMARC:
**For background on harassment of independent media in FRY, see recent IFEX
alerts, as noted in text**
According to ANEM’s information, both the Serbian government and parliament
have proposed a privileged motion so as to pass a new public information
sector bill. According to announcements made by the Black-Red coalition
currently in power (radical left and radical right), this new law will
incorporate key elements of the Serbian government’s decree on the basis of
which “Nasa Borba”, the oldest independent daily newspaper in Yugoslavia,
“Dnevni Telegraf”, one of the most popular daily newspapers, and “Danas”, a
pacifist daily, have been banned (See IFEX alerts of 13 to 15 October 1998).
The aforementioned decree was also used to summarily ban Radio Index, Radio
Senta, TV Pirot, Radio Kontakt and Radio City (See IFEX alert of 9 October
1998).
The political intentions of the coalition in power which are to be realised
by the introduction of this new law can be interpreted from statements they
have made to date and decisions made by their parties’ congresses. These
include:
including a ban on specific broadcasts, backed by the threat of punitive
measures, including seizure of printed copies of specific issues of papers
under court order, etc. (which translates as a de facto legalisation of the
state of emergency);
frequencies);
labelling media which receive donations with a “yellow badge” so as to
“render them equal” to monopolistic state media and those controlled by the
authorities;
are expected to be legalised by means of the new law. Such programmes have
already been banned by the decree currently in effect; and simultaneously,
Serbian
Radio and Television (RTS – state-run radio and TV network), enforced
through an obligatory schedule;
responsibilities are so loosely defined that any single item could be
interpreted in such a manner as to lead to legal persecution of journalists,
thus, effectively imposing restrictions upon critical journalism;
In a similar manner, a Law on the University has been passed which has
effectively deprived universities of their autonomy and created a legal
framework for expelling professors from the University. The first professor
to be punished under this new law, Vladimir Vodinelic, from the Law School
of the University of Belgrade, is an expert who has conducted the work of a
Belgrade Human Rights Centre research team and has drawn up a model of the
law on public information sector which has incorporated all the legal
documents and regulations aimed at protecting the freedom of speech and the
right to be freely informed from various sources (which is a prerequisite
condition to be met by the state if it seeks integration into international
community).
We urge you to do everything within your power and exert firm pressure on
the authorities in Yugoslavia so as to prevent introduction and legalisation
of dictatorship as well as to create environment which would preserve the
independent media. The regime is taking the advantage of the opportunity at
this critical moment and is using vicious terminology to accuse independent
media of high treason etc. What renders the resistance
more difficult is the fact that the regime will define these actions as
authorised by international community at the level of internal affairs, but
when it comes to foreign relations the authorities will label these actions
as a precondition to be satisfied so that peace agreements and signed
contracts pertaining to Kosovo issue might be carried out.
