(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is a 11 October 1998 statement by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) distributed in its entirety by AMARC: **New cases and update to IFEX alerts of 9 October, 5 October, 3 October, 3 September and 5 August 1998** On Friday, 9 October 1998, inspectors of the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry […]
(AMARC/IFEX) – The following is a 11 October 1998 statement by the
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) distributed in its
entirety by AMARC:
**New cases and update to IFEX alerts of 9 October, 5 October, 3 October, 3
September and 5 August 1998**
On Friday, 9 October 1998, inspectors of the Yugoslav Telecommunications
Ministry closed the multiethnic and multilingual independent Radio Senta in
Vojvodina and seized a part of its transmission equipment. The same day,
Radio Senta received a request from the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry
to pay fees for the use of its frequency. The ministry’s note requesting
payments said “the station’s broadcasts caused no diffusion problems.” The
banning order and verbal instructions from the ministry headquarters cited
“exclusively technical” reasons for the station’s closure.
On Saturday evening, 10 October, inspectors of the same ministry backed by
police closed Belgrade’s Radio Index and seized its transmission equipment.
The banning order stated that the station did not hold a broadcasting
licence. Radio Index had participated in the frequency allocation tender by
the same ministry and had received information from the ministry that its
documentation was now complete and its licence pending in the second round
of the tender. Furthermore, the station holds a valid contract with the
state Radio Television Serbia under which it has the right to use the RTS
premises and transmitter. RTS breached this contract on Thursday, 8 October,
when it evicted Radio Index from the premises it had used for over 27 years
and discontinued its transmission. Radio Index then relocated and started
broadcasting on a frequency it had applied for in the current frequency
tender.
Radio BOOM 93 in Pozarevac and TV 5 in Uzice have received requests from the
Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry to pay fees for the use of their
frequencies. ANEM has disputed the legality of these fees, introduced in May
for those stations which are allocated temporary frequency licences in the
current tender. Radio BOOM 93 and TV 5 are not only requested to pay for the
use of frequencies they have not yet received licences for, but are
requested to do so in “arrears”, from the month of June on.
ANEM warns that the state is mounting a severe clamp-down on the independent
media in which the state disrespects even valid legal regulations. ANEM will
continue to fight to protect its affiliates’ rights. ANEM has called on its
affiliates to carry on with their professional reporting in keeping with the
law regardless of the pressure they are exposed to.
