(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Federal Minister of Information and Telecommunications Goran Matic, RSF protested the improper dismissals and suspensions of state media journalists in recent days. “One by one, key journalists from state controlled media who have come down in favour of objective and professional reporting since the 24 September election are being […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Federal Minister of Information and Telecommunications Goran Matic, RSF protested the improper dismissals and suspensions of state media journalists in recent days. “One by one, key journalists from state controlled media who have come down in favour of objective and professional reporting since the 24 September election are being dismissed by the authorities,” stated Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “We ask the authorities to review their decisions and respect the choices made by these journalists,” he added.
According to information collected by RSF, on 4 October, three journalists with the official Tanjug news agency, who organised a petition signed by several dozen journalists demanding that the agency issue complete election results and “respect professional ethics”, were temporarily suspended, and are awaiting a disciplinary committee decision on their case.
In addition, three journalists of the daily “Politika” who signed a protest letter which was sent to their editor (who is close to Slobodan Milosevic) were dismissed. Branislava Saper, director of Radio Television Serbia (RTS), was dismissed a week earlier. Writers with the Russian, French and German services of the state Radio jugoslavija station, who had also asked for a change in the station’s editorial stance, were dismissed on 2 October.
On 3 October, Radio Novi Sad stopped broadcasting its programmes in ethnic minority languages, by order of RTS in Belgrade. Two other Novi Sad radio stations can no longer be heard since 3 October.
Finally, the television station aimed at the Hungarian-speaking minority, which broadcasts in the country’s north, was officially prohibited from broadcasting.
