(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 7 April, 6 April, 2 April, 29 March, 25 March, 23 March and 22 March 1999 Paris, 8 April 1999 For immediate release WAN Condemns Yugoslav Press Crackdown During War The World Association of Newspapers has condemned the closure of media outlets […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 7 April, 6 April, 2 April, 29 March, 25 March, 23
March and 22 March 1999
Paris, 8 April 1999
For immediate release
WAN Condemns Yugoslav Press Crackdown During War
The World Association of Newspapers has condemned the closure of media
outlets in Yugoslavia and the detention of foreign journalists, “especially
in a time of war when accurate news can save lives.”
In a letter to President Slobodan Milosevic, WAN said, “your government
appears to have set out to dismantle the media apparatus and to stifle all
independent reporting on the development of the war.” The Paris-based
association urged him to allow independent media “to resume their work
unharassed by authorities.”
“The suppression of media outlets is one of the most blatant violations of
freedom of expression, especially in time of war when accurate news can save
lives,” said the letter, signed by WAN President Bengt Braun.
WAN also protested against the detention of three foreign journalists – Jon
Sistiaga and Bernabé Dominguez of Telecinco television of Spain, and Dutch
photographer Arie Kievit of Algemeen Dagblad – who were captured by Serbian
authorities on 2 April at Blace on the border of Kosovo and Macedonia and
released five days later.
With the launching of NATO air strikes against the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, the government has detained and expelled journalists and banned
local radio stations B92 and 021 and Television Soko. Serbian police also
forced the closure of Koha Ditore, the last surviving Albanian language
newspaper in the country, by storming its offices in Pristina and killing
the doorman.
Koha Ditore and its editor, Baton Haxhiu, were charged last month with
“inciting racial hatred” and fined US$50,000 stemming from an article that
quoted a delegate to the Kosovo Peace talks who accused Serb forces of human
rights abuses tantamount to “genocide.”
WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and
promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 15,000 newspapers; its
membership includes 57 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper
executives in 90 countries, 17 news agencies and seven regional press
groups.
