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Medienhilfe Ex-JugoslawienProfessionelle
Solidarität gegen Nationalismus und Chauvinismus
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FREEDOM OF PRESS/INFORMATION ABOLISHED IN SERBIA 17 May 2000 Abusing the powers of government and the police, the Serbian authorities have de facto started imposing a state of emergency in Serbia. By taking over Radio-Television Studio B, the most influential opposition electronic media organization, its bureau in Mladenovac, and placing under police siege the building of non-government media Radio Index, Radio B2 92 and the daily newspaper Blic, the Serbian authorities have established full control over media which have the most infuence on anti-government public opinion. The Humanitarian Law Center urges electronic media in Serbia to respond to this act of violence by the authorities by setting up and broadcasting a unified program which would include the news programs of the abolished media, and thereby contribute to objectively informing the public about events and evelopments in Serbia. The Serbian government took over Radio-Television Studio B at the demand of its Ministry of Information, which alleged that Studio B repeatedly called for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order and legally elected government and incited citizens to acts of terrorism. The decree was signed by Serbian deputy premiers Milovan Bojic, a ranking member of the Yugoslav Left Party, and Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party. The government cited the need to protect state-owned property to justify the take-over of Studio. Taking advantage of the fact that Studio B is a state-owned company, the government deprived the opposition City Assembly of Belgrade of its founders' rights and thus placed the media organization under its full control. In its decree, the government stated that state property "in the public company Studio B is being used contrary to its nature and purpose." As of 17 May, no non-government electronic media are broadcasting in Serbia. The range of Studio B covers approximately 50 percent of the territory of Serbia. The news programs of Radio B2 92 were re-transmitted by numerous loca radio stations, and Radio Index gave a major contribution to the objective informing of the public. This indicates the need for the remaining electronic media in Serbia to organize themselves so as to ensure to the best of their ability the free flow of information. There can be no free flow of information without free media and without these there can be no free and fair elections and democratic changes in Serbia. The Serbian Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of the press/information and the right of the people to elect their government. The democratic opposition, civil society and citizens of Serbia have the right and the duty to take appropriate measures to preserve the basic values of political and civic life in Serbia, including resistance to the current authorities. |
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