Letters and protests part II

• International Activities of the Association of Independent Electronic Media and Radio B92

• ANEM ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING CLOSURES OF CERTAIN MEDIA AND OPENINGS OF OTHER MEDIA, May 7, 1998

• ANEM PRESS RELEASE CONCERNING THE YUGOSLAV FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S DECISION ON FEES FOR TEMPORARY USE OF RADIO FREQUENCIES AND TELEVISION CHANNELS, May 12, 1998

• ANEM - Letter of information - appeal to the international community and ANEM PROTEST, May 13, 1998

• ANEM Information About Non-Allocated Frequencies, May 16, 1998

• BY GETTING THE TEMPORARY FREQUENCY LICENCE RADIO B92 HAS LOST RATHER THAN GAINED, Belgrade--May 16, 1998

• Announcement of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) on Federal Ministry of Telecommunications Decision to Deny Licenses to ANEM Radio and TV affiliates, May 18, 1998

International Activities of the Association of Independent Electronic Media and Radio B92

Two-day symposium of the Council of Europe and the Institute for International Relations from Athens, titled "Democratic Institutions and Civil Society" was completed today in Strasbourg. Participants included Albanian President Meidani, and also Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Yorgos Papandreu, Vice President of Romanian parliament Adrian Nastasse, Polish Minister of Justice Hanna Suhocka and others, as well as General Manager of Radio B92, Sasa Mirkovic. Sasa Mirkovic focused on "Mass Media and State Authorities" as his topic, and he supported initiative of FR Yugoslavia for membership in the Council of Europe. He stressed that institutions within Yugoslavia themselves obstructed discussions about that topic, and he mentioned bad status of independent media and lack of pro-democratic legal regulations in the field of media freedom.

Talks with President of Parliament of the Council of Europe, Leni Fischer, and to Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Daniel Tarsis, as well as with other officials of this organization, were focused on bad position of members of the Association of the Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), especially TV Pirot which had been banned. ANEM already informed representatives of the Ministry of Telecommunication and general public that actions of this Ministry in the process of legalisation of radio and TV stations could be serious obstacle during consideration of initiative of FR Yugoslavia for membership in the Council of Europe.

Sasa Mirkovic presented ANEM projects and stressed importance of independent professional media in practice in establishment of civil society. During the talks with representatives of governments, parliaments and culturual life of Balkan countries, more intensive cooperation among ANEM radio and TV network and professonal media in Balkans was initiated. New technologies are erasing the boundaries and stereotypes about sovereignty, and when used with respect to professional code, they can be major obstacle to radicalism of any kind. Project of ANEM was assessed as one of the most successful media projects in the region.

Belgrade, May 6, 1998, -- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9922 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-324-8075

Radio B92 Official Web Site --- http://www.opennet.org/

ANEM ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING CLOSURES OF CERTAIN MEDIA AND OPENINGS OF OTHER MEDIA

Association of Independent Electronic Media informs the public that measures of government pressure and repression continues in the case of TV Pirot, which had been closed, following the action of inspectors from Yugoslav Ministry of Telecommunications on April 23, 1998. TV Pirot sent its timely complaint to this decision and started legal procedure against obstruction of work, but it still has not restarted its broadcasts. No response was received to the complaint yet, and representatives of government did not come to the Court discussion on May 7, so the Court of Law decided to reach decision abour demand for temporary return of TV Pirot's equipment without discussion and to inform interested parties about it in writing. While TV Pirot patiently expects decisions from relevant state organs regarding legal measures started by this station in order to protect its own rights, the state obviously prolongs the procedure in this case. On the other hand, the state is very dilligent in carrying out further measures against TV Pirot and its management. Therefore legal charges against Editor in Chief of TV Pirot, Momcilo Djurdjic, were already pressed in very short time, and his Court hearing had been announced for May 19, 1998.

ANEM will continue to provide all necessary legal and other aid to TV Pirot, and to the staff of this station. ANEM hopes that the Ministry of Telecommunication, which had staff reinforcements recently, will show the same degree of efficiency during the consideration of demands for issue of temporary licences based on the open bid.

Given the fact that deadline for this decision expires on May 15, 1998, and that TV Pirot had submitted all necessary documents, we think that TV Pirot will become completely "legal" three days before the announced Court hearing. While certain media are being closed and their managers are being prosecuted, ANEM learns from the article published in Vecernje Novosti on May 7, 1998, that the sixth local radio station is about to be open in the town of Pozarevac, and that it should start broadcasting on May 23 this year. According to the information from this article, owner of this station is Marko Milosevic, son of the Yugoslav President. When this station is opened - each member of Milosevic/Markovic family will have his own medium: Slobodan - Yugoslav President, has state controlled channels of state Radio and TV - he used this weapon better and more successfully than he evered used the army or police, Mirjana Markovic - leader of JUL, party which is in coalition with Milosevic's party, has the most powerful entertainment TV in the country, owned by high official of her party. Also, recent start of new Radio Televidsion of Yugoslavia was attributed to JUL by many. Daughter - marija Milosevic, has Radio Kosava, and start of TV Kosava is inpreparation. Now the youngest member of the family will have hisown radio station in President's home-town.

ANEM, in general, supports opening of any new electronic media, but it does not accept the method which enables destruction and closure of certain independent media, such as TV Pirot, in order to open some other stations (particularly those owned by members of Milosevic family or other members of governing oligarchy) Principles of equal treatment of all interested parties define the Ministry of Telecommunication must provide equal conditions for all electronic media in the air. With its practice so far, the Ministry demonstrates that, in reaching of its decisions, it is more inclined to some other principles which are not part of a democratic society.

In Belgrade, May, 1998. on behalf of ANEM Veran Matic, Chairman

-- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9922 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-324-8075

Radio B92 Official Web Site --- http://www.opennet.org/

ANEM PRESS RELEASE CONCERNING THE YUGOSLAV FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S DECISION ON FEES FOR TEMPORARY USE OF RADIO FREQUENCIES AND TELEVISION CHANNELS

Belgrade, May 12, 1998

The Association of Independent Electroni9c Media in Yugoslavia (ANEM) informs the public that the Yugoslav Federal Government's decision on the fees for the temporary use of radio frequencies and television channels was published today in the Official Gazzette of FR Yugoslavia. The decision was passed on April 7, 1998 (signed by Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic on behalf of the government), and seems to have been kept a secret for over a month's time for some reason. This decision is a part of the public frequency tender called in February last year.

ANEM's position is that this decision is the most flagrant breach of the media freedoms in Yugoslavia todate, since the amount of the fee is so high that not even radio television stations in the most prosperous countries in the world could afford them. For instance, the montly fee for Belgrade television stations (given that they cover a region with 1.5 million inhabitants) operating in a network is 360,000 dinars (around 60,000 DM). The federal agencies, primarily the Telecommunications Ministry and the Federal Government, have obviously chosen the most perfidious way to stifle the freedoms of electronic media - economic assault certainly leaves a better image than the administrative one (bans, etc.)

It is clear to all that a television station, even one operating in Belgrade, is incapable of setting aside the monthly sum of 360,000 dinars only to pay for the use of its television channel, as the potential overall advertising revenue (which is the only true revenue commercial television stations generate) is nowhere near the said monthly sum. Not to mention stations' other costs - programming acquisition, equipment maintenance, wages for staff, program production… If the fees decreed in this decision were not so enormously high under the current trade circumstances in Serbia and Yugoslavia, the federal agencies might perhaps argue that this is a matter of a fee for using a part of the national wealth (as Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar Vucic likes to put it in his statements). As things are, it is obvious that the aim of this decision is to stifle media freedoms by economic measures, once administrative selection has proved impossible.

Several legal shortcomings in this decision are noteworthy. First, the decision says its grounds are in Article 9, Point 4 of FR Yugoslavia's Constitution, which provides as follows: ''The freedoms and rights of a man and citizen are limited by the equal freedoms and rights of others and in cases where this constitultion provides.'' This regulation has little to do with the contents of this decision, and ANEM would like to stress that it does not undestand why this regulation is referred to in the heading of this decision. Moreover, in the heading (preambula) of the decision, the Yugoslav Government also refers to ''the enforcement of the Law on Systems of Connections''. This only confirms what ANEM has been claiming: federal regulations cannot introduce a fee for frequencies by a sub-legal act (decision) without a change in the Law on Systems of Connections, because this law does not include a regulation allowing the introduction of the fee. That is why the Yugoslav Government is citing the ''enforcement of the Law on Systems of Connections'' in generalm, rather than a specific article and clause of that law, which it otherwise does. This shortcoming makes the decision completely unconstitutional. ANEM will therefore undertake all measures possible to invesigate the legality of this decision at the Yugoslav Federal Constitutional Court.

In addition to this, the decision is a grave, absurd and extremely illogical violation of the principle of equal standing of all: the decision introduces an exorbitant free for radio television stations who are to get their frequencies for temporary use, whereas the stations that hold permanent or ten-year right to use their frequencies are not required to pay any fee although there are legal grounds to the contrary (the relevant Article in the Law on Radio Television Serbia). This results in the grossest inequality among electronic media in Yugoslavia, which ANEM finds inadmissible and ultimately unconstitutional.

Finally, ANEM would like to inform the public on some of the fees charged for the use of frequencies in other countries that are more or less similar to Yugoslavia. In Republika Srpska, for instance, the fee for the use of frequencies amounts to 850-5,150 DM a year for local television stations and 285-850 DM for local radio stations. The Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina does not charge the fees for the use of frequencies. In Macedonia, the annual fee amounts to 160,000 DM for the national television, and 8,400-29,400 DM for local televisions (the upper limit is for Skopje). Madeconian national radio stations pay 81,500 DM a year, whereas the locals pay 4,200-14,700 DM a year. Slovenia is currently changing its regulations and will introduce fees, but currently does not charge for frequencies. In Bulgaria, the annual fees for local TV stations amount to 2,400 DM a year. The fees laid out in the Yugoslav Government's decision exceed even the countries holding the ''record'' in this discipline - Ukraine, whose national TV channel pays 1.5 million USD a year, and Kazakhstan, where application fee in the frequency tender amounted to 150,000 USD, which was a first-rate international scandal.

ANEM will take a number of legal and other actions and measures in order either to make this decision invalid, or to see to it that it is adjusted to the trade conditions in the Yugoslav electronic media market.

On behalf of ANEM, Veran Matic Chairman

-- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9922 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-324-8075
Radio B92 Official Web Site --- http://www.opennet.org/

Letter of information

Dear Friends,

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) would like to inform you that the state's attempt to to ban independent broadcast media in Serbia is nearing its end. On May 8 1998 the Official Gazzette of the FR Yugoslavia published the decision by the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry as of April 7 1998, declaring the amounts of fees to be paid by radio and television stations which will ge granted temporary licences in the public frequency tender. The deadline for the ministry to publicise the tender's results is May 15 - the end of this week. ANEM members and most other broadcast media that have tendered for frequencies believe that the decree on the frees is an illegitimate and illegal act, a fraud against stations that has removed the last feeble hope that the state was frank when it announced that this frequency tender would legalise most of broadcast media.

The decree is completely unconstitutional and without any legal ground. The fees it introduces are obligatory only for some media, whereas others, which have been registered earlier, do not have to pay anything. Thus, the decree establishes discrimination among stations.

The very amount of the fees is enormous and incompatible with stations' economic power. This is especially true for those operating in cities from several transmitters and work within a network (such as ANEM Radio or Television Network). The fees exceed all other similar taxes required in the neigbouring countries or countries of a similar level of economic development. If it got the radio and television frequency licences it has applied for, Radio B92 in Belgrade would, for instance, have to pay a rough sum of USD 20,000 for the radio or USD 40,000 for television channel a month. This makes it obvious that this is in fact the state's clampdown on the "inappropriate" stations by economic enforcement measures.

What should also be kept in mind is that not even the collection of these fees will in practice be applied equally to all (this is already the case with many other state taxes): the state will find a way to cancel, postpone or compensate this fee to stations under its control, while the independent media will be exposed to ruthless collection measures.

While reviewing the applications over the past two months, the ministry ruled in absolute secrecy, according to unknown criteria and without any possibility for stations or the general public to get an insight or information on what is going on. The inclarity and illegality of the initiation of the frequency tender itself have offered additional backing to such proceedings by the ministry. The most recent unofficial but reliable inforamtion we have received says that out of 426 applications filed to the ministry for a frequency licence in this tender, only about 100 will be approved. These belong mostly to stations bakced by the ruling parties or influential individuals (among other things, President Milosevic's son is launching his own station, so now everybody in the family will run his/her own public medium). This lot will exclude almost all independent news media. Stations that are refused a licence (estimates have it that there is almost 1,000 broadcast media with unregulated status), especially those who dissatisfy the authorities, will certainly face closure, either because they have not been granted a licence or because they cannot economically sustain the fees required.

ANEM mebers have filed complete application documentation the authorities have required, in a timely manner. As things now stand, the authorities will in all likelihood refuse licences to almost all ANEM members; the "fortunate ones" will face the enormous fees. This jeopardizes the future operation of the ANEM Radio Network and the development of the ANEM Television Network, which have been the only serious attempts to set up a media counter-balance to the most often unobjective reports by the powerful state and para-state media.

ANEM and its members will undertake a number of legal and other steps to prevent the spread of media darkness that looms large over our country. This effort needs your support. In keeping with the arguments we have laid out above, and for the sake of assisting independent broadcast media in Serbia and protecting the rights of its citizens to true information, we ask you to take all steps at your disposal to dissuade the Yugoslav authorities from such actions and to support ANEM's future actions. These actions will aim:

1. To cancell completely the public frequency tender for temporary licences and the decision on the fees for the use of frequencies, for ANEM deems them an epitomy of illegal procedures and state despotism; to get the current minister, Dojcilo Radojevic, replaced, as he is directly responsible for this debacle. If these demands are not met, ANEM will demand that all broadcast media which meet minimum technical conditions be issued temporary licences and that the fees be either cancelled or drastically reduced until the new system laws have been adopted.

2. To get new system laws passed without any further delay; these laws should lay out media- and telecommunications-related regulations on the model of modern regulations that exist not only in the developed countries of the West but also in Yugoslavia's neigbouring countries. These regulations should then be used to trully "bring order into the ether" of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

3. To prevent closures media in Serbia before the passing of new, modern regulations that will provide equal treatment for all.

4. To inform the both local and international public of the repressive actions state agencies have been carrying out against electronic media and to expose fully their undemocratic nature, which the current government has been trying to conceal under the veil of technical or economic rather than political criteria.

5. To see to it that Yugoslav authorities' actions against independent media, especially electronic ones, become one of the criteria for FR Yugoslavia's admission into international organisations and forums and for any possible change in its international status and relations with the international community at all levels.

We shall continue to keep you informed about future developments and steps we shall be taking, though our press releases and especially through the reports on the work of the International Committee to Protect Free Media we shall soon set up.

The situation is trully alarming and dangerous, but this by no means implies that we believe the struggle for independent media lost. The state is abundantly manipulating the difficulties now plaguing Serbia and Yugoslavia to many of its destructive aims. Therefore, a great joint effort needs to be exerted once again (now perhaps more than ever) to connect all organisations, institutions and individuals who care about the preservation of the right to free information in Serbia. The state is openly preparing for a showdown with independent media and is also preparing the general public in Serbia for such an event. High state officials do not hesitate to call us worst names and refuse to give statements to independent stations despite their legal obligation to treat all media as equal. Our joint, fast and efficient action is therefore essential.

We trust that you will, as many times before, accept our appeal and that, with your help, we shall be able not only to escape the worst fate but also to come one step closer to a free and democratic society.

Attached is the protest letter ANEM has sent to the Yugoslav and Serbian governmental officials in charge.

Sincerely yours, Veran Matic ANEM Chairman

ANEM PROTEST

To: Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic Yugoslav Telecommunications Minister Dojcilo Radojevic Yugoslav Information Secretary Goran Matic Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar Vucic

May 13, 1998

Dear Sirs,

As the chairman of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), I am addressing you with regard to the publication of the Decision on the fees for the temporary use of radio-frequencies and television channels (the Official Gazzette of FR Yugoslavia, May 8 1998 issue). On behalf of all our affiliates - radio and television stations in Yugoslavia, I wish to express the grave dismay at both the decision's content and the manner in which it was published.

The said decision was reached without any constitutional or legal ground. The regulation in FR Yugoslavia's constitution referred to in the decision does not exist*, nor does the appropriate article in the Law on Systems of Connections that could be cited while passing this decision. Therefore, the decision, as the whole public frequency tender for that matter, is a demonstration of an unacceptable voluntarism and absolute arbitrariness of the federal agencies - the Government, the Telecommunications Ministry - and has no ground in our legal system.

The fees declared in the decision are far beyond the abilities of radio and television stations. Did you really think that you will get legalised a radio station in Belgrade if it must pay 120,000-180,000 dinars a month only for the fee? Or a television station if it must pay twice as much? Or was the true intention to shut down these stations through economic enforcement?

The decision also breaches the principle of equality of all legal subjects. It is absurd that stations that have 10-year licences do not pay any fees, whereas enormous amounts are charged for temporary licences.

Another problem is also the fact that the decision was passed on April 7 but published only on May 8. Why was it necessary to hide the amounts of the fee from the stations until the last moment? Many of them probably would not have undergone the huge costs for preparing the required application documentation, had they known that they would be faced with these fees. The Telecommunications Ministry's and other federal agencies' persistent practice of concealing all crucial facts pertaining to the public tender and keeping information that would normaly have been available a complete secret, especially with regard to the amount of the fees, is absolutely incomprehensible. Irresponsibe concealment of information has inflicted vast material damage on stations (we assess that all stations have in order to apply had costs amonting to some 5,000,000 DM). Stations are carrying out serious preparations to sue the federal state because of this.

ANEM believes that the publication of this decision has finally and completely compromised the proclaimed idea that the public frequency tender would legalise most of the stations in Yugoslavia which met technical requirements for operation. This action has inflicted damage not only to broadcast media but also to the overall image of the operation and activities of the federal agencies. ANEM therefore proposes that you do everything in your authority to either completely rescind the said decision or at least change it so that all stations which meet the minimum technical conditions be issued with tempory licences and thus be enabled to reduce further negative consequences that might appear.

On behalf of ANEM, Veran Matic Chairman

*The Decision on the frees for the use of frequencies cites Article 9, Point 4 of the Yugoslav constitution, while that article has clauses rather than points. This is a formal error.

-- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9922 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-324-8075 Radio B92 Official Web Site --- http://www.opennet.org/

ANEM Information About Non-Allocated Frequencies

Radio B92 from Belgrade is the only member of the Associaton of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) which was allocated a frequency for temporary use, as decided by Yugoslav Ministry of Telecommunication. As founder of ANEM, Radio B92 will act together with other members of the association, said Bojana Lekic, news editor of Radio B92. She said that agreement on future actions will be made on ANEM extraordinary assembly, on Sunday May 17. ANEM consists of 33 radio stations from Serbia and Montenegro. Yugoslav Ministry of Telecommunication today decided to give licence for temporary use of radio frequencies and TV channels to 247 radio and TV stations in Serbia and Montenegro. Licence for temporary frequencies was given to 73 TVs and 174 radio stations. Only two members of ANEM TV Network were given a right to use a channel, RTV Pancevo and F Kanal from Zajecar. Other 14 TV stations from ANEM are not on the list. Deputy Chief Editor of TV Pancevo, Nevena Simendic, told Beta news agency that her station would return its frequency as a gift for Ministry of Telecommunication, if the information about monthly fee for frequency of 160,000 dinars was confirmed as true. "I don't know if we should be glad that we got frequency, because according to the unofficial information, we are supposed to pay for it 160,000 dinars on monthly basis. Then, we can give this frequency to federal Ministry as a gift, if this turns out to be true," said she. Television Pancevo exists ever since 1992. Editor in Chief of Radio B92, Veran Matic, stated: "Results of this open bid are results of the regime's two main fears: fear of independent professional information and fear of Radio B92. First fear has been well known for quite a while, and the regime several times attempted to silence all independent TV and radio stations in this region. Fear of Radio B92 is new, and this fear produced decision of giving a licence only to Radio B92, so smokescreen democratic approach is created, as well as artificial argument of democratic decision-making in this matter, for purposes of international policy. However, given the fact that decision about extraordinarily high fees for use of frequencies had been made, it is obvious that even Radio B92 itself will not be able to use its legally given frequency. Besides, Radio B92 was not given a TV channel it applied for, nor the licence for satellite broadcasts of radio and TV programmes. With this decision today, Yugoslav Ministry of Telecommunication actually banned 20 independent radio stations and 10 independent TV stations, and it is one of the largest waves of bans in Europe ever. It is clear that Milosevic wants to "charge a price" for his positive role in start of the negotiations by shutting down independent electronic media. Besides the attempt to ban these 30 radio and TV stations, Milosevic will try to punish students and professors by new Law on Universities, and to achieve his most important aim at the moment - to stop democratic process in Montenegro by toppling federal government and actually eliminating federation itself. Radio B92 and ANEM today will inform Mr.Richard Holbrook and other politicians involved in solution of crisis in Yugoslavia about results of the open bid, which we somehow had anticipated as such, and send them a message that it must not be allowed that independent media and democratic process become victims of diplomatic success in opening of negotiations between Milosevic and Rugova. On its meeting of members on Sunday, ANEM will create a concept for further actions and inform the public about it on news conference on Monday. We will advise all stations to continue their broadcasts regardless to the decision of the Ministry.

Tiny encouragement comes from the decision of the First Municipal Court of Law to order Ministry of Telecommunication to return equipment to TV Pirot, which was confiscated when this station was banned. Chances for this Ministry to obey this order are slim - it is obvious that the state does not obey even its own laws.

We expect numerous actions of solidarity from international institutions, and we are finalising establishment of the International Committee for protection of independent media in Yugoslavia.

-- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9922 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-324-8075, Radio B92 Official Web Site --- http://www.opennet.org/

BY GETTING THE TEMPORARY FREQUENCY LICENCE RADIO B92 HAS LOST RATHER THAN GAINED

Belgrade--May 16, 1998

Since December 1996, Radio B92 broadcast under a ten-year contract signed with the Radio Television Serbia (RTS). The only liability Radio B92 had was to pay a fee for the use of the RTS's infrastructure in the amount of 2,000 dinars. The Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry's decision to grant Radio B92 a one-year licence has thus reduced the validity of our licence from ten to one year. It is not certain that this new licence will after its expiry--in one year's time--be extended. Moreover, the fee for the use of the frequency has been increased from 2,000 to at least 120,000 dinars a month.

As the most successful television production in Yugoslavia over the past several years, Radio B92 had applied also for a television channel licence. Although 73 television licences were issued, B92's application was turned down. For a year now, B92 has been distributing its programs to the members of the Association of Independent Electronic Media via satellite, but its application for a sattelite uplink was also turned down.

However paradoxical this might sound, the licence Radio B92 had fought for nine years can practically result in cessation of its broadcasts. It is clear that the economic conditions we operate in do not allow us to pay the utmostly exorbitant fees that for the coming year will amount to 1,5 million dinars [around 250,000 DM].

Having this in mind, Radio B92 is practically in the same position as the 19 radio and 16 television stations--ANEM affiliates who have been refused licences.

Radio B92 will therefore continue the struggle aimed at:
1. getting the decree on fees for the use of licences rescinded
2. getting the ministry to issue licences for B92's television and satellite broadcasts
3. getting the ministry to issue licences to all ANEM affiliates, as they have filed the identical, complete and correct documentation in keeping with the requirements of the frequency tender.

Owing to all this, Radio B92 will endeavour to use its ample experience in resisting the illegal decisions at the hands of the regime. Together with all ANEM affiliates, we will not let what has happened to the opposition in Serbia happen to us: we will not allow a break down of the radio and television network whose setting up required huge efforts.

All future activities concerning these issues will be planed on tomorrow's meeting of ANEM affiliates. The decisions from that meeting will be announced in a news conference to be held on Monday, May 18. On that day, ANEM will also hold a meeting with ambassadors of the Contact Group countries in Belgrade.

Radio B92's Editor-In-Chief Veran Matic

Announcement of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) on Federal Ministry of Telecommunications Decision to Deny Licenses to ANEM Radio and TV affiliates

At the extraordinary session of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) on Sunday May 17, it was decided that all members of the Association will continue to broadcast regardless of the results of the Yugoslav Ministry for Telecommunication frequency tender, which denied license applications for 21 radio and 17 TV stations from ANEM.

Moreover, in protest at the Ministry's decision to give temporary frequencies to only one radio and two TV stations from ANEM, as well as the exorbitant fees that will be charged for use of these temporary frequencies, all members of ANEM will implement the following common action plan.

This action plan will be co-ordinated by ANEM's Crisis Headquarters, which was founded at ANEM's emergency meeting of May 17, attended by all ANEM affiliates. The action plan includes the following steps:

1. All members of ANEM on Monday May 18 will demand a separate justification from the Ministry of Telecommunications for each of its stations whose application was refused in the open bid. This demand is based on the fact that documentation was complete and identical for each application.

2. If the Federal Ministry refuses to grant licenses to those members of ANEM which were refused on Friday May 15 within the next 30 days (each station has 30 days to appeal the decision and 'complete' its documentation), then ANEM will initiate proceedings at the Federal Court to appeal the Ministry's decision.

3. ANEM will, in cooperation with the Foundation for Humanitarian Law, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Association of Private Broadcasters 'Spektar', and other NGOs, immediately launch legal proceedings to examine the constitutional basis of the Federal Ministry's decision to impose fees.

4. In protest at the extensive material damage the Yugoslav Ministry for Telecommunication's decision to introduce fees will do to broadcast media in the FRY, ANEM will press charges against the Federal Government, which is responsible for the work of its Ministries. For the same reason, we demand that Minister for Telecommunication Dojcilo Radojevic, whom we hold responsible for the illegality and incompetence which characterises the open frequency tender, be dismissed.

5. ANEM will lobby local and international media and human rights organisations through ANEM's International Committee for the Protection of Free Media in Yugoslavia. This Committee already has some 15 members and includes some of the most prominent international media and human rights organisations.

6. ANEM will brief the press attaches of members of the Contact Group at 13.00 on Monday, after ANEM's press conference. ANEM has also contacted Richard Holbrook, to underline the threat that media censorship, on the scale that the Federal Ministry is planning, poses to international efforts to stabilise the situation in Kosovo. The fact that the Federal Ministry refused all license applications for independent media in Kosovo clearly demonstrates Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's unwillingness to start real dialogue over Kosovo. Free media in Kosovo are a key tool to start dialogue and decrease tension and extremism in the region.

7. ANEM will coordinate its action plan with student organizations and professors from those organizations that are currently seeking to defend the autonomy of the University. Similarly, ANEM will join forces with trade unions. All these organisations currently face the same brand of government attack on their basic rights, existence and independence.

8. ANEM is preparing itself for a long hard struggle with the authorities in order to achieve its goal that all members receive licenses and that the fees are abolished or greatly decreased. ANEM will launch this struggle today with a postcard campaign for listeners, which will demand that the Federal Ministry of Telecommunications issue their favourite stations with a license and annul the decision to impose unjustly high fees.

9. All members of ANEM will intensify programming cooperation and information exchange; there will be daily programming activities to inform listeners of ANEM's actions to defend free media and the basic right of citizens to free information.

ANEM calls on all institutions and individuals to help us to implement our Action plan, to join us in our struggle to demonstrate that once and for all democracy and freedom in this country cannot be destroyed, regardless of the large-scale attack that is being mounted by the authorities in this country.

ANEM Chair Veran Matic

-- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9922 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-324-8075

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