ANEM PRESS RELEASE

CONCERNING THE CONTRACT ON THE USE OF FREQUENCIES OFFERED BY THE YUGOSLAV TELECOMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY

Belgrade--June 28, 1998

The Association of Independent Electronic Media in Yugoslavia (ANEM) informs the public that the ANEM Legal Service has gained insight into the contents of the contract on the amount of the monthly fee and other conditions for the temporary use of radio frequencies and television channels, as Radio B92, an ANEM affiliate, has been offered the contract for signing.

The signing of contracts as a way to allocate frequencies is a continuation of the illegal behaviour at the hands of the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry, given that no federal regulation pertinent to telecommunications provides for any such contract. It remains an utmost mystery why the ministry has decided to allocate frequencies though signing of contracts rather than by passing rulings (which would be a more natural and legally appropriate way). What is certain is that the tender proceedings have gone from the gray area between law and self-will to the area of total self-will. The arguments that back this statement are as follows:

1. The case of Radio B92, which has refused to signed the offered contract. In this case, the ministry has allocated a frequency at a location that was never requested and is therefore inadequate. Radio B92 was »allocated« the location of Belgrade-Zvezdara, although it had requested Belgrade-Dom Omladine and Belgrade-Torlak locations, for which it had obtained all necessary permits. The location was changed without any notice to the applicant until the moment when the applicant was supposed to sign the contract. Moreover, according to this contract, the fee for the use of the frequency should amount to 39.152,00 dinars a month (6,526 Deutschemarks), which is extremely steep-it is by far the greatest amount demanded from any of the stations which signed the contract the day Radio B92 was offered to sign. ANEM believes it is essential that each of the stations should at least receive an explanation of how the sum in its contract was calculated; one of the reasons for Radio B92's refusal to sign the contract was that no such explanation was offered. ANEM's position is that all its affiliates should request detailed justification of how the amount of the fee in their contract was calculated. If the ministry fails to provide this justification voluntarily, or if it tries to impose unjustifiedly high fees on ANEM's affiliates, the issue will be brought before a competent court. Besides, it was the ministry who insisted that contacts on frequencies be signed, and there can be no contract without both sides agreeing to it, or the contract must be negotiated in order to be signed.

2. The summons that are being sent to stations across FRY which have not even participated in the tender to sign contracts on their frequencies with Yugoslav Telecommunications Minister Dojcilo Radojevic. The summons say that if a station fails to sign the contract it will be closed, i.e. its frequency taken away. This has brought the illegal procecures and self-will of the ministry a step farther, because this is a clear attempt to take away stations' legitimate rights and force them to exchange their ten-year licences for licences of a one- or two-years' validity. Moreover, no law provides that refusal to sign an illegal contract can be used as grounds to take frequencies away. Also, even if the unconstitutional decree by the Yugoslav Government were constitutional, it provides only stations which are allocated frequencies in this tender are liable for fees for the use of their frequencies.

3. The reaction of the Montenegrin authorities to these summons. The Montenegrin Government has informed those broadcast stations in Montenegro which have received summons from the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry to ignore this obviously unconstitutional action at the hands of the ministry without any fear that their existance and broadcasts might be jeopardised. This is another proof that the contracts on frequencies represents a flagrant breach of the constitution and law at the hands of the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry and that this particular so-called »law« reaches only as far as the factual power of the federal inspectors and their police backing. ANEM therefore believes that the Montenegrin Government's action was fully justified and legal.

The very text of the contract, even if its signing were legal, is extremely disadvantageous to stations: in addition to the short term on which it leases frequencies, the ministry has reserved the right to terminate the contract at any time and deprive stations of their licences. In other words, the Telecommunications Ministry has devised the »winning« formula-even if it temporarily leases frequencies, the ministry retains the possibility to close disobedient stations down whenever it finds such a move politically adequate. Naturally, this regulation will also be brought before the competent courts, in case ANEM affiliates sign contracts formulated in this manner.

The only »good point« of the contract is that its term is limited until new regulations pertaining to frequency allocation have been adopted. A very concrete draft of such new regulations that enjoys ANEM's support already exists-it is the Draft Law on Public Information made by the Belgrade Center for Humanitarian Law, whose Chapters III and IV include a new, better system of frequency allocation. The sooner such regulations are passed, the sooner our country will be able to pride itself on respecting the European standards on media freedoms. ANEM nevertheless hopes that the ministry's staff in charge of this tender will realise that they have to respect the law of their own country, and that the outcome of the frequency tender and of ANEM affiliates' requests will be positive. Contacts between the ministry's staff and ANEM's representatives are essential it such positive outcome is to be achieved. ANEM will therefore once again insist on such contacts taking place in the nearest future.

Veran Matic, ANEM Chairman

-- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9109 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-322-4378

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

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