ANEM'S WEEKLY REPORT ON MEDIA REPRESSION IN SERBIA

APRIL 29, - MAY 5, 2000

ASSISTANCE FOR INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN YUGOSLAVIA

BRUSSELS, April 29, 2000 -- "Assistance for independent media in Serbia was the central theme which we discussed long and in detail," said International Journalists Federation Secretary-General Aidan White today after meeting the European Union's high representative for international relations and security, Javier Solana, adding that both sides agreed this was a critical time for independent media in Serbia.

Aidan White asserted that the freedom of media and security for journalists had long been a central preoccupation for the IFJ but said that organisations of independent journalists and professional associations supporting democratisation could not do much more without concrete and long-term action by the EU. Thus, he said, the European Union must, as soon as possible, offer a broad range of practical and effective measures which would at least dull the regime's spike of sanctions against freethinking journalists and independent media in Serbia.

RALLY FOR MEDIA FREEDOM IN SABAC

SABAC, May 1, 2000 -- Several thousand demonstrators gathered in the city square of Sabac last night demanding objective reporting in local media. The Socialist Party of Serbia controls local government in the town as it does the local Public Information Company Glas Podrinja and Sabac television and radio. The protesters were addressed at the rally by local Serbian Renewal Movement official Aleksandar Cotric and Dragan Petrovic of the Democratic Party as well as representatives of other opposition parties and the student movement Otpor.

MAY DAY PROTEST IN BELGRADE

BELGRADE, May 2, 2000 -- Several thousand labour union members and citizens of Belgrade yesterday took part in the May Day protest organised by the United Civil Unions Independence and the Association of Free and Independent Unions in the city's central Nikola Pasic Square. The May Day marchers, headed by a group of drummers visited, among other sites, what they described as the banned media. The protesters first halted in front of the Radio B92 building which was "hijacked" in April last year and in front of the premises of state-controlled media Politika and Radio Belgrade. The official master of ceremonies, actor Predrag Stanic called on those employed in these media companies to join them and "take the darkness from their eyes, ears, microphones and cameras," to free themselves and the whole of Serbia. Later, in Svetogorska St, the marchers observed a minute's silence in memory of Slavko Curuvija who was murdered on April 11, 1999, "because of his critical words," and in Tasmajdan Park a three member delegation from Independence, headed by President Branislav Canak, laid a wreath at the site where sixteen state television staff members were killed in last year's NATO bombing of the Radio Television Serbia building.

NEWSPAPER STARTED MIHAJLOVIC AFFAIR: SERBIAN OFFICIAL

BELGRADE, May 2, 2000 -- A representatives of the Serbian Information Minister, Miodrag Popovic, yesterday denied that any Socialist Party of Serbia official had claimed that footballer Sinisa Mihajlovic had joined the ruling party, saying that what he described as "this misunderstanding" would be resolved on Wednesday after the Easter and May Day holidays. "The newspapers started all this, not the Socialist Party," said Popovic, adding that the party had not issued any statement and nor had its officials claimed that Mihajlovic had become a member.

"In the first place, I expect that the papers which published the news apologise to Mihajlovic and that the Federal Ministry for Sport at least issue a statement," Popovic told the BBC World Service.

State television had earlier reported that Mihajlovic, who plays for the Rome club Lazio as well as being a Yugoslav representative, signed a membership card for the Socialist Party on April 26 in the presence of the Federal Minister for Sport and Socialist official Velizar Ceric. Radio Television Serbia also reported that Mihajlovic would become a member of the Socialist Central Committee's Sports Council. In a statement on Italian television the following day Mihajlovic denied having joined the Socialist Party, saying that when he took party in a charity event he believed he had been signing documents for a sports ambassador passport. "They may have planted a document, because there were ten sheets of paper there," said Mihajlovic, adding "With elections coming up it's possible they want to use my name. I don't want that".

The same day, Socialist Party spokesman Nikola Sainovic, commented "Every party is happy when a respected person joins them; sportsmen are respected in every country, not just this, and that is simply a pleasant occurrence".

ANEM RECEIVES AUSTRIAN PRESS FREEDOM AWARD

VIENNA, May 3, 2000 -- The Association of Independent Electronic Media yesterday won the Austrian Concordia award for press freedom. The jury was unanimous in its decision and, in a statement, said that the award was being presented for the freedom of media, speech and human rights on Yugoslav territory. ANEM Vice-President Sasa Mirkovic accepted the award on behalf of the Association, saying that the it was an acknowledgement of all the independent and private media fighting for the freedom of speech and democracy in Yugoslavia, and expressing concern that repression of the media would increase.

"When we are isolated in the way this country is isolated, we have the impression that, were it not for these awards and this kind of recognition, we would be forgotten and stay forgotten, even when some kind of wall is formally demolished. The regime has worked at this for years and although awards such as this are one of the few signs that our country still belongs to the world and that tomorrow, when the regime is replace, Yugoslavia will join the rest of Europe and the world. In that sense, this kind of award is an informal recognition of the courageous, democratically-oriented people who are the future of the country and, in a way, the future link between our country and the rest of the world," said Mirkovic.

Also present at the award ceremony was Nebojsa Ristic, the editor-in-chief of Sokobanja's TV Soko, who was recently released after spending eleven months in prison for displaying a Free Press poster in his office. "You have to be cunning and see ahead what the regime is up to," said Ristic, "because once we understand what they're doing it will be too late". Ristic added that people in Serbia were afraid but that once the threshold of fear was crossed there was nothing to lose and that the citizens of Serbia, as normal people, no longer had anything to lose.

OF 87 MURDERED JOURNALISTS, 25 IN YUGOSLAVIA

BELGRADE, May 3, 2000 -- On the occasion of the World Day of Press Freedom, the International Institute for Media today reported that 87 journalists and media employees had been murdered throughout the world in the past twelve months. Of these, 25 were on Yugoslav territory. The international media organisation added that sixteen of those had been killed by NATO in the bombing of the Radio Television Serbia building in Belgrade.

WORLD DAY OF PRESS FREEDOM

BELGRADE, May 3, 2000 -- The representatives of several Belgrade independent media companies said today that there was no cause to celebrate today's World Day of Press Freedom in Serbia because such freedom did not exist. They emphasised, however, the symbolic importance of the day for the resumption of the struggle for free media and the democratisation of the country. In statements to Beta agency, the editors-in-chief of the dailies Blic and Glas javnosti, the weekly NIN and Belgrade Radio Television Studio B called for the World Day of Press Freedom to serve as a warning and an encouragement for the endurance of democratic forces in the fight for freedom of the media as a fundamental human right.

RAJKO POPOVIC IN BELGRADE

KIKINDA, May 3, 2000 -- Kikinda Municipal Magistrate Nada Pandurov has declared herself incompetent to hear charges filed against Belgrade news magazine NIN by the editor-in-chief of state media weekly Komuna, Rajko Popovic. Popovic has become notorious for his frequent litigation against the local independent weekly Kikindske novine.

The charges against NIN relate to an article published on March 30, "Charges against a dead journalist" by Ivana Jankovic, who chronicled the legal proceedings between Popovic and Kikindske novine.

STUDIO B FINED FOR REPORTING POZAREVAC CONFLICT

BELGRADE, May 4, 2000 -- The municipal magistrate in the central Serbian city of Pozarevac yesterday imposed the maximum total of 450,000 dinars fine on Belgrade broadcaster Studio B.

The hearing of the charges under Article 69 of the Public Information Act lasted only ten minutes. Magistrate Milica Radosavljevic fined the company 300,000 dinars and Director Dragan Kojadinovic 150,000 dinars.

The charges related to Studio B's report of clash between activists from the student movement Otpor and employees of the Pozarevac company Madona in the evening of May 2. The Madona employees, in the Pasal cafe beat Otpor members Radojko Lukovic and Momcilo Veljkovc and lawyer Nebojsa Sokolovic. Sokolovic was later admitted to Pozarevac Hospital with head injuries.

A spokesman for the Yugoslav United Left, Ivan Markovic, alleged that the Otpor activists had attempted to murder party member Milan Lazic and seriously injuring his brother Sasa Lazic. The Yugoslav Left Pozarevac committee claimed that the Madona staff were not bodyguards of Marko Milosevic, the Yugoslav president's son, that they had not taken part in the incident and that it was untrue that three people had been seriously injured, as reported by Studio B.

Lukovic, Veljkovic and Sokolovic have been arrested on attempted murder charges and transferred from hospital to prison. According to the latest information, Lukovic has lost an eye and is in a critical condition.

MILOSEVIC RANKED NUMBER THREE IN WORLD PRESS ENEMIES

NEW YORK, May 4, 2000 - Slobodan Milosevic has been ranked third among the ten worst enemies of the press by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists. The Yugoslav President was pipped to the post by the leader of the Sierra Leone Revolutionary United Front, Foday Sankoh, whose rebels killed eight journalists last year and Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

INDEPENDENT PRESS ASSOCIATION ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

BELGRADE, May 4, 2000 -- The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists has accused Serbian authorities of attempting to outlaw the entire profession of journalism and thus of attempting to annul the right of the public to free information and democracy.

In a statement on the World Day of Press Freedom, May 3, the association asked how it was possible celebrate such a day in a country in which "a journalist serves a year in prison for displaying a Free Press poster", a reference to TV Soko Editor-in-Chief Nebojsa Ristic, who was recently released from prison.

The Association also noted that 25 journalists and other media employees had been killed in Yugoslavia during the past year.

Association President Gordana Susa told Radio B2-92 that celebrating international press freedom was pointless in Serbia. "In April alone, under the unconstitutional Public Information Act, seven media companies were fined and the total of fines imposed since the adoption of the Act is more than 35 million dinars," said Susa, adding that in a media milieu of threats, arrests, interrogations and murders, all she could say was that it was essential that the Inquisition-like Information Act be repealed and that the authorities which had made Serbia a blot on the world's democratic map be replaced.

The president of the Association of Serbian Journalists, Milorad Komrakov, accused international journalist organisations of keeping silent about the resumption of media aggression on Yugoslavia. In letters to the International Press Federation, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists and the World Press Association, Komrakov noted that about thirty journalists from both state and private media in Serbia had been banned from travelling to European Union Countries. He also recalled that NATO, a year before, had "ruthlessly bombed the truth," and "completely destroyed Television Novi Sad's premises".

POLICE INVESTIGATE MEDIA BURGLARY IN NOVI SAD

NOVI SAD, May 4, 2000 -- Police investigating a theft in the offices of the Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists in Novi Sad have determined losses to the value of 80,000 dinars. After the investigation, Novi Sad Police Inspector Sreto Vranjkovic told media that the place had been demolished and that a theft had occurred.

Unknown intruders at the Association's premises on May 2 removed a computer monitor, telephone and fax machine.

The premises are also occupied by the editorial offices of the Nezavisni newspaper and the press agency Pan.

ANEM CHAIRMAN SHARES PRESS FREEDOM HERO AWARD

BOSTON, May 4, 2000 -- The president of the Association of Independent Electronic Media, Veran Matic, accepted the Press Freedom Hero award in Boston yesterday. The International Press Institute, an association of directors and editors-in-chief of media world-wide, presented the award, shared by fifty recipients, to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.

Accepting the award, Matic called on members of the International Press Institute Congress, media and media organisations to display solidarity with the media in Serbia.

TV MLADENOVAC BACK ON THE AIR

BELGRADE, May 4, 2000 -- TV Mladenovac resumed broadcasting last night after a break of almost eleven months. The station, which works as a correspondent office for Belgrade's Studio B Television, was closed by the Federal Ministry of Telecommunications on June 13, 1999, with the justification that it had been broadcasting without a licence.

FEDERAL PM APPOINTS YUGOSLAV RTV OFFICIALS

BELGRADE, May 4, 2000 -- Federal Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic today appointed Socialist Party Belgrade branch president Ivica Dacic chairman of the board of the new Radio Television Yugoslavia. Also appointed to the board were Federal Information Minister Goran Matic, Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar Vucic and a representative of the Montenegrin Parliament, Emilio Labudovic.

NEW FINE FOR STUDIO B

POZAREVAC, May 4, 2000 -- Studio B was today fined 200,000 dinars and its director, Dragan Kojadinovic, 80,000. The fines were imposed after convictions on charges brought by an employee of the Pozarevac firm Madona, Sasa Lazic, who the student movement Otpor claimed had incited a fight in front of the Pasaz cafe in central Pozarevac on the evening of May 2. Magistrate Milica Radosavljevic had already yesterday fined Studio B and Kojadinovic a total of 450,000 dinars on charges brought by the local branch of the Yugoslav United Left. Lazic alleged that Studio B reported inaccurately that he had "... rushed from the Pasaz cafe, gun in hand, and struck Momcilo Veljkovic on the head with a gun butt." Kojadinovic told media today that Studio B would no longer pay fines imposed under the Public Information Act, adding that the amount of fines was so high they no longer caused any concern.

MORE FINES FOR STUDIO B

BELGRADE, May 5, 2000 -- Belgrade City Magistrate Milan Marinovic today fined Studio B and Director Dragan Kojadinovic the maximum total of 450,000 dinars under Article 69 of the Public Information Act. This was the third fine imposed on Studio B in three days over its reporting of an incident between Otpor activists and members of the Yugoslav United Left in the central Serbian city of Pozarevac. The fines imposed total 1,800,000 dinars. The charges on which these fines were based alleged that Studio B, by reporting that Radojko Lukovic had been discharged from the Emergency Centre before necessary surgery had been performed had damaged the honour and reputation of the Centre's medical staff..

NEWS SELLER ASSAULTED IN BELGRADE

BELGRADE, May 5, 2000 -- A member of the Democratic Party was assaulted yesterday while selling the Banja Luka daily Nezavisne novine in central Belgrade, the party reported today. Dejan Demirovic was selling the paper at about 8.30 p.m. outside the Depo shopping centre when three unidentified men, travelling in a black Mitsubishi Pajero beat him and stole about fifty copies of the paper. Demirovic said that the attackers had told him that the selling of papers published by traitors was not allowed in Belgrade and that it would be much worse if they saw him on the street again.

PROTEST AGAINST STUDIO B FINES

BELGRADE, May 5, 2000 -- The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists and the editors-in-chief of the largest independent and private media companies have protested sternly against the Draconian fines imposed on Studio B in the past three days under the unconstitutional Public Information Act. "We believe this is a campaign by the regime, whose aim is to prevent media reporting on political violence in the country," said the statement, adding "We are warning those who file charges under political orders and judges who rule in the same way that we will demand rehearing of all charges and compensation".

INDEPENDENT PUBLICATIONS FINED

BELGRADE, May 5, 2000 -- Belgrade daily Blic and the news magazine Vreme were fined under the Public Information Act today by the municipal magistrate in Pozarevac. The charges against both publications were filed by Bojan Tadic, one of the participants in this week's clash between Otpor activists and members of the Yugoslav United Left in the town. Tadic alleged that Vreme and Blic had wrongly reported that he, together with Zoran "Rolex" Ivanovic, brothers Milan and Sasa Lazic and Milan Bojic, had demanded Otpor activists Dragan Milovanovic resign from the student movement. Magistrate Nevenka Markovic fined Blic 200,000 and its editor-in-chief 80,000 dinars. She also imposed a fine of 200,000 dinars on Vreme, dismissing charges against Editor-in-Chief Filip Svarm on technicalities.

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