ANEM'S WEEKLY REPORT ON MEDIA REPRESSION IN SERBIA

JUNE 10 ­ JUNE 16, 2000

B2-92 FOUNDER APPEALS FOR MEDIA ASSISTANCE

STUDIO B TO OVERCOME BAN: SACKED DIRECTOR

THESSALONIKI, June 10, 2000 ­ The director of Belgrade City broadcaster Studio B who was replaced in May by the Serbian government when it seized control of the station has said that sacked stuff will resume producing and broadcasting the station's programs by satellite and the Internet. Dragan Kojadinovic told yesterday's meeting of the Pact for Stability in South-east Europe that former Studio B staff would also soon begin broadcasting two hours a day from the Bosnian Serb republic. Kojadinovic said that he believed that attacks on the independent media in Serbia would continue, adding that the seizure of Studio B was the best indication of how drastic and dramatic these would be.

SATIRIST SENTENCED TO FIVE MONTHS

ZAJECAR, June 10, 2000 -- Knjazevac satirist Boban Miletic was sentenced in Zajecar District Court yesterday to five months' imprisonment. The court found Miletic guilty of ridiculing Yugoslavia and President Slobodan Milosevic by reading aphorisms from his book "Weep, Mother Serbia" at a literary evening in Knjazevac on December 18, 1998. The court also ordered confiscation of copies of the book.

The offensive aphorisms read by Miletic include, "Milosecscu, you'll end up like Ceausescu," "Leader climb to the top of Beogradjanka and take a step. It would be a small step for you but a great step for Serbia".

Defence lawyer Mile Petkovic told Beta agency that the whole trial had had a political connotation and that this was true of the verdict as well. He announced that he would appeal against the sentence.

DJINDJIC AND BATIC SUE PRO-REGIME MEDIA UNDER INFORMATION ACT

BELGRADE, June 10, 2000 -- The president of the Democratic Party, Zoran Djindjic and Democratic Christian Party of Serbia leader Vladan Batic have laid charges against state-run daily Politika and its director, state news agency Tanjug and its director and the acting director of daily Vecernje Novosti under Serbia's infamous Public Information Act. The charges relate to the articles "Batic and Djindjic prepared for a new Markale" published in Politika yesterday and "Treason for Money" published in Vecernje novosti, which they claim violate the Constitution and their own dignity.

Both articles quoted from a report by Tanjug which claimed that "Batic and Djindjic are preparing an Otpor Markale," and that Batic had said "Forget Mad Vuk. He's ruined everything". The article also quoted Djindjic as saying "I'll be the death of Vuk". The report claimed that the plaintiffs had threatened Serbian Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic with French and German intelligence services while he had threatened them with the CIA so that they would kill each other off.

BUILDING INSPECTORS FAIL TO CLOSE TV NEGOTIN

NEGOTIN, June 11 -- Independent broadcaster TV Negotin, the only member of ANEM in the East Serbian territory of Timocka Krajina near the Bulgarian border is still on the air despite a decision by building inspectors to seal the premises housing the studio and staff. The inspectors attempted to seal the premises because of "lack of the proper licence" but were not assisted by police. Dozens of angry members of the public gathered in front of the building and the inspectors withdrew.

EU EXTENDS ADDS JUDGES TO BLACKLIST

BRUSSELS, June 11, 2000 -- The European Union has added five Serbian judges to the list of Yugoslavs banned from travelling to EU member countries. The Council of Ministers added the names saying that the judges and magistrates were contributing to repression in Serbia by convicting independent media. The five new names are Jadranka Dobrijevic, Andrija Milutinovic, Dragoslav Todorovic, Jasna Ucajev and Miladin Uglesic. The blacklist now contains nearly eight hundred names of Yugoslav officials and public figures known to support the Milosevic regime.

LAWYERS OFFER FREE ASSISTANCE TO ARRESTED PROTESTERS

CACAK, Saturday -- The Cacak Bar Association has offered legal assistance free of charge to citizens detained by police and has pledged to intervene rapidly as soon as being notified of arrests. The pledge came after representatives of opposition parties, Otpor and a number of Serbian municipalities met in Cacak to discuss the protection of media and the public from government repression. The meeting was organised by the Cacak office of the independent economic think tank G17. Other participants in the meeting undertook to be on call 24 hours a day for assistance and to issue guidelines for citizens advising them what to if detained.

ALBANIAN NEWSPAPER SUES UNITED NATIONS

PRISTINA, June 11, 2000 -- Albanian-language Pristina daily Dita has filed criminal charges in the Pristina District Court against the UN mission in Kosovo. The paper is demanding compensation of 30,000 Deutschmarks because of a temporary banning order. UNMIK chief Bernard Kouchner ordered the paper closed for eight days from June 3, alleging that it had violated a decree forbidding religious, ethnic and racial vilification.

Dita published an article on April 27 under the title "When Petar becomes Peter" in which it claimed that a Serb employed by UNMIK, Petar Topoljski, had committed war crimes in Kosovo during NATO's bombing attacks. The paper also carried a photograph of Topoljski and the addresses of his home and work place. Topoljski was subsequently murdered and his body discovered on April 29.

Dita's suit seeks compensation for a loss of 30,000 Deutschmarks which it says would have been made in sales during the banning period. The charges also allege that Kouchner of damaging the reputation of the newspaper.

MONTENEGRIN POLICE BLOCK POLITIKA DISTRIBUTION

PODGORICA, June 11, 2000 -- Police and civilians in Montenegro yesterday stopped a truck carrying copies of state-run Belgrade daily Politika. Politika's chief Podgorica correspondent, Dragomir Becirovic told media that the truck was stopped seventy kilometres from Podgorica and several thousand copies of the paper confiscated.

Montenegrin Information Minister Bozidar Jaredic told media that Politika and Politika Eskpres had violated the election silence for this weekend's local government by-elections in the republic.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS MEET IN KRALJEVO

KRALJEVO, June 12, 2000 - The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists met today in the southern Serbian city of Kraljevo. The session was dedicated to the town's France Press and Danas correspondent, Miroslav Filipovic, who is being held in custody by the Nis Military Court on charges of espionage and disseminating false information. Members of Filipovic's family attended the meeting together with representatives of the independent media, the democratic opposition and Otpor. After the meeting, which discussed regime repression of media and journalists, participants signed a petition for the release of the jailed journalist. The petition had been signed by 200 citizens of Kraljevo by last night, said New Serbia spokesman Gordana Tosic, who launched the campaign.

SATIRISTS DEMAND ANNULMENT OF WRITER'S SENTENCE

BELGRADE, June 12, 2000 - Colleagues of jailed satirist Boban Miletic have called for the annulment of his five months' prison sentence. Miletic was sentenced in Zajecar District Court on Friday after being convicted of slurring Yugoslavia and its president, Slobodan Milosevic. A letter from the Satirists' chapter of the Association of Serbian Writers describes the verdict as outrageous and a striking example of the incompetence of courts to deal with literature and the arts, adding that the court had appeared to re-establish the court literary criticism well known from the Communist era. In doing so, said the satirists, had overlooked the fact that by definition satire implied a higher level of creative licence and thus greater tolerance in society.

FEDERAL BROADCASTER INSTALLED BY FORCE IN MONTENEGRO

PODGORICA, June 12, 2000 - The Montenegrin Information Ministry has confirmed that it refused press accreditation to journalists from TV Yugoslavia (YU Info Channel) to cover yesterday's local elections in Podgorica and Herceg Novi. A decision, signed by Information Minister Bozidar Jaredic, gave as grounds for the refusal that TV Yugoslavia had been installed on Montenegrin territory by force and was being broadcast in contravention of the Montenegrin Constitution and laws of the republic.

STUDIO B PROGRAM VIA SATELLITE: RENEWAL MOVEMENT

BELGRADE, 12 June 2000 - The former staff of Belgrade City radio and television, Studio B, will resume broadcasting by early July, Serbian Renewal Movement representative Aleksandar Cotric said today. Cotric, speaking form Germany to Beta agency said that Serbs living outside the country were willing to provide technical and material resources for the project. He added that it was no secret that certain circles in the international community, such as international journalism organisations would also assist.

Cotric said that the new program would be available to viewers in Serbia with satellite antennas as well as three million Serbs scattered around the world. "The aim of the programs intended for our emigrants is to help them preserve their national, language and cultural identity, to be promptly and objectively informed about events in their homeland, to become acquainted with their rights and have more varied entertainment available," said Cotric.

CONVICT US NOT HER, SAY STAFF OF JAILED NEWSPAPER DIRECTOR

BOR, June 12, 2000 -- Miroslav Radulovic, the editor in chief of Borske novine and writer Bozidar Bogdanovic have proposed to the president of the Zajecar District Court and the president of the Serbian Supreme Court to free the newspaper's jailed director and charge them instead. Director Dusica Radulovic has been sentenced to three months' imprisonment for libelling municipal officials in the publication.

Miroslav Radulovic, who is the husband of the jailed director, and Bogdanovic say in their appeal that Dusica Radulovic, although the paper's proprietor, has no editorial function. In addition she is the mother of a primary school child and a twenty-nine year old daughter who suffers from cerebral palsy and needs constant care.

OPPOSITION MEMBERS AND JOURNALIST ON TRIAL IN MAJDANPEK

MAJDANPEK, June 13, 2000 -- Two local opposition officials and a correspondent for Radio Free Europe are scheduled to stand trial today in Majdanpek, charged, under the Public Assemblies Act with organising a protest rally in the town on June 1. They are the president of the local branch of the Democratic Party of Serbia, Ljubomir Brandusanovic, the president of the local branch of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Radomir Kulic and Radio Free Europe correspondent Dejan Radulovic.

A second group of Majdanpek residents have been summoned for trial on June 26 to face similar charges over a June 5 rally. Brandusanovic and Radulovic will again face the court on that occasion along with physical education teacher Goran Kuzmanovic, the district president of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Milorad Babic, party spokesman Gorcilo Potpara and Otpor activist Nenad Danilovic.

The June 26 hearing will be the third in a month for the Radio Free Europe correspondent who has already been summonsed to appear on June 8 in relation to a rally on May 25. The defence in that case claims that the rally was registered with police within the time limit and that there are no grounds for prosecution.

JOURNALISTS BARRED FROM FEDERAL PARLIAMENT SESSION

BELGRADE, June 13, 2000 -- Journalists and photographers from Danas, Blic and Glas javnosti were yesterday barred from covering a meeting of the Federal Parliament. Police guards at the building entrance told Blic and Glas javnosti journalists that their requests for accreditation had not been submitted on time. Those from Danas received no explanation. The paper today published a facsimile of the accreditation request which had been sent to the parliament on time.

The deputy editor-in-chief of Danas, Bozidar Andrejic, has written in protest to the secretary-general of the Federal Parliament say saying that readers have been denied the basic right to be informed about the work of the Parliament which is public by law.

JOURNALIST CODEX SOON: EVERTS

PRISTINA, June 13, 2000 -- The chief of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, Daan Everts, said today that representatives of local media had failed to prevent the spread of hatred and so a code of behaviour for journalists could be expected soon.

"We must impose correctional measures, such as the withdrawal of a front page, the calling of an editor to account and, in extreme cases, the closing down of the paper." said Everts. "We must impose these measures in order to prevent media passing death sentences," he added.

BODY TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS ESTABLISHED IN VOJVODINA

NOVI SAD, June 14, 2000 -- Representatives of non-government media in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina last night agreed to establish within the Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists, a body to co-ordinate the defence of journalists from regime repression. The Association agreed that the body should consist of nineteen representatives of local media and the Novi Sad offices of national broadcasters and publishers.

A statement issued by the meeting announced the publication of a catalogue of repression which would list those responsible for implementing repressive measures against journalists. The meeting also agreed that media should react in concert to future repressive measures. The Association will also establish a solidarity fund to finance the provision of personal security for journalists under threat.

JOURNALISTS PROTEST AGAINST PARLIAMENTARY BAN

BELGRADE, June 14, 2000 The Association of Independent Serbian Journalists has written in protest to the secretary of the Federal Parliament over the Parliament's decision to refuse admission to a recent parliament session to journalists from Belgrade dailies Blic, Danas and Glas javnosti. "We remind you that the refusal violates every citizen's constitutional right to be informed," reads the letter.

HAGUE TRIBUNAL DISMISSES ALLEGATIONS AGAINST NATO

THE HAGUE, June 14, 2000 -- There are no grounds for launching a formal investigation into allegations that NATO committed war crimes in Yugoslavia, says the Hague Tribunal in a report issued today. The prosecutor's office of the Tribunal has concluded, in a 44-page analysis, that a comprehensive investigation of the NATO bombing was not justified because the alleged infringement of human rights was not sufficiently established to demonstrate the guilt of senior NATO officials.

In the section of the report dealing with the bombing of the Radio Television Serbia headquarters in central Belgrade on April 23, 1999, the Tribunal concludes that the attack was planned with the aim of disabling a military command communication network and that transmitters and power stations were bombed the same evening in a co-ordinated operation. NATO, at its press conferences, emphasised the dual function of civilian television "which was completely dependent on the military chain of command and control" as well as the intertwining of military and civilian communications. NATO also justified the bombing of state television with "the need to dismantle the propaganda machinery which is a vital part of President Slobodan Milosevic's control mechanism?. The attack on Radio Television Serbia, according to the analysis by the prosecution experts in The Hague, was legally justified if it was really directed at the disruption and disabling of a communications network but not !

if the aim was to disable Radio Television Serbia as a propaganda weapon. According to one opinion cited, the number of victims was higher than it would have been if NATO had given clear prior warning of the attack.

Based on this analysis, Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte closed the NATO case. Del Ponte said that she was convinced that NATO had not intentionally bombed civilians or forbidden targets.

FILIPOVIC INDICTED FOR ESPIONAGE

NIS, June 15, 2000 -- The France Press and Danas correspondent for the southern Serbian city of Kraljevo, Miroslav Filipovic has been formally charged with the criminal offences of espionage and dissemination of false information, the president of the Nis Military Court, Colonel Vukadin Milojevic, said yesterday. Milojevic told media the charges would be effective once a ruling had been handed down on an appeal already before the court. After that, he said, the court would schedule a hearing of the charges.

HEARING OF CHARGES AGAINST STATE ADJOURNED

BELGRADE, June 15, 2000 -- The hearing of charges brought by Radio Pancevo against the republic of Serbia for interference with property has been adjourned to June 19, Radio Pancevo's lawyer, Goran Matic, said yesterday. The case relates to the blocking of the broadcaster's signal from its main transmitter which was carried out by persons unknown on May 17.

"The deputy public attorney has sent us a response to the charges which does not actually address any of the facts but insists that police did not act illegally, but were acting according to Article 14 of the Internal Affairs Act. This article gives the minister the right to order the closing of all access roads to certain premises when this is necessary for the prevention of civil unrest or disorder on a broad scale, or when the security of members of the public or the defence and security of the republic were endangered. The hearing was adjourned because we have not yet seen such an order from the minister. We expect to see it on Monday and the court should hand down a verdict soon after that," said Matic.

Charges brought by ANEM against the Republic of Serbia were also adjourned in Belgrade's Third Municipal Court yesterday. These also allege interference with property in relation to leased business premises on the seventeenth and eighteenth floors of the Beogradjanka building. In these proceedings, the Republic public attorney appealed against a court decision which ruled that the case should be heard in a local court. The case will be passed to the Belgrade District Court to rule on the appeal.

MONTENEGRO TELEKOM CLOSES TELEVISION TRANSMITTERS

PODGORICA, June 15, 2000 -- The editorial board of Television Elmag announced yesterday that Montenegro Telekom had disconnected its transmitters at Obosnik and on the Lustica Peninsula and demanded urgent intervention of the state to enable the resumption of radio and television transmissions in the coastal region of Boka Kotorska. The board, in its statement, said it did not know why the action had been taken but warned that if the state failed to intervene, the company would address international organisations.

FILIPOVIC CUSTODY EXTENDED AGAIN

NIS, June 16, 2000 - The Military court in Nis has extended the custody of Danas and AFP correspondent Miroslav Filipovic, who is being tried for espionage and dissemination of false information. President of the Military Court in Nis Colonel Vukadin Milojevic said that Filipovic had the right to appeal against the decision within three days. He claimed that Filipovic was in custody to prevent the possibility of his influencing witnesses, or disappearing.

FINE INCREASED FOR LOCAL NEWSPAPER

KIKINDA, June 16, 2000 -- The Novi Sad District Court today upheld an appeal by plaintiff Rajko Popovic against a fine imposed on Vojvodina daily Kikindske novine last month. Under the new ruling the fine of 1,080,000 already imposed on the paper under the Public Information Act is increased by 100,000 dinars. Popovic, who has previously won a number of convictions against Kikindske novine, is editor-in-chief of the state media newspaper RTS Komuna.

WORLD PUBLISHERS PROTEST AGAINST SERBIAN REPRESSION

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 16, 2000 -- The World Association of Newspapers has called on the Serbian government to immediately discontinue repression of independent media and to allow journalists to do their job. The Association yesterday appealed to the Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Serbian President Milan Milutinovic to return seized media to their owners, to eliminate censorship and discrimination and to bring the Public Information Act into line with international standards and covenants on the freedom of media.

The Association made the statement at its 53rd Annual Congress in Brazil, which has been attended by about 1,500 newspaper proprietors and editors from seventy countries.