ANEM'S WEEKLY REPORT ON MEDIA REPRESSION IN SERBIA

JULY 8 - JULY 14, 2000

INDEPENDENT DAILIES CUT PUBLICATION

BELGRADE, July 8, 2000 -- Belgrade independent dailies Blic, Glas javnosti and Danas will not publish during the coming weekend because of a lack of paper. All three independents informed their readers in today's issue that a newsprint shortage had forced them to publish three-in-one editions today to cover the weekend.

Yugoslavia's only domestic newsprint manufacturer, Matroz, usually supplies independent publishers with stocks not needed by state-run newspapers but has informed the independents that it does not have paper available.

The Federal Ministry for Trade has consistently refused to license independent publishers to import paper, saying that there is enough newsprint on the domestic market.

"The only remaining solution is to seek any kind of paper on the free market, of any size and shape. We are in any case using five different printers, so we are now going to be published in five different formats, because the most important thing is that we do not stop publishing," Blic Editor Veselin Simonovic told Radio B2-92. Admitting for the first time that he was a pesismist when it came to paper's survival, Simonovic added that it was always possible to "find a solution" about both the Public Information Act and the paper's eviction from its premises. However, he said, when the regime first created a paper shortage and then banned imports, publishers were in a corner.

EUROPEAN JOURNALISM AWARD TO FILIPOVIC

LONDON, July 8, 2000 - Jailed Kraljevo journalist Miroslav Filipovic has won the European Internet Journalist of the year award. The NetMedia Foundation said yesterday that it was presenting the award to Filipovic for what it described as a brave article about Yugoslav Army atrocities in Kosovo which could be published only on the Internet.

Filipovic is in custody in Nis, charged with espionage and disseminating false information over the same article. His son Sasa and daughter Marija accepted the award in London yesterday on his behalf.

PARTIES MEET ON POLITICAL APPROACH TO MEDIA

BELGRADE, July 9, 2000 - Representatives of opposition parties and independent media agreed yesterday on a common goal of changing the political system and the authorities in Serbia, but failed to agree on whether and how they should be involved as partners.

At a meeting under the title "The Approach of Political Parties to the Media", organised within the Partnership for Democratic Change by the Independence United Unions and the Foundation for Peace and Solutions for Crisis, media representatives defended the principle that the only thing in common between media and political parties was to provide checks and balances on the activity of the regime and that the focus of media was to provide information to the public.

The representatives of certain political parties demanded that media should report their activities more fully and should not criticise the opposition.

Professor Miroljub Radojkovic of the Belgrade University Faculty of Political Science emphasised that a distinction must be drawn between political parties and the media because, unlike parties, media were not interested in winning power. He added that the media should criticise poor performances from parties and thus help them to reform.

Ildi Ivanji of the Democratic Alternative and Dragan Lukovic of the Movement for a Democratic Serbia criticised media for being interested only in the leaders of parties and not in other members.

A senior official of the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists, Natasa Bogovic, accused party leaders of blaming the opposition's failures on media because they were not coddling them. The deputy editor-in-chief of Danas, Zdravko Huber, added to this that the fact that people in the media wanted democratic change did not mean that they should form alliances with parties to the disadvantage of the public.

Rade Veljanovski of the Foundation for Peace and Solutions for Crisis told the conference that the parties had not done enough work on defining what the media system should be after a change of government, adding that this was the reason that the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists had engaged consultants to draft a bill on public information and broadcasting.

INDEPENDENT DAILIES NOT PUBLISHED

BELGRADE, July 9, 2000 - The Belgrade dailies Blic, Glas javnosti and Danas were not published yesterday because of a paper shortage.

Blic Editor-in-Chief Veselin Simonovic told Radio B2-92 that there was enough newsprint on the market but that independent publishers had not been permitted to purchase a single gram from Matroz, the only domestic newsprint manufacturer. Simonovic also admitted for the first time to having doubts about his paper's survival, since importing paper was now illegal.

The editor-in-chief of Glas javnosti, Slavoljub Kacarevic, said it was still uncertain whether the independents would manage to acquire paper for the Monday edition. He told Radio B2-92 that even if newsprint arrived on time, the independent papers could lose their printer. "Our printing subsidiary, which also prints some other independent papers, is now in the position of being evicted from its premises at any minute," said Kacarevic.

FONET PHOTOGRAPHER BEATEN

PODGORIC, July 10, 2000 - Followers of the unrecognised Montenegrin Orthodox Church today assaulted FoNet photographer Zivota Ciric in the village of Njegusi. His equipment was damaged in the attack which occurred for no apparent reason. Ciric was on assignment in the village of Erakovi where he was to photograph a service of the Serbian Orthodox Church. On his arrival in Erakovi, Ciric saw followers of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church gathering nearby. He first photographed them in the presence of police who had established a cordon nearby to protect members of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Having completed his assignment, he was permitted by police to pass the cordon and approach the Montenegrin Orthodox Church members some five hundred metres away. Bodyguards escorting Montenegrin Orthodox Church head Miras Dedaic then began insulting and punching him, breaking his camera and flashlight. Police escorting Ciric away from the crowd took the film from his broken camera and!

exposed it to the light.

INDEPENDENTS PUBLISH TODAY

BELGRADE, July 10, 2000 - Belgrade dailies Blic, Glas javnosti and Danas, none of which have appeared during the weekend because of a shortage of newsprint from the only domestic manufacturer, appeared on the newsstands again today.

Blic Editor-in-Chief Veselin Simonovic told Radio B2-92 that minimal paper supplies in various formats obtained during the weekend would enable the three dailies to print only for the next few days.

"We still haven't solved the long-term problem and will be out of paper again as soon as Sunday," said Simonovic, announcing that the companies would begin by asking the government for import licences, adding that they would try to buy any kind of paper available on the market, even paper bags or meat wrappers. However, he said, that would be only on a day-to-day basis.

FILIPOVIC REFUSED BAIL

BELGRADE, July 10, 2000 - The Supreme Military Court in Nis has dismissed a demand for release on bail from the lawyers for jailed Kraljevo journalist Miroslav Filipovic. According to state-run daily Vecernje novosti, the demand was dismissed on the grounds that the charges of espionage and the dissemination of false information were merited the extension of remand in custody. The court feared that freeing Filipovic would influence witnesses and invalidate further proceedings against him. One of Filipovic's lawyers, Goran Draganic, told Radio B2-92 that this response had not yet been received in writing, but that the information had come on good authority.

INDEPENDENT DAILIES ON BRINK OF COLLAPSE

BELGRADE, July 11, 2000 - Three Belgrade indpendent daily newspapers, Blic, Danas and Glas javnosti, have demanded that the Serbian and Yugoslav governments permit them to obtain adquate supplies of newsprint, warning that otherwise their survival would be in question.

In a joint letter to the Serbian and Yugoslav governmnets, the managements of the thre dailies have sought discussions on the possibility of importing paper, pointing out that the only domestic newsprint manufacturer, Matroz, gave or sold paper at discount prices only to those newspapers close to the authorities.

The three companies warned that if they closed the governments would lose considerable income generated by the papers for various taxes and that hundreds of employees and their families would also be left without an income.

"If these papers close, a large number of readers, citizens of the country you represent, would be damaged and their basic human rights restricted," said the joint letter from Danas, Blic and Glas javnosti.

WOMEN'S PEACEPOWER AWARD TO RADIO B2-92

BELGRADE, Monday - Belgrade independent Radio B2-92 has won the prestigious Internet award from Women's Peacepower Inc.

In its citation for Radio B2-92, the foundation writes "B2-92 Internet has existed for ten years. During last year's NATO intervention, police took over their premises, confiscated their transmitter, equipment, 50,000 books from the publishing division, music and CD production, money and documentation. Despite all the regime's efforts they failed to take over only one thing: the employees faithful to the independent media have continued to broadcast B2-92 programs and post messages and news on the Internet."

Women's Peacepower's aim is "the introduction of peace into the everyday life of women and their families".

YUGOSLAV MEDIA COMPLETELY FREE: IVAN MARKOVIC

MOSCOW, July 11, 2000 - The media situation in Yugoslavia was "pretty transaparent, pretty clear," Federal Telecommunications Minister Ivan Markovic said today. Markovic, in an interview for The Voice of Russia, said that he could proudly state that the media in Yugoslavia were completely free.

"There are almost a thousand radio and television stations, the majority of which are private property," said markovic, adding that the only major networks were the state media: Radio Television Serbia and Yugoslav Television, the YU INFOR channel of Radio Yugoslavia. The other networks were mainly private, he said, adding that there was "complete freedom of information, guaranteed by the Constitution and secured by law. The minister described the level of media freedom as being almost unbelievable in view of the fact that the country had been exposed to aggression and subsequently to the natural process of reconstruction.

Markovic, who is also the secretary of the Yugoslav United Left, explained the introduction of Serbia's Public Information Act by saying that it was necessary to protect the other freedoms of citiznes in the face of the enormous freedom of information in Yugoslavia. The freedom of information, he continued, was so great that it had become its opposite and citizens had the freedom and the right not to be insulted by anyone and not to be manipulated by anyone.

NASA KRMACA CLOSES

VELIKO GRADISTE, July 11, 2000 - The popular satirical weekly, Nasa krmaca, is to close down. Editor-in-Chief Bosko Savkovic announced the closure today during a celebration of the fourth anniversary of the paper's founding at Silver Lake near Veliko Gradiste. Savkovic told guests that the paper was closing after four years of suffering which had borne eighty issues, six special editions and fourteen books. He noted that during the past four years the staff of the paper had suffered pressure from the authorities because of its satire and ridicule of the regime, as well as from the opposition which saw the paper as giving the legitimacy to the regime because its existence gave the illusion of press freedom.

Savkovic said that the decision to close had resulted from new pressures, the lack of newsprint and changes in legislation, primarily the Public Information Act as well as the announcement of new, rigorous laws.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS BARRED FROM SERBIAN PARLIAMENT

BELGRADE, July 12, 2000 - Journalists from a number of Belgrade media outlets were yesterday barred from reporting on a session of the Serbian Parliament's Legislative Committee. Immediately before the committee session began, the head of the Parliament's information service, Zoran Djumic, asked reporters from dailies Blic and Danas and the Beta agency to leave, saying that MPs from the Serbian Radical Party had demanded this. As the journalists left, Radical Party members who had been waiting outside entered. This is the first time that journalists have been removed from a meeting not chaired by a member of the Serbian Radical Party.

EMERGENCY CARD FOR JOURNALISTS

NOVI SAD, July 12, 2000 - The Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists has printed a Stop the Violence card with five telephone numbers for journalists to call in the event of any violence being used against them. The reverse of the card carries legal advice - advising journalists that they are entitled, in the case of arrest, to be told the reason for arrest, to demand that their next of kin be informed, that they are not required to say anything to police. The card also sets out the procedure for confiscation of equipment.

Association President Pera Popovic told Radio B2-92 that the card had been printed because of increased repression of media employees which, he said, was illustrated by the fact that from the beginning of May until mid-June more than twenty journalists had been arrested while on assignment in Vojvodina alone. According to Popovic, a journalists calling any of the numbers on the cards in the case of police action against them would activate a network of lawyers. "The lawyers would then go to the police and demand to know the reason for the arrest and that the journalist's rights be explained to him". He added that if a journalists were injured, medical assistance would also be available through the network. The card, he said, could be used in all cases of harassment, adding that there had been cases in Vojvodina when journalists had been attacked not only by police but by "local parapolice".

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS REMOVED FROM PARLIAMENT

BELGRADE, July 13, 2000 - Journalists from the Belgrade dailies Blic, Glas javnosti and Danas and Beta news agency were ejected from the Serbian Parliament yesterday. The parliamentary correspondents attempted to enter the Parliament at about 10.00 a.m. today but were told by security guards that they would have to leave the building "It's not our decision. It's been decided in a higher place: you know where," one guard told the journalists.

Blic reporter Marko Petrovic told Radio B2-92 that they had been thrown out of the Parliament at the demand of the Serbian Radical Party which did not allow journalists from these media to attend sessions of the Parliament. "When I entered the Parliament, the head of the information service, Zoran Djumic approached me and told me I would have to leave the building," said Petrovic. "I told him that this was contrary to the Information Act, after which he said he had nothing to do with it and that I had to leave. I said they would have to throw me out. A security guard then came and repeated everything Djumic had said. When I left I saw my colleagues from other papers. We were then told that we were not permitted to stand in front of the Parliament building and that we had to leave," said Petrovic.

The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists protested against the reporters being barred from covering the Serbian Parliament session. In its statement, the Association said that "the establishment of one-party journalism is endangering not only journalists, but also the right of the public to information. The institution of the Parliament, which at least in its name belongs to the people, is being usurped," said the Association, adding that this incident showed that the Serbian authorities consented to the threats made to independent media and took part in them."

INDEPENDENT MEDIA STILL WITHOUT NEWSPRINT SUPPLIES

BELGRADE, July 13, 2000 - The majority of the independent print media in Belgrade are still not receiving supplies of newsprint from Matroz, Yugoslavia's only domestic manufacturer. Newspapers are now facing a reduction in the number of copies printed, or even the cessation of publication. Matroz Director Dragan Lazic told Beta that one section of the factory was not operating because of a technical malfunction and would need a lengthy period for repairs. Denying that there was any political factor in the shortage of paper for independent publishers, Lazic said that the company was attempting to distribute newsprint in such a way that all publishers shared the supplies and shortages. The dailies Blic, Glas javnosti and Danas and the weeklies NIN and Vreme recently demanded that the Federal Ministry of Trade give them a licence to import paper, but no reply has yet been received.

The president of the Association of Independent Serbian Journalists, Gordana Susa, told B2-92 that, after stealing money through the Public Information Act and stealing property from Vecernje novosti and the Glas printer, the situation with paper imports was an additional pressure on independent media. "The Milosevic regime is attempting to send all its political opponents on forced leave so that they can use the break to call elections and come out of them as winners. I'm afraid that such games are very dangerous and that this kind of move could provoke equally major reactions," said Susa.

FILIPOVIC TRIAL SCHEDULED FOR JULY 25 AND 26

NIS, July 13, 2000 - The trial of Danas and France press correspondent from Kraljevo, Miroslav Filipovic, on charges of espionage and the dissemination of false information would be held on July 25 and 26, said the deputy president of the Nis Military Court, Colonel Radenko Miladinovic, as quoted by Beta. Miladinovic told media that the indictment had taken legal effect and that all legal conditions for the trial had now been met.

STUDIO B DEMANDS HEARING OUTSIDE BELGRADE

BELGRADE, July 13, 2000 - Lawyers representing Belgrade broadcaster Studio B, seized by the Milosevic regime in May, have withdrawn a demand for the disqualification of Belgrade judges and demanded that the Supreme Court transfer legal proceedings in the case to somewhere other than Belgrade, Glas javnosti reports today. The lawyers have justified their application by saying that that Belgrade judges are subject to tensions and pressures from political circles in the capital and that this could affect decisions by the court.

ZIVKOVIC SUES VECERNJE NOVOSTI

NIS, July 13, 2000 - The mayor of Nis and vice-president of the Democratic Party, Zoran Zivkovic, has laid charges against daily Vecernje novosti under the Public Information Act. The charges relate to an article published under the title "Shameful flirting with the West: Target the Schools!" The article includes the passage: "During the Alliance's aggression, Mayor Zivkovic was asking in the media why the NATO aircraft were targeting army barracks when the army was stationed in school buildings". Zivkovic's complaint names the Vecernje novosti company and the acting editor-in-chief of the paper, Dusan Cukic.

DAVIDSON ORDERS DITA TO PUBLISH RESPONSES FROM DENOUNCED SERBS

PRISTINA, July 13, 2000 - Kosovo's temporary media commissioner, Douglas Davidson, has ordered the Albanian-language Pristina daily Dita to publish responses from people whose names and personal information were published in the paper on June 26 and July 4, the OSCE mission in Kosovo announced today. The OSCE statement reports that Davidson has sent two warning letters to Dita after the paper published personal information which could put the safety and lives of people in danger. Davidson also warned that Dita had violated the recently-proclaimed decree on the behaviour of print media, which requires editors and publishers to refrain from publishing such information. The temporary media commissioner has already warned Dita on a number of occasions about breaches of the code of behaviour.

DUVE EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER THE MEDIA SITUATION IN YUGOSLAVIA

BELGRADE, July 14, 2000 - In his report to the OSCE Permanent Council, OSCE envoy for media freedom Freimut Duve has expressed concern over the problems of the media in Yugoslavia, Beta reports. The German diplomat noted that the regime's campaign against the independent media was continuing, and that fifteen media organisations had been closed down this year alone. He told representatives of the 54 OSCE member states that he had sent Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic several letters of protest against the repression against independent media. Regarding the situation in Kosovo, Duve condemned the attack on Serb journalist of Radio Kontakt Valentina Cukic and expressed concern over Albanian media's continued instigation of hatred.

HACKERS POST MILOSEVIC DEATH STORY ON POLITIKA SITE

BELGRADE, July 14, 2000 - Hackers have cracked the Web site of state-run Belgrade daily Politika and posted false information that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had died in a bomb explosion, a source from the paper said yesterday. "We noticed it last night at about 10.00 p.m. and immediately closed the site down to prevent further hacking," the source told Reuters, adding that there were several lines of news purporting to be an explanation of the story. He said that this was the first time Politika's site had been hacked, and that the false story had covered a real story about Milosevic's activities during the day.

Independent VIP reported the content of the story, quoting "Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has died from injuries sustained in an explosion in his Dedinje bunker".