ANEM WEEKLY REPORT ON MEDIA REPRESSION IN SERBIA

SEPTEMBER 23 - SEPTEMBER 29, 2000

ELECTION MEDIA BLACKOUT VIOLATION

BELGRADE, September 23 2000 - The Federal Supervisory Committee for Elections 2000 today accused the Montenegrin state media of violating the election media blackout by carrying out "intensive political and election propaganda". A statement issued by the Committee demanded that the Montenegrin media bring an immediate halt to this crude violation of the Election of Federal Representatives Act decrees and Supervisory Committee regulations. The statement called the behaviour of the Montenegrin media "non-democratic and illegal", and demanded that the authorised republic and federal bodies "immediately undertake appropriate measures against those who consciously and deliberately violated laws".

The Supervisory Committee, however, did not react to Tanjug's article published in Politika on Friday under the title "Everything Is Clear", which claimed that the opposition parties had not lead an election campaign, but a campaign against the elections in the full knowledge that they would not win those elections when they only had the support of four per cent of the voters.

PATRIOTS SUE RESEARCH AGENCIES

BELGRADE, September 23 2000 - The Patriotic Alliance of Yugoslavia has filed criminal charges against research agencies for "crude forgeries of surveys and the blatant deception of the public," Radio Television Serbia reports today. The Patriotic Alliance has filed charges against Strategic Marketing, the Centre For Studying Alternatives, Partner, SKAN, the Centre For Democratic Culture and the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy.

Director of Strategic Marketing Srdjan Bogosavljevic stated today that he did not understand the context or the connotation of the charges. Bogosavljevic said that Strategic Marketing had not received any written charges and that he had heard about them being filed on state television. Bogosavljevic said that he was surprised by the formulation of the charges and did not understand what they meant, emphasising his willingness to discuss the methodological validity of the surveys carried out by his agency at a mathematical congress or some other panel discussion.

VECERNJE NOVOSTI VIOLATES PROFESSIONAL CODE

BELGRADE, September 23 2000 - The Association of Professional Yugoslav Photographers today accused daily Vecernje novosti of violating the professional photographer code and of misinforming the public by publishing a photograph from Slobodan Milosevic's election rally in Berane on the front page of yesterday's edition of the daily. In its statement the Association emphasised that yesterday's edition of Vecernje novosti published a computer montage with the same persons multiplied and other forbidden interventions, Beta reports.

INCREASED SECURITY AROUND GLAS JAVNOSTI

BELGRADE, September 23 2000 - Security guards from the printing shop and the editorial staff of Glas javnosti will as of Saturday noon work double shifts, the daily's editors stated today. Beta reports that increased security would be established at 8, Vlajkoviceva Street, where both the printing shop and the daily's offices are located under direct orders from the bankruptcy manager of ABC Grafika, Dusan Abramovic. Glas editors told Beta that the printers and journalists of the daily did not know why bankruptcy manager Abramovic had increased the security of the building and editor Dusan Vlahovic said he assumed the reason was the forthcoming elections.

FILIPOVIC TRANSFERRED FROM MILITARY HOSPITAL TO PRISON

PARIS, BELGRADE, September 23 2000 - International non-governmental organisation for the protection of journalists, Reporters Sans Frontieres, yesterday condemned the return of imprisoned journalist Miroslav Filipovic to prison and demanded that Yugoslav authorities reconsider their decision on his sentence, immediately release him and revoke all charges. The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists today also condemned the transfer of Kraljevo journalist Miroslav Filipovic from the Nis Military Hospital to prison, asserting that the authorities had never had any serious intention of treating Filipovic but had simply responded to public pressure.

EU ON JOURNALISTS

PARIS, September 24 2000 - The EU Presidency stated today that Yugoslavia would during the day deport foreign journalists who had come to cover the elections. The statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry stated that the EU sternly condemned the Yugoslav authorities decision to refuse to issue credentials to foreign media before the elections as well as the extradition of several foreign journalists from EU countries who had regular visas. The statement went on to say that after refusing to issue visas to EU parliamentarians, this latest move once against violated universally recognised freedoms and said much about the atmosphere surrounding the elections.

OPPOSITION VIDEO BEAM CONFISCATED

LESKOVAC, September 24 2000 - Police confiscated the opposition video beam intended to broadcast the election results in Leskovac tonight, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia coordinator Milorad Marijanovic told Beta today. The video beam was confiscated while being transported from Kragujevac to Leskovac on Saturday night. Marijanovic also said that a Leskovac police inspector had "called into" Democratic Party premises yesterday, warning party members that the Federal Electoral Commission had banned the use of video beams on the night between 24th and 25th September.

Meanwhile, regime-controlled TV Leskovac has organised a rock and roll concert to be held in the centre of Leskovac tonight.

FEDERAL BODY HIJACKS INTERNET DOMAIN

BELGRADE, September 26 2000 - An Internet site which had been opened to report election results was hijacked this morning by a government body and the election results on the site falsified, Beta learnt today from Stanimir Miljkovic, a spokesman for Free Serbia. "Between four and five this morning, changes were made at the top-level domain and now, instead of our server, the address, www.izbori.org.yu, leads to a server at the Academic Education Center," said Miljkovic, adding that the domain was properly registered under regional domain administration which is under direct control of the Federal Ministry.

Miljkovic told Beta that he believed the move had come after political pressure on the administrators of the org.yu domain, because the special elections site was being constantly updated with election results.

The statement issued by Free Serbia said that the administrator of org.yu domain, Mr. Nenad Krajinovic had told them that the order for this action came from the "highest place" in the Ministry of Science and Technology, and that the order was passed on by Vlada Teodosic, dean of the School of Electrical Engineering which houses the administration of the org.yu domain.

Free Serbia announced that because of this flagrant political abuse, the first of its kind in the history of the Internet in Yugoslavia, it would appeal to authorised international institutions to take away the administration of the yu top level domain from the Ministry of Science and Technology and hand it over to some independent national organisation, which is the practice everywhere in the world so as to prevent political influence of this kind on the global network.

RADIO INDEX JAMMED FROM 7.30 TO 8 P.M.

BELGRADE, September 26 2000 - Belgrade Radio Index ceased broadcasting last night between 7.30 and 8 p.m., while on frequency 99,8 MHz a shrill noise was heard. Radio Index Director Nenad Cekic told Radio B2-92 that the radio's technicians had failed to discover who was disrupting the program, which resumed normally after 8 p.m.

RETURN STUDIO B

BELGRADE, September 27.9.2000. - Head of Democratic Opposition of Serbia Election Headquarters in Belgrade Nenad Bogdanovic stated yesterday that after taking over authority in Belgrade, DOS would seek that RTV Studio B and the City Transportation Company be returned under the City Assembly's jurisdiction. Bogdanovic told a press conference that the local management should run the institutions they had founded, the most important thing being that Studio B be returned to Belgraders to function as it did originally when the Zajedno coalition came to power in Belgrade.

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS WARNED

BELGRADE, September 27 2000 - The Federal Ministry of Information yesterday warned foreign journalists that it would cancel their credentials for work in Yugoslavia if they resumed their innacurate reporting of statements made by Yugoslav citizens regarding the September 24 elections. The Ministry stated that translations which were presented to the foreign public had the exact opposite meaning of what was actually stated by the citizens, emphasising that the Ministry had hard evidence for such claims. The Ministry warned that, if certain foreign correspondents continued the current practice of altering citizens' statements, it would be forced to withdraw their credentials. The statement did not specify which foreign media were in question.

SOCIALISTS THROW OUT NON-GOVERNMENT MEDIA

BELGRADE, September 27 2000 - Journalists from Danas, Blic, FoNet and Beta were not allowed to attend yesterday's press conference held by the Belgrade branch of the Socialist Party of Serbia. Daily Danas writes today that the paper's correspondent was told by the security guard at the entrance to the Socialist headquarters that they had received a "list of media banned form reporting". This was the first case of the Socialists banning a media from entering their premises and reporting.

RTS DEDICATES 81 PER CENT OF TIME TO MILOSEVIC

BELGRADE, September 27 2000 - The Media Centre and Strategic Marketing agency announced the results of a survey of eight dailies, four weeklies and 11 radio and television stations carried out in the last week before the elections at a press conference yesterday. It was stated that in this period, state television broadcast 253 reports on Slobodan Milosevic, 196 positive and 57 neutral compared with 67 negative and 3 neutral reports on Vojislav Kostunica. State television dedicated 81 per cent of the total time dedicated to the five presidential candidates to Milosevic. The programming scheme was described as being in complete disarray due to innumerable reports from the Socialist and Yugoslav Left promotions. On the other hand, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia was regularly belittled earning the obligatory epithet of the "NATO coalition".

Media not under government control gave the greatest amount of publicity to Kostunica's campaign, and in the non-government electronic media (TV Kragujevac, TV Nis), considerable time was dedicated to Slobodan Milosevic but in a negative context. The report added that Podgorica media, just like Belgrade state-run daily Politika did not respect the election media block-out.

RTS LEAVES PRESS CONFERENCE

POZAREVAC, September 28 2000. - Radio Television Serbia Correspondent Office reporters yesterday left the Democratic Opposition of Serbia press conference in Pozarevac, refusing to authorise the report from the conference as requested by DOS representatives, Beta reports today. DOS Coordinator in Pozarevac Slavoljub Matic demanded that the RTS crew authorise the report from the conference, which the crew refused. The crew were consequently asked to leave the conference. The conference was dedicated to announcing the election results for the Pozarevac Municipal Assembly.

ZIVADIN JOVANOVIC: UNPRECEDENTED MEDIA PRESSURE

BELGRADE, September 28 2000 - Yugoslav Foreign Office and Socialist Party senior official Zivadin Jovanovic yesterday accused western countries of exerting strong media pressure on Yugoslavia, which, in his words, included the most famous and largest media houses in the world. During state television's prime time news programme Dnevnik, Jovanovic said that these media houses had set up equipment around Yugoslavia for "special psychological and political pressure" accusing the so-called independent media in Yugoslavia as being the prime culprits. Jovanovic said that such media pressure was aimed at manipulating public opinion and presenting the reality and atmosphere in Yugoslavia not as it really was, but as the western powers and those standing behind those media who would like it to be. Jovanovic said that western countries were investing enormous sums amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in the destabilisation of Yugoslavia. According to Jovanovic, those financial resources were being given to so-called civilian society structures, the independent media and independent organisations which were the lever of the western pressure and western policy against the country. Jovanovic concluded his statement by saying that Yugoslavian policy was highly recognised in every corner of the world serving as an inspiration and example to many other countries, FoNet reports.

TV NOVI SAD HUNGARIAN DEPARTMENT REPORTS UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

NOVI SAD, September 28 2000 - The editor on duty of the information section of TV Novi Sad's Hungarian Department, Nandor Nadj, confirmed yesterday that, despite the ban imposed by state television officials, this team had broadcast the unofficial election results announced by the other parties involved in the federal elections. State television officials yesterday attempted to bar the department from broadcasting a report on unofficial election results. Nadj said that the department would continue announcing all the results, both at local and other election levels, Beta reports today.

JOURNALIST ASSOCIATION PROTESTS AT DISCRIMINATION OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA

BELGRADE, September 28 2000 - The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists yesterday protested at the barring of certain independent media journalists from the Socialist Party of Serbia press conference held on Tuesday and accused the authorities of thus attempting to hide the real election results from the citizens. In a statement issued yesterday, the association asserted that the same applied to the intensive jamming of Radio Index, the only remaining independent electronic media in Belgrade, to that of Radio 021 in Novi Sad as well as to the interruption of Nis TV Belami, Nis City television and other non-government stations. Emphasising that the independent media and their journalists refused to be the distorted mirror of the regime in their manipulation of the election will of the citizens, the Association stated that all journalists were obliged to seek the truth however damaging to the authorities.

DIRECTOR THREATENS JOURNALISTS

VELIKA PLANA, September 28 2000 - Editor-in-Chief of Radio Velika Plana Jelica Pavlovic stated today that the director of the house, Zarko Paprikic, had threatened the radio's employees with suspension if they failed to stop publishing information about the electoral victory of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. Pavlovic told Beta that Director Paprikic was away on business, but had ordered the employees of Radio Velika Plana by phone to immediately stop reporting on the rallies in Velika Plana organised in protest at the second round of presidential elections and all information on the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. Pavlovic said that the radio station had previously been unable to broadcast any positive information about the opposition and that was why the director's threat of suspension had ensued.

RADICALS CALL FOR REPEAL OF PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT

BELGRADE, September 29 2000 - The Serbian Radical Party today announced the launch of a number of initiatives in the Serbian Parliament, including the repeal of the notorious Public Information Act and a call for the replacement of Police Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic.

The party explains its demand for the repeal of the Public Information Act by saying that the act itself is sound but that it has not been consistently implemented.

Belgrade media today quote party leader Vojislav Seselj as saying that the Radicals sought the sacking of Stojiljkovic because the police had been turned to the service of one party during the elections. He also cited police failure to find those responsible for the traffic accident last year in which four Serbian Renewal Movement officials were killed in what was alleged to be an attempt to assassinate Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic.

The party has also tabled a Radio Television Serbia Bill, a Privatisation Bill and an Election of Representatives to the Serbian Parliament Bill, which demands that Serbia be treated as one election unit. There is also a Bill for the Ownership Transformation of the Politika Media Corporation.

The Radicals have also demanded that once a new Municipal Assembly is established in Belgrade, Studio B Radio and Television and the city's transport authority should be returned to the control of the city government.

RESIGNATIONS OVER BAN ON DOS STATEMENT REPORTS

ZAJECAR, September 29 2000 - The whole editorial staff of Radio Zajecar resigned yesterday when the radio was forbidden to broadcast statements made by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. The radio's journalists told Beta that the reason for their resignations was the instruction from Zajecar Mayor Dusan Pejcic that the radio ignore all DOS statements. One of the radio's employees said that the journalists and editors of Radio Zajecar had been disgusted for a long time over the orders and suggestions concerning the editorial policy of the news programme and warned that if the order from Dusan Pejcic was not revoked, the journalists and editors would consider the full termination of the programme.

VOJVODINA JOURNALISTS SUPPORT COLLEAGUES

NOVI SAD, September 29 2000 - The Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists yesterday expressed their support for their colleagues, journalists from the Hungarian-language department of Radio Television Novi Sad, who opposed the broadcast of 'tampered' reports on elections. The statement issued by the association said that such a stance was professional and that the truth about the election results could not be hidden forever. The Association urged other colleagues, not only those working in television houses, to act according to the ethical code of their profession and finally start broadcasting the truth about the elections, Beta reports.

B92 HIJACKERS MOVE OUT

BELGRADE, Thursday -- Radio B2-92 learnt unofficially yesterday that the hijacking management which seized control of the original Radio B92 in April last year has been moving equipment out of the premises over the last two days. One eyewitness told Radio B2-92 that two trucks had arrived outside Dom Omladine, which houses the premises, yesterday, and boxes of equipment had been carried down from the fifth and tenth floors in an operation which lasted several hours.

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