ANEM WEEKLY MEDIA UPDATE

AUGUST 4, 2001 - AUGUST 10, 2001

• BK COMPANY WILL FILE "EXTRA PROFIT" INCOME TAX

BELGRADE, August 7, 2001 - The Karic Company, on the list of the taxpayers obligated to pay a lump tax for Milosevic-era "extra profit," will file their income tax returns within the legally prescribed time period to the Serbian Internal Revenue Service.

"BK will not fail to fulfil their obligation within the prescribed time period because they don't want to pay a fine with no reason," the BK Company Beta press liaison said.

The Karic brothers had used the legal sources of capital through the legal financial channels in the country, the press liaison added.

The press liaison said the Karic Company feels the Act on the Extra Profit and Extra Property Lump Tax is retroactive, and that no court could defend it, but did not say whether the BK Company would seek justice in court. (Beta)

• MILANOVIC REMAINS IN CUSTODY

BELGRADE, August 7, 2001 - The District Court in Belgrade decided to prolong custody for former Radio Television of Serbia director Dragoljub Milanovic at the suggestion of the District Public Prosecutor's Office on the grounds of his potential escape.

Milanovic is charged with committing a criminal act against the public security when NATO bombed the Radio Television of Serbia building on Abardareva Street during the night between April 23 and April 24, 1999, killing sixteen employees.

Milanovic has been in custody since February 13. He was released from jail by the decision of the Supreme Court of Serbia on April 23 this year, by coincidence exactly the same day as the bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia building.

However, at the beginning of June, the Supreme Court changed their previous ruling on the suspension of custody, and renewed the custody for Milanovic.

• LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST DAILY DAN BEGIN

PODGORICA, August 7, 2001 - Legal proceedings against the editor-in-chief and director of Podgorica-based daily Dan, Vladislav Asanin and Dusko Jovanovic, began today in Podgorica.

The two will stand trial to answer a charge brought by Belgrade businessman Stanko "Cane" Subotic.

Asanin and Jovanovic were sued because they re-published articles that from Croatian newspaper Nacional, in which Subotic was referred to as "the chief mafia boss in the Balkans".

Montenegrin president Milo Djukanovic also brought criminal charges against Jovanovic and Asanin, on similar grounds, because he was mentioned in the Nacional articles in connection with the tobacco trafficking in the Balkans.

• JOURNALIST FILES TO COLLECT FEE FROM IVAN MARKOVIC

PIROT, August 7, 2001 - The retired journalist and the former editor-in-chief of Radio Pirot, Najdan Djordjevic, brought criminal charges before the First Municipal Court in Belgrade against the Associated Radio Stations of Serbia on grounds that they did not pay his fee of 30,000 dinars.

Djordjevic is owed the money in compensation for his part-time engagement in their programmes between March 1998 and March 1999.

At the time, a high official from the Yugoslav Left, Ivan Markovic, was in the leading position of this business association, and twice did not appear in court after receiving the court summons.

The next court session is scheduled for October. (Tanjug)

• NUNS: "A LONG-TERM DISTRUST"

BELGRADE, August 7, 2001 - The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) issued an official statement responding to the cancellation of the competition for the position of editor-in-chief of the News Programmes of Television Beograd, saying that it was clear that a pressure had been exerted on Radio Television of Serbia general director Aleksandar Crkvenjakov not to send his proposals to the Radio Television of Serbia Board of Directors for their further consideration, although there had been certain candidates who met the required professional criteria.

"The members of the Board of Directors ought to have been faced with the responsibility of publicly stating their opinions and of voting … no matter what the results of their voting would be. … The Board of Directors, already restrained by the Statute, have been made even more impotent. This is the most appalling fact that resulted from this failure to make a choice, and not the annulment of the competition in itself. … We are afraid that this veto by the political parties was in fact an expression of distrust towards the very institution of the independent control over Radio Television of Serbia (and in this way towards applying the principle of the professional, editorial, and journalistic autonomy), and that this is the question of a long-term distrust. In any case, it is obvious that the past ten months have not been used for preparing Radio Television of Serbia to transform itself in essence," the statement said.

• RADIO BEOGRAD THIRD PROGRAMME NIXES OBRAD SAVIC

BELGRADE, August 8, 2001 - The editing committee of the Third Programme of Radio Beograd announced yesterday that they would not accept Obrad as their new editor-in-chief.

"Savic has falsely represented his professional competency in the material that he submitted for the competition," editing committee members wrote, adding they had also refused to accept Savic's proposal for the new programme concept.

"The present programme orientation of the Third Programme had been directed towards the superior highbrow theoretical and cultural values, and it had been made according to the paragon of the European broadcasting and their standards," editing committee members said.

Editing committee members threatened to go on strike if Savic were appointed editor-in-chief over their arguments.

• GORDANA SUSA RESPONDS TO CRKVENJAKOV

BELGRADE, August 8, 2001 - Gordana Susa responded to Radio Television of Serbia director Aleksandar Crkvenjakov's recent statement that the state-run television station had not forgotten that she had left the channel during "its most difficult moment" by claiming that Crkvenjakov's statement was an attempt to bring professional and moral discredit on her.

"Since you have shown your concern about the incompatibility between my work in the privately run sector and possibly in Radio Television of Serbia, I have to say that I would undoubtedly choose only one of the two positions. It would be good, since you have already poked into that matter, that you apply the same criterion in the cases of some of your employees who work with Radio Television of Serbia and receive their salaries there, and in the same time run their own private firms, and even have the contracts on the cooperation with the national Television," Susa wrote in a letter to Crkvenjakov.

• CRKVENJAKOV ON NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BELGRADE, August 8, 2001 - The new competition for the position of editor-in-chief of the News Programmes of the state-run Television will be announced sometime this month.

Radio Television of Serbia general director Aleksandar Crkvenjakov told Belgrade daily Blic that the date would be announced once the formalities of setting up the competition were complete.

When asked by Blic what he thought about the possible candidacy of Bojana Lekic for the position of editor-in-chief of the News Programmes, Crkvenjakov said:

"I think that this is a great idea, but I am not completely sure that Ms Lekic thinks the same. Well, let her apply for the position, and we shall see," the daily Blic reported.

• IAJRS PROTESTS DAVIDOVIC SACKING

BANJALUKA, August 8, 2001 - The Independent Association of Journalists of Republika Srpska (IAJRS) demanded yesterday that the Republika Srpska government reconsider its decision to dismiss Serbian news agency SRNA director Dragan Davidovic on grounds that the sacking was a political move.

The Independent Association of Journalists of Republika Srpska said that they were perplexed by the fact that the Republika Srpska government had adopted the report on the work of the news agency SRNA and that they had refused to accept the resignation of SRNA's director only five months before, while they were dismissing him at the moment.

"We think that this kind of dismissals jeopardise the freedom of information. They are making an attempt to put the journalists and the media organisations in Republika Srpska in service of certain political option," they wrote in their statement, signed by IAJRS president Goran Mihajlovic. (SRNA)

• DAILY DAN TRIED IN COURT

PODGORICA, August 8, 2001 - The legal procedure against the director and editor-in-chief of Podgorica-based daily Dan, Dusko Jovanovic and Darko Asanin, on grounds of a criminal charge brought by Belgrade businessman Stanko Subotic, was postponed until August 16, later this month.

The trial was postponed after Dan lawyer Lidija Bozovic raised an objection that her clients had been prevented from appearing in court, the assistant to Dan's editor-in-chief, Senko Cabarkapa, said.

• SKY TV AND CNN CONSIDER BUYING SERBIAN TV STATIONS

BELGRADE, August 9, 2001 - The draft Broadcasting Act contains some anti-monopolistic provisions to prevent situations where one man is a majority owner of several media organisations, Serbian deputy prime minister Zarko Korac said.

"That is very important, because if case were the reverse, we would find ourselves in the situation that one man can buy all the media organisations in Serbia, except for Radio Television of Serbia, which is to become a public service," Korac said.

He added that representatives of SKY TV and CNN had already been in Serbia, and that they had initiated certain negotiations.

Korac said he couldn't reveal whom they had negotiated with, but he added that the media organisations in question were some big TV organisations. (Beta)

• EXTRA PROFIT TAX "BENEVOLENCE" ENDS FRIDAY

BELGRADE, August 9, 2001 - The closing date for submitting applications and paying the lump tax on "extra profit" expired Wednesday at midnight.

Serbian Internal Revenue Service director and Committee for Criminal Business Transactions Investigation chair Aleksandar Radovic said that the tax collectors would be benevolent towards those who were late to file their income tax returns in time on Thursday, too.

Radovic said that many people had already filed their income tax returns, and that there were those who had already paid their fines to the state on the grounds of having been in the privileged positions during the previous regime.

He confirmed for Radio B92 that both the BK Company and Delta Holding, owned by Milorad Miskovic, had filed their income tax returns.

When asked whether there would be any tax deductions for those who had asserted that they had indebted the domestic civil engineering industry by finding the jobs in Russia, like the Karic brothers had asserted, Radovic abruptly replied that there would be no haggling or compensations.

• RTS NEPOTISM REDUX, GUZINA CLAIMS

BELGRADE, August 9, 2001 - Daily Danas ran a letter from Radio Television of Serbia editor and director Branislav Guzina today, reprinting an excerpt where she wrote:

"… I have to ask whether the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the state-run Television, Dejan Mijac, will clear up why during the competition for the editorial positions in Radio Television of Serbia he said, 'It will no longer be possible for the politicians to make phone calls and ask that their men be pushed through. That will still be possible now, for only one more time.' (Published in weekly NIN, on July 26) Can that Board of Directors, made up of the respectful people who are not members of the political parties, serve political parties such as the Democratic Party and Democratic Party of Serbia, only as an alibi in their official party statements full of empty advocating that Radio Television of Serbia become a public service, while they offer that same Board of Directors that say, 'Now, for only once more,' as a proof for what they are saying!? They have already positioned their players before entering this hot autumn of social protests, during which season there should be no surprises, and certainly not from Radio Television of Serbia. It only remains that the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia reach some kind of agreement concerning the suitable candidate for the position of the editor-in-chief of the News Programmes. Now, for only once more."

• RTS COMPETITION WILL BE REPEATED IN SEPTEMBER

BELGRADE, August 10, 2001 - The competition for unfilled management positions in Radio Television of Serbia will be repeated once again in September, RTS Board of Directors president Dejan Mijac said yesterday.

RTS will repeat the competitions for the position of editor-in-chief of the News Programmes for Television Beograd, the competitions for the positions of director and editor-in-chief of Television Novi Sad, the competitions for the positions for senior editors of the programmes of Radio Novi Sad in Serbian, and for the Second Programme of Radio Beograd, Mijac said.

Mijac said that there was one more day left candidates who had already applied for the competitions to lodge complaints, adding that he had no information whether somebody had already lodged a complaint with an authorised court against the decision of RTS Board of Directors to repeat the competition for certain leading positions in the state-run Television.

Responding to an announcement made by Gordana Susa, one of the candidates for the position of editor-in-chief of the News Programmes of Radio Television of Serbia, that she would lodge a complaint, Mijac tersely said there was no place for a complaint based solely on formalities.

If Susa does lodge a complaint, Mijac said he didn't think that that would prevent the process of repeating the competition. (Beta)

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