ANEM WEEKLY MEDIA UPDATE

AUGUST 18 - AUGUST 24, 2001

• SUSA SUES RADIO TELEVISION OF SERBIA

BELGRADE, August 18, 2001 Journalist Gordana Susa brought a criminal charge against Radio Television of Serbia, in which she had asked the court to annul its Board of Directors' July 23 decision not to make their choice among the candidates who had already applied for the position of RTS News Programmes editor-in-chief but rather to announce a new competition.

Susa said that RTS Board of Directors' decision was not legal, because it did not contain any explanation, and also because the fact that the decision had been signed by RTS general director Aleksandar Crkvenjakov, instead of the president of the Board of Directors, as the Statute of Radio Television of Serbia requires. (FoNet)

• BLIC NEWS MAGAZINE EDITOR RESIGNS

BELGRADE, August 18, 2001 - Blic News magazine editor Dragan Novakovic resigned his position yesterday, accusing the weekly of a repressive lowest common denominator editorial policy.

Novakovic blamed editor-in-chief Momcilo Petrovic for promoting the idea that "the more sex and naked women and the more attacks on the Serbian government, the better."

He added that the first big investigative article in the magazine was stopped after the Yugoslav president's office intervened, because, he said, it was "undesirable to write about certain people in politics and the economy, especially about those at the top of the profiteers' list."

Petrovic responded by calling Novakovic's claims unsubstantiated, saying Novakovic had used his objections to write his own letter of recommendation for his new employer, the Serbian government Bureau of Information.

Petrovic added he gave Novakovic his consent for Novakovic's breach of contract with Blic News magazine.

He alleged that Novakovic was dissatisfied with Blic News magazine because Serbian government Bureau of Information chief Vladimir Popovic's attempt to exert his influence on the magazine's work through Novakovic had failed. (Beta)

• RADIO BOOM 93 REGAINS CONFISCATED EQUIPMENT

BELGRADE, August 21, 2001 On August 20, after seventeen months, the Federal Telecommunications Ministry returned broadcasting equipment taken away from Pozarevac-based Radio Boom 93.

Radio Boom 93 was founded on August 26, 1992, and has been prevented from broadcasting for a total of twenty-five months.

The radio station was last banned on March 8, 2000, when inspectors escorted by police took the broadcasting equipment that was installed in the studio.

Under the pretext that they intended to take away the Radio’s transmitter, the inspectors took the owner’s father to the Pozarevac police station for interrogation.

After the interrogation that lasted for an hour about the transmitter’s location, which the inspectors hadn’t been able to find, he was released.

Since they couldn’t locate and take away the transmitter, the inspectors sealed the antennae system.

Radio Boom 93 started broadcasting again after October 5 last year.

• TAX ON UNSOLD ISSUES ABOLISHED

BELGRADE, August 21, 2001 - In cooperation with legal authorities and press representatives, the Serbian government has abolished the turnover tax on remits, issues printed but not sold.

The Serbian government will introduce uniform documentation for counting and dealing with the precise number of unsold copies, daily Vecernje novosti reported.

Thus, the tax on remits, introduced at the beginning of 2000, has been repealed.

• NOVI SAD DNEVNIK REPORTER ASSAULTED

NOVI SAD, August 24, 2001 ­Novi Sad-based daily Dnevnik journalist Milorad Vujacic was beaten while working on assignment in Srbobran, the newspaper reported.

Falsely convinced that Vujacic was taking photos of his house, Milan Brankov injured Vujacic’s fingers and forearm, took his mobile phone by force, and attempted to destroy his camera.

Brankov forced Vujacic off his property and continued to harass him. Police intervened after Brankov's wife called them to stop the fight, the newspaper reported.

“I came to Srbobran to make a report on the case in which a brother cut off his sister’s ear, and I did not take any photograph of Milan Brankov's house,” Vujacic said.

Vujacic also works for Belgrade-based weekly Nedeljni Telegraf.

• MEDIA HOUSE TELEPHONE CUT OFF FOR NON-PAYMENT

BOR, August 24, 2001 Serbia's state-run telephone company cut off but one phone line at the state-run media house Stampa radio i film yesterday at 1 p.m. due to unpaid bills.

The only remaining line was that of the acting editor-in-chief of Radio Bor, Milutin Antic.

Antic told press that there was not a single working phone line in the television station, advertising department, newspaper’s editing committee offices, or in the bookkeeping offices.

Antic tried to meet yesterday with Radio Television Bor Miodrag Guskovic to find out whether the contractual obligations were being respected, according to which the Public Company Stampa, radio i film was entitled to getting financial means for their professional activities.

Antic could not meet with Guskovic because Guskovic spent the day in meetings.

• BK TELEKOM’S BANK ACCOUNT FROZEN

BELGRADE, August 24, 2001 ­Belgrade-based company BK Telekom confirmed that their bank account was frozen after the Koka hibro komerc company took legal action to collect alleged unpaid debts.

Koka hibro komerc owner Jovica Aleksic told press the court froze all the bank accounts of BK Telekom, pending legal review of the case. Aleksic charges that BK Telekom owes his chicken breeding firm 12 million Deutschmarks.

The August 15 ruling of the Supreme Court for Business froze all BK Telekom's current accounts, including foreign currency accounts.

source: ANEM
published by: Roland Brunner rbr@medienhilfe.ch date of release on this site: 01-09-2001

go to top

P.O. Box, CH-8031 Zürich, Switzerland
Phone +41-1-272 46 37,  Fax +41-1-272 46 82, email: info@MEDIENHILFE.ch