RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

(Un)Civil Societies Vol. 1, No. 2, 25 May 2000

>EXCERPT ON FRY ONLY SELECTED BY MEDIENHILFE EX-JUGOSLAWIEN

"Freedom of information is ... the touchstone of all the freedoms." (UN Freedom of Information Conference, 1948)

CROATIA

CROATIAN COURT VOIDS TUDJMAN-ERA LIBEL LAW.

The Constitutional Court ruled on 10 May that an article added in 1996 to the criminal code to prosecute opponents of then-President Franjo Tudjman is unconstitutional. The measure required district attorneys to prosecute journalists and others suspected of libeling the president, the speaker of parliament, the prime minister, or the chief justices of the Supreme and Constitutional courts. The court ruled that the article violates the constitutional guarantee of the equality of all citizens before the law because it establishes a special legal status for five individuals. This is what the opposition has been saying for four years. In practice, the measure's bark proved worse that its bite. Two journalists were acquitted after being prosecuted for an article comparing Tudjman to the former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. A third case is still being tried, but presumably not for long. Under the new ruling, top officials--like everyone else--will personally have to institute legal proceedings if they feel they were slandered. ("RFE/RL Balkan Report," 16 May). Under the same ruling, the Constitutional Court rescinded a penal code article which stipulated criminal sanctions against those found guilty of statements or actions against the honor and reputation of the five high government officials. (Hina, 10 May)

MONTENEGRO

MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT PROMISES AID TO SERBIAN INDEPENDENT MEDIA.

Speaking in Brussels on 17 May, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said his country "will continue to provide all possible assistance to the democratic forces in Serbia...for instance, with our satellite TV program." ("RFE/RL Newsline," 18 May)

SERBIA

MILOSEVIC'S LATEST CRACKDOWN.

The regime of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has struck a major blow against the opposition media. The outcome may be a full- blown dictatorship. But it could well be the beginning of the end for Milosevic.

In the early hours of 17 May, masked Serbian police occupied the Belgrade offices of opposition Studio B TV and Radio, Radio B2-92, Radio Index, and the mass-circulation daily "Blic." Studio B now broadcasts regime news programs, while B2-92 has gone over to a mainly music diet.

Dragan Kojadinovic, the former director of the opposition Studio B TV, which is run by Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service that the takeover is "state-organized robbery, without any legal basis, without any justification...They took over all our premises, a few hundred plainclothes policemen. [Our] security people at the scene say they literally brought busloads of police, who entered the building and broke into our offices...Their aim is to completely eliminate all programs of Studio B. They neutralized Radio B2-92...they are not letting our colleagues from "Blic" enter their offices" in the same complex. As for the SPO, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" argued that the government takeover of Studio B is a "direct challenge" to Draskovic. Veran Matic, who heads the Association of Private Electronic Media Organizations (ANEM), told RFE/RL's South Slavic Service: "This is a complete prohibition of elementary freedom of speech in Serbia. These media outlets were, after all, the heart of our information sphere in Serbia today. The media landscape in Serbia will be permanently fragmented and damaged in the future if we don't start working again" and undo the damage.

The deputy mayor of Belgrade, Milan Bozic (SPO), who is also a member of Studio B's board of directors, told AP that the "regime has made a move with unforeseeable consequences. Whether this is the beginning of the regime's suicide or just a miscalculation, the next few days will show." Opposition Alliance for Change leader Vladan Batic stressed that the government "has imposed an informal state of emergency. This indicates the introduction of a state of [martial law]."

Goran Svilanovic, who heads the Civic Alliance, told Reuters on 18 May that the opposition plans to hold daily protests in several cities and towns. At least dozens of protesters were injured in clashes with police in Belgrade the previous evening when up to 30,000 people turned out in support of the opposition media. Matters came to a head when buoyant fans of the Crvena Zvezda soccer team sought to join the protest and clashed with the police. A declaration read out at the rally concluded that "this is the beginning of the end of the dictatorship" of Milosevic. Svilanovic argued that Milosevic is trying to "turn Serbia into a Cuba in the middle of Europe." Elsewhere, the authorities shut down Radio Pancevo on 17 May while it was broadcasting coverage of the Belgrade protest.

Reaction from abroad to the media clampdown came quickly. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington on 17 May that Milosevic's latest actions "smack of desperate Bolshevik-style oppression." Boucher added that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will raise the possibility of unspecified "joint action" at a conference of NATO foreign ministers in Italy slated for late May. In Vienna, OSCE Chair Benito Ferrero-Waldner and Media Representative Freimut Duve also condemned the moves against the non-state media. In Brussels, EU Commissioner Chris Patten said that he "deplores this cowardly crackdown on the independent Serbian media... carried out under cover of darkness by Milosevic's henchmen...Milosevic will ultimately lose this battle." Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic called the clampdown an act of weakness, adding that Montenegro will not be intimidated by any of Milosevic's pressure tactics.

And what did the authorities have to say for themselves? Prior to the nighttime raid, Serbian Deputy Prime Ministers Vojislav Seslj and Mikovan Bojic signed a decree in which they said that the authorities have taken control of Studio B because it has allegedly "frequently called for the toppling of the constitutional order and for rebellion against a legally elected government." It is not clear whether the decree also referred to the other opposition media outlets located in the same office complex as Studio B. Perhaps more importantly, it is not clear if additional non-state media (besides Radio Pancevo) will also feel the wrath of the authorities.

The latest moves were prepared well in advance. On 16 May, the Borba publishing house, which is close to the regime, refused to print "Blic," "Danas" reported. The Forum and Glas publishing house printed "Blic" instead. Democratic Alternative leader Nobojsa Covic said that the regime is preparing to declare a state of emergency by branding its opponents "fascists" and "traitors" in the wake of a mysterious killing in Novy Sad. ("RFE/RL Balkan Report," 19 May)

SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH APPEALS FOR CALM.

The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church said in a statement in Belgrade on 18 May that state authorities should "immediately stop the violent shutting down of non-state media centers, " RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 19 May)

SERBIAN POLICE CHARGE PROTESTERS.

Police wielding truncheons and firing tear gas charged some of the 10,000 mainly young demonstrators who had gathered in Belgrade to protest the regime's latest action against the non-state media. The police attacked after the rally had ended and protesters broke up into smaller groups, the BBC's Serbian Service reported. At least 17 demonstrators and four police were hospitalized. News agencies report numerous cases of demonstrators with blood streaming down their faces and young women bruised by batons. The Interior Ministry has not announced how many people police detained during the crackdown, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 19 May. Several thousand people took part in protests the previous evening in Novy Sad, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, and in unspecified other towns, the private Beta news agency reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 19 May)

'BELGRADE WITHOUT EYES, EARS'--BUT B2-92 CAN STILL BE HEARD.

The weekly, "Nin," described the current electronic media scene in Belgrade on 19 May following the clampdown, as deaf and blind. Radio B2-92 is still available on the Internet: http://www.ituner.com/perl/display,pl?file=ituner/station.html&key=793 The staff of the daily "Blic" returned to their offices on 18 May, but police continue to bar employees of Studio B, Radio Index, and B2-92 from going back to their work places, Reuters reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 19 May)

REGIME IS IN 'PANIC' OR 'NEARING END?'

Some of the protesters chanted on 18 May: "Kill yourself Slobodan and save Serbia." This is an allusion to the fact that both parents of the Yugoslav president committed suicide and that his wife is believed to have tried to kill herself on more than one occasion. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 19 May). NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson said in Helsinki on 18 May that "this is the time for democratic change in Serbia. The Serbian people are not going to take these totalitarian tactics lying down--they are clearly speaking out for freedom. This crackdown on the press is an act of panic by somebody who is cornered...[It] is the classic way that tottering dictators seek to prop themselves up." ("RFE/RL Newsline," 19 May)

SERBIAN OPPOSITION WANTS DETAINEES FREED...

Some of Serbia's key opposition leaders told several thousand protesters in Belgrade on 21 May that the authorities must not continue to detain opposition supporters without charging them. Most detainees were freed after questioning. Under current legislation, police can detain people for 72 hours without filing charges. The authorities may soon implement a new law that would "create an informal state of emergency," "The New York Times" reported on 21 May. Under the new law, the police could detain people "on grounds of national security" for up to 60 days without filing charges. Police would be entitled to conduct searches without warrants." ("RFE/RL Newsline," 22 May)

...YET SERBIAN JOURNALIST REARRESTED FOR 'ESPIONAGE.' 

A military court in Nis on 22 May ordered the rearrest of Miroslav Filipovic for "espionage" and "spreading false information" because of several articles he wrote for "Danas," Agence France Presse, and the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). The espionage charge could carry a stiff penalty and centers on some of Filipovic's articles for IWPR. A military prosecutor asked the court to order Filipovic's return to detention from which he was freed on 12 May, Reuters reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 23 May)

OPPOSITION CALLS BELGRADE RALLY.

Leaders of several opposition parties appealed in a statement on 22 May to people throughout Serbia to attend a rally in Belgrade on 27 May. The meeting's slogan will be: "For Serbia, without terror and fear--for the freedom of Studio B and other media," AP reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 23 May)

DID KOSOVAR NEWSPAPER 'CONDEMN' SERB TO DEATH?

The local Albanian-language daily "Dita" recently published an article alleging that Serbian UN worker Petar Topoljski committed atrocities against Kosovars during the 1999 conflict. UN officials are investigating the possible role of the article in the recent murder of Topoljski. An unnamed international official told Reuters that printing such an article about a specific individual in Kosova is equivalent to "signing a death warrant" for that person. UN officials promised to increase security for their Serbian employees and expressed fears that some Serbs might quit their jobs and leave Kosova. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 18 May)

END NOTE

OSCE Press Release: Freimut Duve [OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media] Threatened by the Yugoslav Government

Vienna, 22 May 2000 -- Freimut Duve, the OSCE representative on Freedom of the Media, sent a letter to the foreign minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Zivadin Jovanovic, informing him of a letter by Federal Minister Goran Matic addressed to Duve and Aidan White, secretary-general of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). In that letter, Goran Matic makes serious threats against both the secretary-general of a leading media NGO and professional union (IFJ) and Freimut Duve, the Head of an OSCE institution. Duve and White are accused: 1. Of being "accomplices of [a] crime." They are seriously warned that they should "not forget that sooner or later justice will be served." 2. Of committing a "serious crime" by "withholding the truth." 3. Support for independent media is defined as "terrorism and a crime against a sovereign state." 4. They are warned in a direct way by a member of the government that "we have a long memory." Freimut Duve sees these threats as directly linked to the ongoing discussion in the Serbian Parliament of a severe anti-terrorist law that would nullify all legal bodies in the country and would give the government full authority to define all opposing voices, whether national or international, as "terrorist criminals." The OSCE representative asked Foreign Minister [Jovanovic] to inform him as soon as possible if he differed with the threats made by the [Yugoslav] cabinet minister [Matic.]

(Compiled by Catherine Cosman) Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

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