12. 09. 2008

ANEM CONDEMNS PRESSURES ON BETA EDITORIAL POLICY AND VIOLATION OF MEDIA FREEDOMS IN SERBIA

Belgrade, September 12, 2008 – Association of Independent Electronic MediaANEM condemns continuous and perpetual pressures on the News Agency Beta editorial policy that constitutes a violation of media freedoms in Serbia.

During the protests by supporters of Radovan Karadzic, the Hague indictee, and of the “Obraz” and “1389” organizations, held in Belgrade, the protestors entered uninvited into the Beta News Agency premises on several occasions demanding that their official statements be published by that media agency.  On those occasions, members of these organizations left their messages that read that the Beta News Agency was a “yellow News Agency” and also that it contributed to “media darkness” in Serbia. Moreover, the members of these organizations took pictures of and filmed the Beta premises and its journalists. Such unauthorized entering into the Beta premises by the protestors have continued for two weeks now, and intimidation of journalists is gradually becoming intensified.

Although there were no incidents during the unannounced entries of the protestors, such behaviour is a form of harassment and intimidation of journalists’ work on supplying information to the general public, which is outrageous and punishable under the Serbian law. Even anonymous threats present a form of prevention of media reporting and a form of jeopardizing of journalists’ safety. These media violations are even more obvious in the case if such an activity was done publicly and with a clear message, and on the occasion when Beta journalists and their premises were photographed in such a way to clearly identify perpetrators.

ANEM demands that the relevant state institutions protect Beta News Agency journalists and premises and that all activities devised to prevent and keep journalists from their primary task to provide information be banned, together with all further activities that jeopardize journalists’ personal safety and safety of their working premises. ANEM demands that the relevant institutions decisively undertake all legally available measures against the perpetrators of such activities that have clearly been aimed at jeopardizing and violating the media freedoms. 

ANEM Chairman
Sasa Mirkovic