23. 10. 2008

ANEM AND NUNS SUPPORT THE REQUEST BY LOKAL PRESS REGARDING THE COURT JUDGMENT AGAINST THE NEWSPAPER ‘’SVETLOST’’

Belgrade, Serbia, October 23rd, 2008, - Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS) support the request submitted by the Association of Independent Local Media "Lokal Press" to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia regarding the recent judgment of first instance by the District Court in Kragujevac against the newspaper "Svetlost".

In the beginning of October, "Svetlost" was sentenced to pay damage of 600,000 dinars to the judge Simonida Miloradovic. This decision was prompted by a letter from a reader, Miroslav Simonovic from Kragujevac, published by "Svetlost" without any editorial comments in September 2007, which was critical of the Kragujevac judiciary and the judge Miloradovic, among others.

Our recent regulatory and judicial practice with regard to media content related to the judiciary is a reason for serious concern. The Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms states that preservation of the authority and impartiality of the judiciary may serve as a legitimate basis for limitation of the freedom of expression, but only if other conditions are met, as defined by the Convention.

ANEM and NUNS remind that the Republic Broadcasting Agency has published last year its General Mandatory Guidelines on Conduct of Broadcasters, which contains the strict prohibition of interviewing perpetrators during investigation (which is logically contrary to the assumption of innocence), prohibition of broadcasting of recordings or material officially designated as secret as well as recordings or material acquired in an illegal way by individuals or the state administration, without taking into account that all these provisions may be contrary to the public interest. The General Mandatory Guidelines also contain the strict prohibition of publishing of content of minutes of the court in criminal proceedings, which again completely disregards the public interest.

It is especially concerning that in the case of "Svetlost" from Kragujevac, in the first instance proceedings against the newspaper, the court decision was made by the District Court in Kragujevac, which is the same court where the judge Simonida Miloradovic is employed, and that the Supreme Court of Serbia has rejected the proposal submitted by "Svetlost" to forward the case to another court in the interest of preserving the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

The situation where proceedings and cases related to texts critical of the work of individual judges and courts, which were initiated by judges themselves, including claims for damages, are decided by precisely those courts which were criticized, diminishes the authority of judiciary on one side, since it jeopardizes its impartiality, and on the other side represents a serious impediment to freedom of expression, since it logically leads to self-censorship and reluctance of the media to report on the activities of the judiciary in general.

ANEM Chairman, Saša Mirković
NUNS President, Nadežda Gaće