27. 09. 2002

Independent Media Facing Fresh Attacks

BELGRADE, September 27, 2002 -- The Association of Independent Electronic Media today objected publicly to the renewed exploitation of the judiciary in attempt to suppress the provision of full and objective information to the public. This was one of the most notorious control mechanisms of the Milosevic regime and has now reappeared in the service of the new authorities. In Kragujevac, on September 25 this year, Judge Zorica Djuric of the Municipal Court convicted and fined journalist Gordana Bozic in a libel case brought by Kragujevac Mayor Vlatko Rajkovic. The charges concerned an investigation by Bozic of the alarmingly frequent criminal charges laid against the directors of youth organisations for various shady dealings. She paid particular attention to cases involving youth organisations operated by political parties, a focus the local leaders obviously disapproved of. In addition to the renewed perversion of the judiciary, another Milosevic regime phenomenon, the closure and banning of local independent broadcasters, has also been resumed. The municipal authorities in the South Serbian city of Pirot have announced they will dismiss the current affairs editors of local broadcaster RTV Pirot, and the authorities in nearby Kursumlija have also attempted to bar TV Kursumlija from using its transmission facilities. Such pressure on media by both the courts and the local authorities is inadmissible. Against this background there has emerged an orchestrated attack on the Association of Independent Electronic Media, and in particular on its flagship, RTV B92. For the past few days, Belgrade’s TV Pink, a protégé of the Milosevic regime which has continued to enjoy a privileged position under the new authorities, has repeatedly quoted a series of lies and half-truths about B92. These originated in reports published by weekly Publika in Podgorica, and are an attempt to imply that underhand practices have been involved in the ongoing privatisation of the company. Now B92 has received a summons to appear in the Municipal Court in Smederevska Palanka on libel charges brought by local mayor Radislav Ljubisavljevic. Ljubisavljevic is seeking two million dinars in compensation for “mental anguish and damage to his reputation” allegedly caused by publication of a statement by local Democratic Alternative official Dejan Crnomarkovic. In his statement, Crnomarkovic revealed the fact that Ljubisavljevic had been sentenced to two years’ probation in 1994, and has also been charged with the crimes of forgery and abuse of authority. At no point has Ljubisavljevic denied this information, indicating that it is the truth to which he is objecting and which has caused him mental anguish and loss of reputation. Even more significantly, the libel complaint was not made until more than four months after publication, during which time no approach was made to B92 for a retraction of the information. This indicates that the attack is a cynical exploitation of legitimate reporting in order to launch an attack on the broadcaster. RTV B92’s most valued asset is its reputation as a professional provider of objective information. In the face of a campaign such as that now being waged by the authorities, the company’s only defence is to continue providing objective information to the public, as it has always done. This includes not concealing any information which it is in the public’s interest to know. RTV B92 has survived banning, illegal takeover, the jailing of its editor in chief, the theft of its property and sustained denunciation by the authorities. Other broadcasters in the ANEM network have also been persecuted with bannings, jailings and closures. At this time when the new authorities appear to be preparing to exert a Milosevic-like grip on the public provision of information, the Association calls on journalists, media, professional associations and the democratic public for solidarity. This is essential to defend the principles of freedom of information and the independence and professionalism of journalists and media, said ANEM in its statement.