18. 09. 2003

Preliminary criminal proceedings against Kurir

BELGRAADE, September 18, 2003 – The editor in chief of weekly Kurir has been interrogated in the First Municipal Court as the first stage of criminal proceedings launched over the article “Rotten government” which analyses and agreement on the Mobtel mobile telecommunications company between Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic and BK owner Bogoljub Karic. The paper writes that editor Djoko Kesic insisted on saying for the record that the prosecution was clear pressure on the media, that the prosecution is the long arm of the government and that it acts only the orders of the government. The investigating judge warned Kesic that, as editor in chief of a newspaper, together with his deputy Svetomir Marjanovic and the author of the article, he could be charged with libel of Serbian state bodies, a crime which carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment. The contentious article was published on September 15.