11. 05. 2004

Orlic defends journalists

BELGRADE, May 11, 2004 – The Ministerial Council for Information insists on thorough investigation of attacks on journalists, the council’s director, Slobodan Orlic, said today. Orlic told media that the increasing number of conflicts and attacks involving journalists on assignment points to the need to urgently adopt the Freedom of Information Act and other legislation designed to guarantee the right of journalists to work independently and free from political and other pressures. It is essential, he said, for the institutions of the state to provide urgently a legal framework which conforms to Europeans standards for the development and advancement of free, professional and independent journalism in Serbia and Montenegro. Orlic was optimistic that the transformation of state-run electronic media into public broadcasting services would ensure the development of democracy and the awareness of human rights, particularly the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the media.