26. 09. 2006

CHARGES TO BE PRESSED REGARDING MLADIĆ POSTER

BELGRADE, September 26, 2006. (B92) - According to sources, charges will be pressed against daily Glas Javnosti for publishing a poster of Ratko Mladić. According to B92's sources, coordinators of the Action Plan for arresting Mladić, Rasim Ljajić and Vladimir Vukčević, will submit a demand for charges to be pressed against Glas Javnosti for the poster of the Hague fugitive it published in yesterday’s edition. The daily will be charged for infringing on a legal decision made by the state institutions. The Belgrade Municipal Public Prosecutor will make a decision on the demand submitted by the action plan’s coordinators. The punishment for this crime can lead to in between six months and five years in prison. Rasim Ljajić told B92 that the publishing of the poster caused great political damage because he and Vukčević spent all of yesterday explaining to international officials the current position of Serbia. “We had to convince the world again of our honest intentions for fulfilling obligations to the Hague Tribunal. We are now being tested, we are taking an exam to see whether we want Mladić to be located, arrested and extradited. The state institutions need to react to the publishing of Mladić’s poster in the daily paper as soon as possible.” Ljajić said. He called on the media to show a minimum amount of responsibility and condemn Glas Javnosti’s action as a misuse of the media, and not praise it as an action of free press. Journalist Filip Švarm told B92 that the move of the Glas Javnosti editorial staff was not a wise one. “That was not an intelligent gesture in the least. I think it is an attempt at sensationalism, to try and make money and pick up readers in that way. I do not think it was a wise move.” Švarm said. Glas Javnosti gives statement The Glas Javnosti staff published its first statement after yesterday’s incident. The publication stated that they did not wish to disturb and unnerve the public, and especially had no intentions of showing support for someone’s crimes. “It is strange that no one who reacted to the publishing of the photograph thought that we may have wanted to help the state institutions identify and find the person who is currently hiding.” Glas Javnosti stated in a small insert which appeared in today’s issue. The poster published in Glas Javnosti yesterday showed a picture of a man holding a Mladić poster while Serbian Military officers walk by the poster and appeared to be saluting the picture of the Hague fugitive.