News

After the debate between the ruling party and the opposition at the meeting of the Culture and Information Committee of the Assembly of Serbia, the report on the list of candidates and nominators for members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) was adopted, without the opposition members. June 5 was set as the deadline for the 11 candidates and seven organizations to complete their documentation.

The announced amendments to media laws will primarily threaten investigative journalists who report on organized crime and criminal proceedings, and may lead to an increase in the number of lawsuits that journalists are already overwhelmed with, according to representatives of journalistic associations and members of the working group interviewed by KRIK. Changes to one provision of the Law on Public Information and Media will significantly restrict the information that journalists will be allowed to publish about investigations and court proceedings, they believe.

The director of Citizens' Initiatives, Maja Stojanović, stated today that the new process for selecting members of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) is more problematic than the previous one, adding that some of the proposed candidates have no work experience in electronic media and have very questionable biographies.

A meeting of the Culture and Information Committee is scheduled for today at 2 PM, during which proposals for candidates for members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) Council will be discussed.

The situation is somewhat paradoxical - the adoption of amendments to three media laws, which are arriving in parliament, is expected to fulfill an important condition for opening Cluster 3 in Serbia's negotiations with the European Union. However, this could simultaneously limit freedom of expression, which is one of the important foundations of the Union. Media experts are warning about this, presenting a number of shortcomings outlined in the new legislative proposals.

The elections for the REM Council are reminiscent of the previous competition, which ended with seven independent candidates withdrawing due to very serious shortcomings in the entire process, says FDU professor Ana Martinoli. She adds that we are still very far from having a REM in practice as envisioned by the law.

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) calls on the members of the Committee for Culture and Information of the National Assembly of Serbia to make fair and impartial decisions regarding the proposed candidates for members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) at tomorrow's session, strictly adhering to the Law on Electronic Media.

The Parliamentary Committee should reject the candidacies of Žarko Simović and Stevica Smederevac for the REM Council, as they have been working in REM for years and are complicit in its illegal activities, concluded the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation.

The network of professors, associates, researchers, and other employees at the University of Novi Sad and other higher education institutions in Vojvodina, "Slobodan University," has announced its strong opposition to the manner in which their university has been involved in the process of proposing members of the REM Council, as well as to the candidates that have emerged from that process.