Response of the Independent Journalists' Association to the Committee for Culture and Information: Six proposed candidates do not meet the criteria for members of the REM Council.

UNS stated that the proposed candidates suggested by churches and religious communities do not meet the requirements: Sumeja Smailagić, Dr. Mevlud Dudić, and Snežana Miljković.

Sumeja Smailagić, as noted in her biography, has nine years of work experience. The proposed candidates, as stipulated by the Law on Public Information and Media, can be experts who "have at least ten years of experience in the electronic media business or are engaged in the media market and other activities in the field of electronic media in professional domestic and international organizations, particularly: lawyers, political scientists, communication specialists, sociologists." UNS has previously pointed this out in its comments.

Neither Dr. Mevlud Dudić nor Snežana Miljković meet the conditions set out in Article 10 of the Law on Electronic Media. Dr. Mevlud Dudić, as noted by UNS, teaches courses Da'wa 1 and Da'wa 2 at the Faculty of Islamic Studies (FIS), which have exclusively religious content and do not pertain to media or communication studies.

Regarding the candidates proposed by national councils of national minorities, UNS emphasized that Ljumturije Ameti and Muhedin Fijuljanin do not meet the candidacy requirements.

Ljumturije Ameti, judging by UNS's comments, does not fit the description of candidates based on her education and the job she has performed, considering that she graduated from a three-year Higher School of Business Economics and Entrepreneurship.

According to his previous work experience, UNS pointed out that Muhedin Fijuljanin also does not meet the requirements. UNS added that his biography does not state that he was appointed acting director of the Educational-Scientific Center "Pešter" by the decision of the Government of Serbia on October 1, 2020. An additional obstacle, according to UNS's comments, is the measure imposed on him by the Anti-Corruption Agency in 2014.

On the list of candidates proposed by associations of electronic media publishers in the Republic of Serbia, UNS noted that Miloš Garić also does not meet the requirements, given that he does not have ten years of experience in electronic media.

Furthermore, in the biography submitted by Garić during the application process, it states that from 2010 to 2013 he completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Culture and Media at Megatrend, although those studies last four years. On the other hand, the official website of the Government of Serbia stated during his appointment as State Secretary that he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade, which is another contradiction.

Candidates for members of the REM Council are required to submit a statement to the authorized proposer affirming that there are no impediments related to Article 15, paragraph 1 of the Law on Electronic Media, which stipulates, among other things, that a person who "holds a public office in the Republic of Serbia, an autonomous province, or a local government unit" cannot be a member of the REM Council.

In its comment, UNS stated that it maintains the position that deficiencies in this statement cannot be validated by the ministry’s opinion on a "supplementary statement" that candidates should submit once included on the candidate list, prior to their election.

“This undermines the very essence of Article 15, paragraph 2, and treats candidates unequally. The absence of impediments, even if assessed at the time of election, does not absolve the candidate of the fact that at the time of submitting the statement, they did not indicate that impediments existed nor committed to eliminating them,” the Association wrote to the Committee for Culture and Information.

In this way, UNS added, the candidate misled the authorized proposers, as well as the Committee for Culture and Information.

“A candidate for a member of the REM Council cannot and must not provide a statement with false content, nor can such a statement be rectified by a subsequent one that the Law on Electronic Media does not recognize or foresee,” UNS added.

The Committee has not yet submitted proposals from associations whose goals are the protection of children, the Protector of Citizens, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, and the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection.

Source: UNS.com