Members' Statement: REM has been formally and factually hijacked for political pressure and the discrediting of independent media.

In a statement signed by Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić, and Rodoljub Šabić, it is stated that the issue of alleged violations of the electoral silence by N1 and Nova Savet was neither discussed nor voted on.

“The Council meeting held on October 23 could not take place due to a lack of quorum, and the issue of the alleged violation of the electoral silence by N1 and Nova was not even proposed as an agenda item,” they noted.

They remind that the Law on Electronic Media is unequivocal, stating that the Council adopts acts and decisions within the scope of the Regulator.

“The professional service can monitor programs, establish facts, and prepare expert findings, but it cannot determine, without a decision from the Council, that a specific media service provider has violated the law, nor can it present such a conclusion to the public as a decision of the Regulator,” the members of the REM emphasize.

They add that, for this reason, the claim that ‘REM has determined’ or ‘REM has officially confirmed’ that N1 and Nova violated electoral silence is not accurate.

“It is particularly concerning that some pro-government media immediately began to disseminate this non-existent decision of the Council as a fact. Headlines such as ‘Official confirmation from REM: N1 and Nova S violated electoral silence’ and ‘REM officially confirmed’ were published, misleading the public into believing that the competent authority, REM, made a decision that was never made,” they state.

Thus, they say, it is no longer just a matter of questionable internal procedures within REM; rather, the false information regarding the existence of a Council decision has become part of a media campaign that, by invoking the authority of an independent regulator, discredits two media outlets just before the elections.

“The fact that a document of this nature was published in the name of an independent regulatory body without a decision from its Council, without the signature of a responsible person, and without information on who authorized its publication speaks to the complete capture of this institution by the authorities during the election campaign,” the statement reads.

Members of the REM Council therefore demand an immediate determination of who drafted and approved the publication of this statement in the name of REM, who authorized the Professional Service to address the television stations N1 and Nova in the manner described in the statement, based on which act of the Council the public was informed of the conclusion that there was a violation of the law, who is responsible for representing findings that the Council never considered as official decisions of the Regulator, and how the information presented as ‘official confirmation from REM’ reached the media before the Council had even decided on the matter.

They also emphasized that they demand that, until these facts are clarified, REM withdraw the contentious statement and publicly inform the media that the Council has not made a decision establishing that N1 and Nova violated the electoral silence.

They added that they expect the media that published that REM ‘determined’ or ‘officially confirmed’ the violation of electoral silence to correct this inaccurate information and clearly inform the public that such a decision of the REM Council does not exist.

They stress that the independence of the regulator implies that no one, including the president of the Council, the director, the Professional Service, or any other person, can assume the powers of the Council and speak on its behalf without a decision made in accordance with the legally prescribed procedure.

“The fact is that REM, of which we are hereby informing ODIHR and other foreign and domestic observers, was initially blocked by the actions of members close to the authorities, and that now, amidst the election campaign, it has been formally and factually taken over. The regulator that should protect the equality of participants in the electoral process has been turned into an instrument of the authorities for the production and distribution of politically suitable news and false ‘decisions’, bypassing all legally prescribed procedures,” they state.

They add that “this is no longer just a matter of obstructing the work of the regulator but an open takeover of its institutional function for political pressure and discrediting independent media, which constitutes a criminal offense for which responsibility must be established.”