SĆF: Miloš Garić signed a false statement claiming that there are no legal obstacles to his candidacy for the REM Council.

The candidate for a member of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), Miloš Garić, until just over a month ago (April 17), was the state secretary at the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, while Dejan Ristić was at its helm.

With the arrival of Boris Bratina as minister, Garić remained in the Ministry as his advisor.

According to the Law on State Administration, the minister's advisor, at his request, performs various tasks for the minister – preparing proposals or opinions – in other words: he is the minister's right hand.

The Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation today expressed serious concern that Garić, if he becomes a member of the REM Council, would jeopardize the independence and autonomy of REM, which is prohibited by the Law on Electronic Media, reminding that he was nominated while still working for the executive branch.

Namely, according to the Law, a Council member cannot be a person whose actions and behavior jeopardize the reputation of the Regulator and its independence and autonomy.

The candidate's independence, as well as his future objectivity and impartiality in decision-making, if elected to the REM Council, is best illustrated by the data provided by the Foundation: Miloš Garić, as an "analyst," has spent more than 5,000 minutes (over 83 hours) since 2023 appearing on national television channels Pink, Hepi, Prva, and B92, as well as on Informer Television, which received a Belgrade license (which it has since relinquished).

All these television stations violate the laws and program elaborations under which they received their licenses, as well as the Code of Journalists of Serbia.

Garić Attempted to Dissolve the Company

Miloš Garić is the owner of the company Miloš Garić PR Garnets, whose primary activity is the production and broadcasting of TV programs. Just two weeks after taking office as state secretary, in September of last year, Garić put the company into suspension.

As revealed by the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, a few days ago, on May 21, he attempted to dissolve it. He was unsuccessful in this endeavor, as the Business Registers Agency (APR) rejected him due to incomplete documentation.

Namely, Garić cannot, as a candidate for the REM Council, simultaneously be the owner of a TV production company.

Despite this, claims the SĆF, the day before he attempted to dissolve the company, on May 20, Garić signed, under full criminal and material responsibility, that there are no legal impediments to his election as a member of the REM Council.

The SĆF refers to the Law on Electronic Media (Article 15, Paragraph 3), which states:

“A member of the REM Council cannot be a person who is an owner or shareholder of a media service provider (...) employed, a contracted person, or a person who has an interest in legal entities engaged in the production, distribution, or broadcasting of radio and television programs or related activities.”

Concealment of Key Information

Miloš Garić represented the Ministry of Information at a meeting regarding amendments to three key media laws – on public information and media, on electronic media, and on public services.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) announced that at that meeting, the Ministry (specifically Garić, who represented the Ministry) concealed that the Government of Serbia had already adopted the amendments discussed at the meeting three days prior.

The media community sharply criticizes the process of amending the media laws, in which Garić plays a significant role, due to a lack of transparency, concealing proposed amendments from the public, and even from members of the working groups that worked on them.

FROM MEGATREND TO STATE SECRETARY

Miloš Garić (born 1973 in Bor) graduated in journalism from Megatrend University, with an average grade of 6.83.

He is the owner of the TV production company Garnets.

He has also worked on the Kosovo Online portal, at the Koreni and Most television stations from Zvečan, and on the portal of the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad, and was the editor of the Beograd info program at Studio B from 2013 to 2014.

In the weekly Ekspres, owned by Goran Veselinović, a godfather of Aleksandar Vučić and an SNS official, he was the deputy editor-in-chief to Branko Miljuš during a time when Veselinović banned the publication of an interview with then Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Zorana Mihajlović, in late 2016.

UNS: Miloš Garić's Candidacy for the REM Council Must Be Rejected

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) demands that the Committee for Culture and Information of the Serbian Assembly reject the candidacy of Miloš Garić, an advisor in the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, for a member of the REM Council, because it is illegal for him to be the owner of a business engaged in the production of TV content.

In a statement yesterday from the "Slavko Ćuruvija" Foundation, and based on UNS's insight into the decision of the Business Registers Agency (APR) which was made and published yesterday, it is evident that this Agency rejected the registration application for the deletion of the entrepreneur Miloš Garić PR Production and Broadcasting of TV Programs GARNETS Belgrade from the register.

UNS reminds that the competition for members of the Council closed on May 23 and that one of the conditions is that the candidate must sign a declaration under full criminal and material responsibility that there are no legal impediments to being elected as a member of the REM Council.

According to Article 15, Paragraph 3 of the Law on Electronic Media, a person who is an owner or a member of the governing and other bodies, employed, contracted, or a person who has an interest in legal entities engaged in the production, distribution, or broadcasting of radio and television programs or related activities cannot be a member of the REM Council.