ATTEMPTED LEGAL MURDER OF THE "BORBA" NEWSPAPER

AIM, Belgrade, November 15, 1994

The State and the Independent Media

Will Slobodan Milosevic manage to silence the only independent political daily newspaper in Serbia? After removing the editorial team in Radio and TV "Politika" which from being tolerant to the opposition turned into unmistakebly pro-regime, and after financially destabilizing Independent Television Studio B, the main opponent of state television, now the Belgrade daily "Borba" found itself at the target of the authorities, which was disliked by Milosevic's regime from the very beginning for its independent critical stance.

On November 8 this year, the Economy Court in Belgrade proclaimed the share-holding company "Borba DD" which publishes the "Borba" newspaper - non-existant, that is, its entry in the Court Register - which took place exactly three years ago - null and void. This was preceded by a complaint of the Federal Public Attorney in the name of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. the Assembly of the FRY) concerning the validity of a legal document signed on September 5, 1991 which the state representative received from the Court only after three years, one month and twelve days (on October 17, 1994) and, formally, learnt about its foundation just then. Such legal "ignorance" did not prevent the state representative, as the owner of 17 per cent of the shares, to participate regularly in the work of the Management Board and the Assembly of share-holders of the "Borba DD". This share-holder (i.e. its representative) even often demanded that a debate be opened about the editorial policy of the daily "Borba" - last time he did it only last month, just before the state "coup" at the "Borba".

The editorial staff accuses the state that it wants to delete the "Borba" from the Court Register, and after that from the face of the world. In a dramatic commentary published on its front page, on the very day when, instead to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its publication after the latest world war and its professional accomplishments which rank it at the very top of Serbian and Yugoslav journalism, it has to worry whether it will survive at all, the editorial collegiate body tried to explain what the state did not like about the editorial policy of the "Borba". If it were not for the "Borba", the people in Serbia and Montenegro might have really believed that the whole world hates the Serbs, that the sanctions are everybody else's fault, but that the authorities are not to be blamed for anything, that the dinar is more powerful than the German mark... "Maybe everybody would claim that the war which we did not wage until August 4 was just, and that since August 4, only peace is just", the commentary states.

The Management Board of the "Borba DD" appealed against the decision of the Court, expressing wonder that the Federal Government, after so many years, learnt just now that the share-holding company in the foundation and operation of which it participated - does not exist. After the news about the events concerning the "Borba" was publicized, more than 50 lawyers from various parts of the country contacted the daily, ready to defend against the increasingly arrogant and despotic authorities, as stressed in their reactions, the freedom of speech and thought, independent journalism, i.e. the right to mental health of its readers.

One of the "Borba"'s lawyers and its former Acting Director, Branimir Tapuskovic, however, doubts the possibility of winning a legal suit with the state in present-day Serbia merely by force of legal arguments. This specific suit will be difficult to win for specific reasons,too. The complaint of the state based on the thesis that the signatory of the Contract on Foundation of the "Borba DD", the former Secretariat of Information, was not authorized to do so at the time in the name of the Federal Assembly, does not permit public court proceedings and a legal discussion before a tribunal. We are dealing with a true legal pirouette - lawyer Tapuskovic emphasizes. Namely, the Economy Court which once registered the "Borba DD", failed to publish the decision in the "Official Gazette" although it is obliged to do so by law, so now the state is acting as if the "Borba DD" still does not legally exist and as if it can use its right to appeal within eight days from the day it learnt that there was an intention to found such a company. The decision of the Higher Economy Court, that is, of one of its judges, will, therefore, be made behind the back of the public, based on documents only, with no possibility of the damaged party to state legal arguments in its favour. I am afraid, lawyer Tapuskovic stresses, that the choice of the state of such a legal approach, despite obvious lack of logic, speaks of the resoluteness of the state to liquidate the "Borba".

At the press conference organized on the occasion of the appeal of the Management Board of the "Borba DD" concerning the decision of the Economy Court of the first instance, lawyer Tapuskovic stated his acting director's experiences in dealing with the representatives of the state.

• A year ago already, the state tried to conquer "Borba" from within, by negotiating with the major share-holdres to buy the majority package of the shares. Since these negotiations did not succeed, the former federal minister of information, Slobodan Ignjatovic, threatened - if a satisfactory solution were not found, we will be forced to act from the positions of force. There you are, this is what their acting from the positions of force. Liquidation of the "Borba" is what they wish to achieve by manipulating with legal procedures, Tapuskovic says.

According to the words of Gordana Logar, the Editor-in -Chief of the newspaper, the latest state "coup" at the "Borba" is a staged political process, aimed against "Borba"'s independent editorial policy and its promoting professional standards of journalism. The "Borba" was against the war from its very beginning, but when Milosevic's regime suddenly became peace-loving, despite the interruption of communications with the Serbs from Bosnia, the "Borba" continued to report about the events from the other side of the Drina, reacting professionally and objectively. But, the information which are not in accordance with the political orientation of the authorities in Serbia are not welcome.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Branislav Milosevic, assesses the attack on the "Borba" as part of a broader frontal attack on the independent media in Serbia. After the shift of state policy from war to peace - and as the result of that, after Milosevic was accepted in the world as a respected negotiator, he bahaves as if he has received a "carte blanche" from the world to arrange things within the country according solely to his desires, Branislav Milosevic stresses. While the independent media were used by the regime as evidence that it is democratic, so he had to endure them - for the sake of the world, nowadays, even though economically pushed aside, with small circulations and little influence, he does not need them even for that reason any more.

Jovanka Matic