The Law Against the Press

New Rules in the Sphere of the Media

The new Law on media was received by the majority of the public as a sign that the regime is resolute to continue with narrowing constitutional rights and freedoms

AIM Belgrade, 22 October, 1998

On the day when Belgraders were observing the anniversary of liberation of their city, the parliament of Serbia passed the new Law on media which was received by the mahjority of the public as an open intention of the regime to narrow down the freedoms and rights of citizens. Under the pretext that it was necessary to introduce order among Serbian media as "the stronghold of the fifth columnists", just a few hours before the session, the republican parliament was offered a draft law which fundamentally affects thr freedom of information. Owners of media are on the one hand subject to high fines (up to 800 thousand dinars) if they publish untruthful information and, on the other, the procedure for starting new papers or other media is aggravated.

The Law prescribes that for star ting a media, it is necessary to file an application to the Ministry of informing, and only after it issues its approval (within 15 days), publication may begin. This provision is contrary to the Republican Constitution which does not prescribe any procedure for starting a newspaper. It is sufficient to register it. The new condition enables a state agency to rise above the constitutional provision and take the role of the arbitre who decides whether a new media will be founded or not.

The government in the role of the drafter, demanded that the Law be passed in an emergency procedure, without the preceeding public discussion and acquisition of opinions of lawyers, journalists, public opinion polls. Previous minister of informing, Radmila Milentijevic, who was not exactly the favourite of the journalists, had initiated such a procedure, but her project never appeared in the parliement.

When the new government was constituted, her place was taken by Aleksandar Vucic, who presented the draft Law, written "overnight", as a document aimed at eliminating lies from the media and saving citizens from unnecessary agitation. Although it must be admitted that in pursuit of high circulation many newspapers have not made a distinction between lies and the truth, this act of the authorities is insulting for the citizens: the regime seems to consider them stupid and uncapable of recognizing the truth.

Along with the media, state agencies or individuals in them are not immune to untruth either. In numerous instances, ministries of that same government have persuaded the public that the market was well supplied, that prices of certain products would go down (meat), but in fact everything was quite different. With the new law on media, the regime forced the citizens to believe more what the ministers tell them than what they see with their own eyes.

In new conditions, every newspaper or other media will be running a great risk if it writes, for instance, that there is no heating in Belgrade even when the temperature drops below 10 degrees Centigrade, or that objectives of economic policy for this year will not be attained in any sector. Will the federal government be persecuted by this law because it promised a rise of the standard of living, but just the contrary happened. Or, because export failed and instead of the planned increase of 30 per cent it will hardly reach last year's level. Every media risks to be severely punished for publishing realistic pessimism instead of false optimism.

The very appearance of the Law on media has caused pessimism, because with it, door has been opened to self-will of the regime in an exceptionally important sphere which according to many is the corner stone for achieving other constitutional rights and freedoms. The whole procedure from establishment whether a lie or the truth has been published to charging of the astronomic fines lasts hardly two days.

Uninformed citizens or citizens who are informed one-sidedly, as the regime wishes to make them, are very convenient for manipulation, although it is explained that the Law was allegedly passed to protect the public from foreign propaganda. That is why the Law bans broadcasting or re-braoadcasting parts or whole foreign news programs. Under the pretext that it wanted to save the citizens of panic, fear nad defeatism, in the new circumstances, the regime is making them vulnerable defenceless, susceptible to any infomation, since it is known that the most dangerous are information conveyed verbally, both for the citizens and the regime.

It seems improbable that the regime really believes that it is possible for it to prevent spreading of information nowadays when the world has become a "global village" and when technology of news transmission has progressed to such an extent that everybody who wishes to learn what he/she is interested in can do it without any difficulty. That is why this Law is experienced as a pretentious attempt of the regime to make seeing and hearing citizens blind and deaf.

The ideological contribution to this Law is attributed to the leader of the Radicals and Yugoslav United Left (JUL) which have from irreconcilable enemies developed into a very firm coalition. Seselj himself has once, in the single-party communist system, been a victim of the regime. His present political actions are interpreted by many as a wish to transform from the former victim into a persecutor.

There is a general conviction that with this Law Serbia has inflicted new damage to its relations with the international community. Several ambassadors accredited in Belgrade have already reacted to the decree with which the governemnt had banned publication of three dailies, and which was another violation of the Constitution, because only the court is entitled to ban certain articles or certain issues. No state agency has ever banned publication of a paper for an indefinite period of time. In the ranks of the Serbian regime this interest of the ambassadors was received with unconcealed discontent and interpreted as foreign effort to protect their spies in Serbian media.

The regime simply is not ready to accept the assessment according to which the right to manysided information was a civilizational achievement which is therefrom protected by international regulations, and that is where the interest for the conflict between the regime and the journalists and newspapers of foreign public comes from. Known Belgrade columnist Aleksandar Tijanic, who has once been a minister of informing himself, thinks that the citizens of Serbia will find themselves in deep isolation if this Law is not withdrawn, and the Serb Revival Movement (SPO), the deputies of which have left the parliament before voting on the draft Law, has announced extra-parliamentary resistance to the new regulations concerning information.

Ratomir Petkovic

(AIM)