Media on Trial in Serbia

Judicial Chaos Spreading

AIM Podgorica, 11 December, 1998

(By AIM correspondent from Belgrade)

Two-month implementation of the Serbian Law on Information - which is advertised by the authorities as one of its products made according to the highest world standards - indicates further spreading of judicial chaos and failure of at least one of the ideas its creators were guided by. Intimidation of media was achieved only partly: within the ranks of the "fifth columnists" only Nasa borba was voluntarily shut down, but according to what its owner Dusan Mijic said, just temporarily. Other media continued printing their newspapers and broadcasting their programs, despite the risk of being called to account to a magistrate by an appeal of numerous "patriotic", women's, party, political or other organizations or leaders. Evropljanin and Dnevni telegraf have not been shut down although the announced, printed or even the already delivered to the distribution network issues end up confiscated by the financial police.

In the past weeks, fines the media have been sentenced to pay have exceeded several million dinars (a few million German marks); the budget of Serbia, however, has not been increased by the same amount. The officially evaluated property of DT Press (Telegraf and Evropljanin do not cover even two per cent of the fine, and sale of confiscated copies sold as recycling paper - since nobody believes that the state is selling the incriminated newspaper just in order to collect the fine from the money made in this way - could last for decades, as well as punishing of editors-in-chief by depriving them of a part of their salaries limited by law.

Appeals have so far been submitted against media by the Patriotic Union of Belgrade, the League of Women of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Seselj, Zoran Djindjic, municipal committees of certain parties and individuals, as the insulted, emotionally anguished or at least the concerned for the constitutional system, territorial and other integrity of Serbia. At first it seemed that the readiness to raise cry and hue against "traitors", "foreign mercenaries" and "fifth columnists" as independent media have for years been named by leading ideologists of the red-and-black coalition in power, especiall Mirjana Markovic and Vojislav Seselj, leaders of the Yugoslav Left and the Serb Radical Party, would be broadly accepted. However, this did not happen, although the example was set by patriots and Bratislava Morina, commissioner for refugees and ever since 1991, verified fighter for Yugoslavia, and against Ante Markovic. After draconic fines pronounced to Dnevni telegraf, Glas javnosti and weekly Evropljanin, Montenegrin weekly Monitor also clashed with the law. Police patrols at the border between Serbia and Montenegro, along with smugglers, started to "seize" shipments of newspapers destined for Serbia.

In the meantime, some magistrates started to reject appeals against media or to free the accused of charges. In the end of November, an appeal was submitted against television station TV5 from Nis by the local committee of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) which in the name of the public felt anguish because Vesna Pesic, Zoran Djindjic and Nobojsa Popov took part in a "live" program of this tv station. Lawyers of the defence, the total of 18 of them, argued that the city committee of SPS of Nis was neither a legal nor a physical person, and that whatever it may be, it cannot feel anguish, and TV5 cannot take the responsibility for statements in which the plaintiff was not even mentioned. Similar arguments of the defence were of no help in any of earlier cases in which newspapers were taken to court. It would not have been of any help in this case either, if it most probably had not been for a mysterious telephone call by a person from a high post had not called the plaintiff after which it suddenly decided to drop charges.

In the case of the appeal submitted by one of the directors of Pancevo Chemical Industries earlier this week against the local television station and the municipal assembly as its founder (since 1996 local elections, the opposition is in power in Pancevo), the problem was resolved by a sentence which freed the indicted of all charges. According to the words of the editor-in-chief of TV Pancevo, Ofelija Backovic, "we were charged because we broadcast statements of both parties: the chairman of the assembly who stated the opinion of the workers who, as they said, discharged the director, and Lavrnic's". In other words, the mentioned director lodged an appeal because the TV station observed one of the fundamental rules of journalists' (and judicial, for that matter) profession: publication (hearing) of both parties concerned.

Perhaps in view of the mentioned case, Milovan Bojic, one of the vice prime ministers of Serbia, high official of the Yugoslav Left and holder of numerous other posts, decided to lodge his appeal both as against an offence (pursuant the Law on Information) and as against a crime. It was against Dnevni telegraf again that he complained about, this time because of last week's murder of one of the cardiologists employed in Dedinje hospital which Bojic is the director of. According to Tanjug's report which quotes the document of the municipal public prosecutor, Telegraf was reported against for "false allegations that the murder of Aleksandar Popovic is connected with his criticism of Milovan Bojic and the Institute" which "leads to disturbing the citizens, especially those employed at the Institute", which comes under Article 218 of the Criminal Law of Serbia (spreading false news).

The hearing ended with the sentence pronounced to persons responsible for Dnevni telegraf according to which they have to pay another 450 thousand dinars although Dnevni telegraf is printed in Montenegro where the enterprise was recently registered, although the issues of the newspaper are persistently confiscated at the border between the two republics, and although the portion of the issues which reaches Belgrade is not exhibited at the newsstands or is sold by hucksters. The criminal proceedings are still in the phase of investigation. Regardless of the outcome, it is interesting that one of the probable authors of the Law on Information, and certainly one of its loud and powerful supporters decided to raise double charges. Ironic comments did not fail to appear: the two-month judicial practice shows that in Serbia, overthrowing of the constitutional system, call to rebel, support to terrorism and high treason belong in the same category as traffic accidents, prostitutes, pickpockets and vagabonds, while slander of a high state official belongs in the category of crimes punishable by a sentence in prison.

But, the (un)planned spreading of judicial chaos in which the JUL quasi-left and the Radical quasi-right distinguished themselves as a cooperative tandem, cannot last forever. There is neither that many media in Serbia nor is the resistance of independent professional unions negligible, regardless of how hard the authorities try to proclaim every statement of foreign organizations and institutions evidence which justifies persecution of "traitors".

Federal minister of information, Goran Matic, who is also an official of JUL, gave his contribution to the witch-hunt on 8 December. Speaking for state Radio Belgrade, the minister declared that "activities of Radio B92 and ANEM are in fact activities of the British Embassy in Belgrade". In his explanation of how he acquired that information, the minister revealed an espionage scandal. "From our source in the British Embassy, we received a fax sent on 20 November in which the embassy invites ANEM to give a proposal for training of six journalists from Kosovo - five Albanians and one Serb - who will work for a Radio 21 and a Contact Radio which still do not exist, in agreement with Veton Suroi", said the minister, concluding that "this means that the British Embassy greatly exceeded the limits of operation and description of jobs of a diplomatic mission and service and that it is trying to deeply meddle in internal political relations in FRY".

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Radio B92, and the conference titled "Media for Democratic Europe" which was despite efforts of the ministries of information, held in Belgrade, responded to the minister with a very sharp statement. The statement of minister Goran Matic is marked by ANEM and B92 as an attempt to compromise both these institutions by insinuations after he had not succeeded in preventing the international conference on media. They also inform that "for a whole year, an initiative has existed in Belgrade for opening a European journalists' school such as those which already exist in Bucarest, Sarajevo and a series of other cities, directed by BBC". As concerning media in Kosovo mentioned by the minister, ANEM and B92 state that they are stations which have not been issued permits for use of channels although their documentation was in order (Radio Koha and Radio 21), that is, Radio Contact "which was banned in June just two days after it had started re-broadcasting the program of Radio B92".

The authors of the quoted statement believe that the latest statement of the minister of information is an introduction for an even more comprehensive attack against ANEM, after Radio Index, TV Pirot, Radio City, Radio Contact and Radio Senta have already been banned, and while other media are tried in courts. On the occasion of the latest "incident", president of ANEM and editor-in-chief of Radio B92, Veran Matic, says for Belgrade weekly Vreme and AIM: "From the aspect of the Law on Information, the statement of minister Goran Matic offers ground for punishment. For example, the part of the statement on their sources in the British Embassy it is directly contrary to Article 5 of the Law which bans publishing of information acquired in illegal manner, which is punishable pursuant item 2, paragraph 1 of this article. Therefore, an appeal could be lodged both against the minister and the media that carried this statement. However, as before, neither B92, nor ANEM, nor the conference on Media for Democratic Europe which the minister tried to prevent will lodge any appeals. Our main goal is abolishment of the Law, not lodging appeals".

Aleksandar Ciric

(AIM)