Renewed Repression
Insecticide for Media
AIM Podgorica, 10 December, 1999 (By AIM correspondent from Belgrade)
In the customary vocabulary of normal democratic states the word "decontamination" usually has a meaning in environment protection or similar - for instance, cleaning of an industrially contaminated area, air, a river or a lake; in new Serbian political vocabulary, however, this word acquired a very specific, so far unknown meaning. The Yugoslav United Left (JUL), one of the parties of the ruling triumvirate (headed by the wife of the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosvic, Mirjana Markovic) recently made it public that Serbian journalism needs profound "decontamination", and in parallel with that "politicisation of the media on patriotic gounds", due to, of course, permanent danger the state is in as it is exposed to constant attacks and pressure ("prolonged aggression") of the evil forces of the New World Order.
What do media need to be "decontaminated" from? Judging by the statements of the leaders of JUL, all the media which criticise the current regime or publish facts unpleasant for it are "contaminated"; after "decontamination", that is, neutralisation of the undesirable bearers of the infection and liquidation of facts, investigative journalism and politically unbiased analyses (which cannot evade the long disastrous action of Milosevic's regime), all the newspapers will resemble the "red Borba", and all radio and TV stations the first channels of Radio Belgrade and state television - which would mean the return to the political and civilisational level of Soviet media from the sixties... - but this time in colour, of course.
The problem of the leaders of the current regime is, however, in the fact that independent, professional journalists and media have no intention to let themselves be "decontaminated" of their profession and its fundamental standards just like that, without putting up a bitter struggle. Although they work in politically and financially impossible conditions, independent media somehow manage to survive. As an insecticide for them (to remain consistent to this morbid terminology of "decontamination" or let us say even "deratisation"), the notorious Law on Information was conceived which is a paralegal document contrary to the Contitution, jurisprudence and even fundamental logic, but which enables the authorities to distress and financially exhaust a disobedient media by enormoulsy high taxes and fines for imaginary "offences" to such an extent that it is not capable to work any more. In this way, an undesirable witness of the wrongdoing of the regime is eliminated and apparently "there is no repression".
Exactly in this way a year ago, by consecutive draconian punishments of the journal and its owner Dnevni telegraf daily and Evropljanin magazine were banished and destroyed, which were both owned by Slavko Curuvija who was under "mysterious" circumstances murdered downtown Belgrade during the third week of NATO bombing of targets in FRY. In Belgrade journalistic circles the generally shared opinion is that Curuvija and his journals have fallen victims of revenge of the parts of the regime Curuvija once communicated with, but also as a warning to everybody that there is a line that must not be crossed. After this case, many media in Serbia have been punished by more or less draconian measures, although it is difficult to perceive that there is any elaborated system in it; it is in fact more likely that repression itself is that system.
Pompous announcement of the campaign of "decontamination" and "patriotic politicisation" could be a sign that the regime is not satisfied that the independent media have somehow, although seriously "wounded", survived both the war and the Law on Information" and that they have in the meantime won the trust of majority of the citizens: reliable investigations show that the viewership of the informative program of Radio-Television Serbia and readership of regime controlled newspapers is constantly declining, while the influence of the media which are out of reach of the regime is incessantly growing. In view of the fact that in a few days we will be entering the election year of 2000, the regime obviously cannot be indifferent to this fact. After ten years of apocalyptic action of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, all that the regime has left in order to remain in the position to hold the reigns is: redistribution of poverty by means of small "bribes" of the citizens, measured spreading of repression, and fear and day-and-night building of "parallel reality" for the incorrigibly naive and Potemkin's villages for deluding the common. At least two of these three pillars of society cannot operate without broad and unambiguous support of the media.
As usual when an especially unpopular and compromising form of repression needs to be implemented, the ruling "Left" is offered a helping hand by its coialition partners from the extreme rightist Seselj's Serb Radical Party (SRS), political organisation which does not conceal that absolute absence of shame and civilisational consideration is its feature it is especially proud of. The Serb Radical Party has nowadays undertaken a new, it seems, quite ambitious round of hue and cry against the media; the president of the party and deputy prime minister Vojislav Seselj, along with secretary general of SRS and Republican minister of information Aleksandar Vucic lodged an appeal pursuant the Law on Information against Studio B television station and Danas and Blic dailies for "violation of the rights of personality". Personalities of Seselj and Vucic were offended by the fact that the mentioned media - but not only they which adds to the absurdity of the whole affair - carried the statement of the Serb Revival Movement (SPO) in which the mysterious "traffic accident" in which four officials of SPO were killed and Vuk Draskovic by pure miracle stayed alive is said to have been in fact a planned attempt on their lives organised by State Security Service (SDB) of Serbia and that men from the Serb Radical Party (without giving any names) had participated in initiating and planning of this crime. The epilogue in court: these media and their editors were fined to pay the total of 970 thousand dinars (50 thousand German marks) which is enormous money for the Serbian media, especially those with small circulation targeted at the intellectual public (such as Danas).
And just after the sentence had been pronounced and the fine somehow paid, that very same Serb Radical Party announced a new appeal against Danas, so that this is starting to resemble an intention to systematically destroy this daily, just as it was done with Curuvija's publications. The possibilities offered to the malevolent by the Law on Information are truly profuse - with some wrangling, you could even have to answer for a wrong (and maybe even right) weather forecast, so that such paralegal circus - with consequences which can be said to be anything but funny - may last for ever, more precisely until the unfortunate accused does not go bankrupt. When you come to the phase when newspapers are pronounced guilty when they correctly carry the words from a press conference of a large parliamentary party, irrationality and arbitrariness of possible repression are literally unlimited.
Investing an increasing effort to make Serbia an island -spectre in the middle of Europe, a kind of a post-Enver Hoxhism, Serbian regime gives up on even the little consideration which it had so far and which distinguished the Serbian society with an ever thinning membrane from a jungle in which everyone devours everybody else. "Decontamination" of the media might mark that definite "civilisation step" after which those who survive would be able to do nothing but howl together like a pack of wolves. However, one must not disregard the concealed reason for this "offensive against the media": the root of this spreading fear is great fear the producers of Serb misfortune themselves feel; whatever they may do, whatever means they may use, their "date of expiry" is approaching. Misdeeds they are committing now and conceiving will just make it harder for them when time - which will be very bitter for them as it is - comes when Potemkin's villages of devastated and humiliated Milosevic's Serbia will tumble down into nullity, into its true "essence".
Teofil Pancic
(AIM)
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