MEDIA-YUGOSLAV: Government Cracks Down On Independent Media

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Mar 13 2000 (IPS) - The government has launched a crack down on the country’s independent media.

Local media in most of Serbia’s provincial towns, including Belgrade, are run by local authorities. The media are constantly dubbed “mercenaries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)” by government officials because of their critical reporting of the regime.

A total of 15 key towns in Serbia, including the 2.5 million capital of Belgrade, are run by opposition parties at the local level.

Serbia is run by the government of the so-called ‘red-black’ coalition comprising of Milosevic’s Socialist Party, his wife’s Yugoslav Left (JUL) and ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) of Vojislav Seselj.

In an unprecedented attack several weeks ago, Seselj threatened journalists from the local and opposition media that they would face “the most serious consequences” because of their work. “Gloves are off” he warned the reporters.

Last week, three local television stations and two radio stations in provincial Serbia were shut down by the government, either for allegedly for not having valid licences or for having failed to pay taxes for use of the airwaves.

The crackdown culminated in the police allegedly dismantling the transmitter belonging to Radio-Television Pozega, 170 kms southwest of Belgrade in the early hours of Sunday morning. The station is now off the air.

The clampdown against the independent media began last week when police raided the premises of the television station, Studio B near Belgrade.

One of the most popular stations in Serbia and highly critical of the regime, Studio B Television was off the air for several hours last Monday. A technician and a guard were reportedly severely beaten in the incident.

The same day, Studio B Television was fined 450.000 dinars (45.000 US Dollars) under the Information Law for airing a live show that heavily criticised the police investigation into last October’s assassination attempt against Vuk Draskovic, leader of Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) opposition party.

Draskovic was unhurt in the mysterious car accident that resulted in the death of four of his aides.

Last week Telecommunications Minister, Ivan Markovic, accused Studio B of owing 11 million dinars (1.1 million US Dollars) for use of the airwaves. He said unless it was paid, the station would be closed within eight days.

Studio B claims that it was given use of the airwaves at no charge in 1991, on a 10 years basis.

The print media has not been spared. Last week the daily, Vecernje Novosti, was taken over by the government after the Commercial Court in Belgrade annulled the paper’s nine year old privatisation act.

The daily had been extremely critical of the regime in the last months.

“Financial exhaustion of alternative and independent media, through extremely high fines, amounts to an attempt by the regime to shut them down,” says Zoran Ivosevic, a law expert.

“That is the way to prevent the public from knowing anything else but the story the regime wants to tell,” he told IPS.

The pro-government press always reports in a positive light regarding the government and the situation in the country.

Radio-Televizija Srbije (RTS), the most powerful tool of the government, constantly carries footage of alleged successful reconstruction projects following NATO air strikes last year. It also always shows pictures of shops full of goods – a far cry from reality, say analysts.

In reality, most of the reconstruction is purely cosmetics, while the shops are practically empty with shortages of basic food stuffs like cooking oil, sugar, milk and meat, they say.

The crackdown against the independent media, by the regime, has been slammed by critics. “The independent media is highly critical of the regime and presents a nuisance to it” says Borivoje Borovic, a Belgrade lawyer.

“This is the year of local and federal elections and the regime wants to prevent the opposition parties of having any space in media. It (the regime) wants only its own media to stay alive,” he adds.

The important local and federal elections are scheduled for Nov this year.

Nikola Sainovic, one of the Socialist Party’s highest officials told a press conference last week that “there was no repression in the country against anyone”.

“There are so many statements in so many media… there is no repression at all” he added.

Vladan Batic, coordinator of the Alliance for Change opposition umbrella grouping, said the government appeared to be seeking to take control of all sources of information in the run-up to local and federal polls.

Batic said the government would use planned military exercises by NATO in Kosovo later this month as an excuse to introduce a partial state of emergency and ban public gatherings to prevent protests and opposition campaigning.

“The opposition must react at once and block all moves made towards taking Serbia into a blatent dictatorship. Every television and radio station and every newspaper must be protected. If we do not do so, tomorrow it will be too late,” Baltic warned in a press statement.

“This is a frontal attack of the regime against the media it does not control” Nebojsa Covic, leader of the opposition Democratic Alternative Party told IPS.

“Once the critical media are off the air, it (the regime) can do whatever it wants, with no one to stand up against it. And that is something we should not allow” he added.