01. 06. 2004

Media, NGOs protest over TV Smederevo

BELGRADE, June 1, 2004 – More than 120 media and non-governmental organisations in Serbia have expressed concern over the situation at Television Smederevo. They have called on the authorities to urgently facilitate the implementation of the Broadcast Act and privatisation of local media. In a statement of protest over the company, the majority of whose staff have been on strike since March 26, the media and NGOs describe the issue as an obvious case of a local media company's political dependence on the municipal authorities who are the station's proprietors. The signatories to the protest statement note that the Smederevo local government consists of a coalition of the Democratic Party of Serbia, New Serbia, the Yugoslav left and the Socialist Party of Serbia. They describe the dependence of the local media on the municipal authorities as "abuse" and as "limiting the freedom of public information". "The case of the TV Smederevo staff speaks volumes about how serious the consequences of this kind of behaviour by representatives of the local administration may be. The municipal prosecution has laid charges against TV Smederevo staff which have been tried in the Smederevo Municipal Court only because they are exercising their right to industrial action in order to protect their personal and professional integrity," the statement reads. Of particular concern to the signatories is the continued violation of the rules even after the formation of Serbia’s minority government. The violations have been committed systematically with the aim of establishing "complete control over the electronic media who are virtually performing the function of a public service at both the national and local levels". "The TV Smederevo issue represents the continuation of this systematic policy established by the government by ignoring the Broadcast Act and violating this legislation in the appointment of members to the Broadcast Agency Council, as well as in the implementation of the Act on Public Companies and Activities of Public Interest in appointing the members of the Managing Board and the general manager of Radio Television Serbia," the statement continues. The statement is signed by the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Local Press, the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists, the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina, Beta and FoNet news agencies, newspapers Danas, Dnevnik, Magyar szo, Nezavisna svetlost, Reporter, Republika, Vranjske novine, Vreme, RTVs Krusevac, Kikinda, Nisava, Caribrod and radio stations Nis and Vladicin Han, together with about ninety non-governmental organisations.