IFEX-ove vijesti s medijske scene Srbije i Crne Gore

24.08.2005.

 RADIO PROGRAM IN ROMA LANGUAGE

UROSEVAC, August 13, 2005 (Beta) - Roma community from Urosevac and neighboring municipalities will be able to follow the program in Roma language on Radio Urosevac as of tomorrow.

A 30-minute program in Roma language will consist of information and
entertainment.

The consent and resources for commencement of the broadcast was given by the
board of directors of the municipal government in Urosevac.


TIJANIC AGAINST VUCO

BELGRADE, August 16, 2005 (Danas) - RTS Director General Aleksandar Tijanic has filed a legal complaint against Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco, director of the Legal Committee for Human Rights (YUKOM) for alleged "series of criminal acts" conducted by publishing of the book titled "The case of Public Servant Aleksandar Tijanic".

The book, published by YUKOM few months ago, was presented as the first in the series of publications from "Against the Oblivion" edition, consisting of a great number of quotations "gathered from public opus" of Aleksandar Tijanic.

One of many reasons for filing legal complaint against Vuco was the
publication of segments of Tijanic's articles, which he never agreed to.

"The book is full of serious insults and libel on my account. One of its
parts presented the minutes from the parliamentary sessions which was stolen from the government's archives and was a classified document. I guess the minutes were stolen from the archive by the famous friend of mafia and Vuco's insider, the same one Vuco is now defending in the court. However, if Serbia is at all legal state, I believe that Vuco will soon end up in behind the bars", said Tijanic.

Commenting on the charges against her, Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco told Belgrade daily Danas that there were no solid grounds for it. She said that Tijanic's call on authorship rights was absolutely arbitrary since the book contained the parts of articles which had been already published and for which YUKOM did not have to ask approval.



KOSTUNICA MUST RESPOND TO ILIC ATTACK

BELGRDE, August 16, 2005 (B92) - B92 director Veran Matic has written to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica over the threats and insults aimed at the company and himself by Capital Investment Minister Velimir Ilic and his spin doctor Petar Lazovic.

Matic has demanded that the prime minister explain the behavior of his coalition partner and cabinet minister clearly to the public.

The latest attack of the minister Ilic, this time on B92, has been condemned by the professional and media organisations, together with many political parties, except Ilic's party New Serbia which opposed the "media campaign" against its leader.

On the other hand, the case of Marko Milosevic has divided the ruling
coalition.

In his letter to Vojislav Kostunica, the director of RTV B92 noted that the insults and treats were a response to a legitimate question of concern to the public, which has the right to know all the circumstances surrounding the withdrawal of charges, after five years, against the son of Slobodan Milosevic, Marko.

"I want to point out to the prime minister that the reaction of Minister
Ilic and his media advisor, for which many organisations have already made statements condemning them, was not only a lapse of taste, or incompetence in relations with the media. It is utterly clear which political milieu has the idea that those who think differently and in undesirable ways must be sent into exile or a sanatorium", said Matic.

"Personally, I expect you to seek Minister Ilic's resignation because of
this attack. Your failure to respond will be a clear message that you accept and support this kind of communication between the most important bodies of authority and the media", Matic said in the letter to Kostunica.

Ilic had earlier described reports that he had intervened in the withdrawal of charges against Marko Milosevic as ridiculous and said that certain media had given unnecessary attention to the story. In setting out his position, Ilic used language which the public is not accustomed to hearing from cabinet ministers.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said he was unhappy about the behavior of the capital investment minister and his verbal attack on B92.

"Primitivism and arrogance must not be characteristics displayed in
government service, and such behavior must not be allowed to distract
attention from the need for the public to learn the truth about Ilic's
involvement in the withdrawal of charges against Marko Milosevic", said Tadic in a statement.


JOURNALISTS STRONGLY CRITICAL OF ILIC'S BEHAVIOR

BELGRADE, August 16, 2005 (B92) - Reactions of journalists' associations to the latest outburst of minister Ilic were far less cautious than the response from the political parties.

President of the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists (IJAS)
Nebojsa Bugarinovic said that it was the job of journalists to ask questions which lead to a full understanding of controversial issues and described Ilic's response to this as unacceptable:

"What he demonstrates really goes beyond all boundaries of elementary and honorable activities. I think that this kind of relationship is at best shameful and I believe that the government must take stock about the way in which its ministers behave with information resources", said Bugarinovic, adding that this was not the first time that Ilic had behaved this way towards journalists.

Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists was "disgusted" but not surprised by the attack of capital investment minister Velimir Ilic on journalists and editors of B92.

"Considering the psycho-physical condition of minister Ilic and his closest associates, it is possible that future attacks would go beyond the verbal, particularly if we know that Ilic had beaten journalists in front of cameras before", said NDNV in a statement.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has also sought Ilic's dismissal and called on the Serbian Government to clearly condemn the statements of both the minister and his media advisor Petar Lazovic. The Association also called on all professional journalism associations at home and abroad, free media organisations, all political parties, together with the Serbian Parliament and Government to stand behind journalists and make it possible for them to work normally. In a statement, the Association described the attacks as the most extraordinary public vulgarity and serious
threats.

Chairman of the ANEM Managing Board Slobodan Stojsic said the atmosphere of lynching has been created, in which everything was allowed, from gender-based insults to death threats.

"I hope the Serbian Government and its president would respond to this and would demand Ilic's dismissal. Their failure to respond will be a clear message that they accept and support this kind of communication with the media", said Stojsic.

President of the Association of Serbian Journalists (JAS) Nino Brajovic said that he expected only apologies and not explanations after such Ilic's behavior.

"Capital Investments Minister is a member of the important bodies of
authority and must represent the state, not only his political party. Does this mean that if a citizen or a journalist puts a provocative question, he would be submitted to a psychiatric treatment?, The minimum we expect after this incident is an apology to all journalists and the Serbian public."

Editor of TV Production VIN Gordana Susa said it would be legitimate to demand Ilic's dismissal after these incidents.

"Velimir Ilic could not practice politics in a normal country unless he
finished some sort of course for good behavior. However, he just speaks out loud what Kostunica's government systematically does, and by that I mean the constant amnesty of Milosevic, his family, associates and all their ill-doings. It is the most direct attack on the dignity of a million Serbian citizens who brought down Milosevic, as a symbol of evil, from the power."


MORE DEMANDS FOR ILIC'S DISMISSAL

BELGRADE, August 16, 2005 (Danas) - Petar Lazovic's outburst is a
professional deformity.  As a person in charge of public relations, Lazovic should balance between the client and the media, to be "the buffer-man" and to cool down the situation. Instead of all this, we saw the reactions of two like-minded", said Cvijetin Milivojevic to the Belgrade daily Danas.

Cvijetin Milivojevic noted that "the profession of PR in Serbia is in the
phase of simple accumulation of capital" and that "the politicians treat the media as their crutches".

"Politicians in Serbia do not have manners for the media and see them as black or white: you are either with me or you are against me. Minister Ilic is not the only one who communicates in such manner. He simply has this 'gift' and I think he could be educated. But, what concerns more is the behavior of Petar Lazovic, who was the unofficial PR of Milan Panic and DOS and who was hosting the first news bulletins on the liberated state television from Kosutnjak after October 5, 2000."

Milivojevic adds that it is rather hard to find people in this country who
can communicate in a civil manner with the media with different editorial concepts. This is also a problem to Velimir Ilic, as well as to Nenad Canak, Cedomir Jovanovic and Vladan Batic, for example, who find it "unsuitable to speak at TV Pink".

Milivojevic also points out "the amiable relationship" of the ruling power with the journalists who used to insult them. Kostunica, for example, has the best relationship with the journalists of the Belgrade daily Politika, who once reported that he lived with 40 cats or that he had problems of various nature", said the director of Pragma.

Milan St. Protic, formerly close Ilic's associate and co-president of the
New Serbia political party, but today the president of Political Council of the Serbian Democratic Christian Party (DHSS), said that "Ilic obviously changed his position from the one before October 5". Protic noted that Ilic was inclined to such behavior in the past, adding that it was a part of our folklore:

"Such behavior is a reflection of primitivism, vulgarity and aggression,
but, unlike others, Ilic does not hesitate to demonstrate it publicly."

However, Protic noted that it would be a big mistake to concentrate now to Ilic's vulgarity instead of the essence of the problem, that is, the withdrawal of charges against Marko Milosevic.

"I understand the B92 journalists, but this Marko Milosevic case only
illustrates the regression to the times before October 5. It is absurd that some of the people, who were leading the movement against Milosevic, are now supporting it", said Protic.

Protic also thinks Vojislav Kostunica is behind all this.


PETAR LAZOVIC GETS SUED

BELGRADE, August 17, 2005 (B92) - B92 director and Editor-in-Chief Veran Matic has laid a criminal complaint against Petar Lazovic.

The complaint against Lazovic, media advisor to Capital Investment Minister Velimir Iic, alleges the criminal acts of insult, libel and endangering safety. It follows threats and insults from Lazovic before, during and after a press conference in Kopaonik on Monday.

Matic and other B92 journalists have been subjected to a series of death threats, insults and libel during this year.

Although Ilic's spin doctor Petar Lazovic denied the death threats to B92 director Veran Matic, B92 journalist Ana Veljkovic described Lazovic's actions a bit differently:

"When Velimir Ilic left, and cameras were switched off, Lazovic approached me and told me that I should be ashamed of asking such questions on withdrawal of charges against Marko Milosevic. He then yelled to my face, swore at me and Veran Matic, telling me to pass on a message that he would kill Matic."

Journalists from other media present at the press conference had confirmed Veljkovic's story. Valentina Nesic, Beta News Agency journalist, witnessed Ilic's outburst.

"After the conference was over, Ilic's media advisor Petar Lazovic started insulting journalists from RTV B92. He also threatened that he would kill the editor Veran Matic."

At the same time, capital investment minister Velimir Ilic continued attacks on journalists of RTV B92 during his current tour of Serbia. Appearing as a
guest on TV M in Mladenovac two days ago, Ilic accused the company of improper use of donors' funds.

"B92 has received twenty million dollars, I know this well, for the
development of free media in Serbia. It was the greatest robbery which has happened and they've made themselves exceptionally wealthy and conducted a complete anti-Serb campaign. I am inviting Veran Matic, the director of B92,
to a television debate. I want to talk to with him because I was involved in setting up the television, since I was president of the Association of Free Cities of Serbia and I was a witness to Veran Matic receiving the money, what he did with the donations, what he took, in what way, who took it, what Bodo Hombach did, all of it. We gave them everything. They have no license, nothing, but they operate, they function, they sting like hornets. They attack every government, anything that smells of Serbia. Look, they've got a place for Vuco and Kandic and every Tom, Dick and Harry, but anyone who has
any kind of national policies can't get near them", said Ilic.

According to some ministers, the next parliamentary session will be
dedicated to discussion on behavior of minister Ilic and his media advisor Lazovic.

G 17 Plus and Serbian Renewal Movement will seek discussion of Ilic's public statements at the session. Although Serbia's culture and information minister Dragan Kojadinovic said that the ministers from his political party would raise the issue of Ilic's behavior, he could not precise whether the dismissal of the capital investment minister could be expected.

"Nothing can justify such behavior. However, I am not the one to decide whether it is for exclusion from the government or some other rigid warning notice."

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is yet to comment on behavior of the Cabinet member Velimir Ilic. The analysts note that the dismissal of Ilic is less possible, since it would provoke the crackdown of the Serbian Government, which is not in the interest of either ruling coalition party.

Journalist of the Belgrade weekly Vreme Teofil Pancic noted that only joined media would be able to do something regarding Velimir Ilic's case.


FALSE BOMB THREAT IN DAILY DANAS

BELGRADE, August 17, 2005 (B92) - Grujica Spasovic, editor-in-chief of the
Belgrade daily Danas, said that the special police units determined that the
bomb threat in the daily was false.

Grujica Spasovic said that the newsroom resumed the daily routine after
15.20. Spasovic also expressed hope that the police had done its job, since
it was not the first, nor it would be the last threat to the daily.

An unidentified person had called the daily around 14.00 hours and briefly
informed the staffers of having only thirty minutes to leave the building
before it exploded.


RADIO TELEVISION SUBSCRIPTION TO BE 210 DINARS

BELGRADE, August 17, 2005 (Beta) - The Broadcast Agency Council chairman
Nenad Cekic said that under the new amendments to the Broadcast Act, the
proposed monthly subscription rate for the Radio Television Serbia would be
210 dinars (about 0.25 euros)

Council chairman Nenad Cekic told the state media that the competition for
appointment of new RTS Managing Board would be conducted by mid October,
adding that the deadline for privatisation of RTS into a public service
broadcaster would expire on March 31, 2006.

According to Cekic, agreement has been reached to collect the subscription
with power bills, and payments will begin when controversial draft
amendments to the Act are adopted. This, he said, would be next week.

Cekic also said that "none from the RTS management has the secured position
and that everyone must go through the process of competition". He however
expressed hope that the transformation of RTS, which envisaged the division
of the company into two separate public service broadcasters - for Serbia
and Vojvodina, would be concluded by the end of next year.

Cekic reminded that there were 755 broadcasters in Serbia, "with real needs
only for 370". Their number would be therefore cut in half. Among the
stations that would not get the license for broadcast would be the ones
founded by the municipalities. He said that the Broadcast Act was not
implemented because "the regulation of the broadcast sphere does not suit
many broadcasters in Serbia, since they would be obliged to pay for the
frequency and to respect the copyrights". Cekic added that the proposed
changes "not only have an effect on the core of the legislation, but also
enable its implementation".

According to the chairman of the Council, the public service broadcaster
needs to be established by the law.

"Either RTS will be transformed into a public service, or it will no longer
exist. No one has the right to take over the responsibilities of the public
service", said Cekic, adding that the transformation of the company would
last between three and six months.

Cekic pointed out that "the public service is regarded same as education and
health". The money from subscription could go directly to the media
institution, and then "there would be no possibility for any minister or the
entire government to say: Stop the subscription, they have aired something
yesterday!"

Cekic said the subscription was envisaged as a contribution for the public
assets, not as the aspect of someone providing the service, and someone
receiving it.


ILIC SORRY, SAYS BUBALO

BELGRADE, August 18, 2005 (B92) - Serbia's minister for the economy Predrag
Bubalo said that capital investment minister Velimir Ilic was sorry if he
had insulted a B92 journalist with his comments this week on Kopaonik.

Economy Minister Predrag Bubalo said that capital investment minister had
informed his Cabinet colleagues with the events on Kopaonik and expressed
regret for the incidents before the beginning of yesterday's Cabinet
meeting.

He claimed that Ilic had issued a statement in which, among other things, he
said that he had not intended to insult journalists.

That statement has not been received by B92.

Minister Ilic was not present at the press conference held today to give a
public statement regarding recent insults. Instead of this, his apology was
read by his colleagues, expressing the disagreement with his behavior:

"More importantly, all Cabinet members expressed their regret for such
minister's behavior. The politicians can sometimes go too far, but one is
for sure - this will never happen again", Bubalo stated, provoking the
laughter in the room.

Interior Minister Dragan Jocic took a cautious line on the incident
yesterday:

"Politician must understand that journalists, in their search for the truth,
often ask provocative questions and politicians often have no understanding
of this, but journalists must not go too far with this," he said.

Capital investment minister Velimir Ilic refused at the Cabinet meeting to
publicly apologize to B92 journalists, Belgrade daily Blic reported on
Monday.


THREAT - A MESSAGE TO ALL JOURNALISTS

BELGRADE, August 18, 2005 (B92) - Media organisation Reporters Without
Borders voiced dismay at the insulting comments which Serbian investment
minister Velimir Ilic made to journalists of RTV B92 at a press conference
on 15 August.

"We are appalled at the way the minister and his aide insulted and
threatened journalists in public," the press freedom organisation said. "If
politicians react like this to questions they do not want to answer, it
shows how fragile press freedom is in Serbia-Montenegro."

Alex Lupis, the senior coordinator of European programs in the New
York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists, had told the Voice
of America that Minister Ilic's treats to a B92 journalist are something
which above all should be dealt with under the law.

"I think that a situation in which a government official threatens a
journalist with death should first of all be a matter for the police and the
judiciary. Then I would add that the way in which these services react in
such a case will show how much the current government is really committed to
free media in Serbia. But unfortunately, since Kostunica has headed the
government there has been less and less respect for the media and much less
consideration of them", said Lupis.

"The Serbian government generally reacts negatively to attempts by the media
to research the origins of crime during the conflicts of the 1990s, and
similarly in cases of government corruption", he added.

"It is well known that Kostunica's government cooperates closely with the
Socialist Party of Serbia which, as everyone knows, was responsible for
media repression in the nineties. I think that there is a quite justifiable
concern that the government, which doesn't care much for the protection of
human rights, could attack the media even more. I believe that the threats
of Minister Ilic confirm that", Lupis said.

According to Lupis, Ilic's threats are a message for all journalists in
Serbia.

"I think this sends a very powerful message to media that the government
willhit back sharply if any journalist tries to investigate sensitive
political issues such as corruption, criminals and breaches of human rights,
all these deviant phenomena remain hidden and unresolved. In these
conditions, society stagnates and cannot develop either politically or
economically. I think that this is not in Serbia's best interests."

The commitment of the government to further democratic reforms is also
questioned:

"The pressure on the media is opposed to the goals of the democratic
community. All of this, in fact, leads to questioning the commitment of the
Serbian Government to democratic reform. It raises the question of whether
Serbia, if it continues with such policies, will be able to take its place
in the European Union", said the European head of the Committee to Protect
Journalists.


SEEMO PROTESTS ILIC'S BEHAVIOR

VIENNA, August 19, 2005 (B92) - The Vienna-based South East Europe Media
Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading
journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press
Institute (IPI), is alarmed about the recent insults and threats by a
high-ranking Serbian politician and his advisor directed at journalists.

According to information before SEEMO, on 15 August, during a press
conference in Kopaonik, Serbian Capital Investments Minister Velimir Ilic
was answering questions about the court case against Marko Milosevic, son of
former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Taking exception to the
questions asked by the RTV B92 reporter, Ana Veljkovic, he started insulting
the station's journalists and said they were sick and needed psychiatric
treatment.

According to Veljkovic, after Ilic left the conference, his media advisor,
Petar Lazovic, approached her and started insulting her. He told her to tell
Veran Matic, director and editor-in-chief of RTV B92, that he would kill
him.

SEEMO regards these insults and threats as a very serious and direct
violation of press freedom and journalists' rights. We ask the authorities
in Serbia to start an investigation into this case and to take all necessary
legal steps.

SEEMO would like to remind the Serbian government that a safe working
environment for journalists is a fundamental principle in every democratic
society.

American expert for the Balkans from the US Institute of Peace Daniel Serwer
told The Voice of America that Velimir Ilic' behavior needs to be seen in a
broader context.

"This goes beyond an ordinary incident. I think that really it's about the
future of Serbia and the way in which it will resolve the remaining criminal
activity from the past, because this incident didn't come out of the blue,
but because of Marko Milosevic and the charges raised against him", he said.

"Because of this, I believe that this is not about some obvious incident and
unacceptable remarks made by one minister to a journalist, but about how
Serbia relates to unacceptable events in the past. Obviously there are
people who are not pleased that B92 is trying, in an open and honest way, to
throw light on criminal activities and because it advocates those
responsible being brought to justice. I would say that a pretty large number
of the members of the current Serbian Cabinet don't want this kind of
journalism", said Serwer.

Serwer believes that the latest incident should not cause alarm among
Serbian journalists.

"I know a sufficient number of courageous journalists in Serbia who will
respond to this by being even more determined to uncover the truth. I would
even say that the reason many officials restrain themselves from attacks is
that they would only become an even bigger target of journalists'
investigations", he added.


SUBSCRIPTION THROUGH POWER BILLS

BELGRADE, August 21, 2005 (Beta) - The Electric Power Industry of Serbia
(EPS) will have to comply with the decision to charge the RTS subscription
through electricity bills.

Radio Television Serbia will first send out the announcement to the future
subscribers in September and will start to charge for the subscription one
month later, in October, said the vice-chairman of the Broadcast Agency
Council Aleksandar Vasic. By that time, the agreement on ways of charging
the subscription should be reached.

Although the EPS has officially opposed to subscription charge through their
bills, Vasic said that EPS is "a public company, not non-governmental
organisation", and that they would have to comply with the decisions of the
appropriate authorities and envisaged by the law.

Vasic also said that the recent monitoring of the aired advertisements on
RTS showed that the regulations on the length of commercials were respected.

Under the regulations of the Broadcast Act, the public broadcasters, radio
and TV stations from the civil sector and those founded by the local and
regional communities cannot broadcast commercials longer than ten percent of
the total daily broadcast program, that is, maximum of six minutes per hour
of the broadcast program.


ILIC ATTACKS B92 AGAIN

BELGRADE, August 21, 2005 (B92) - B92 has managed to obtain an audio
recording of an interview given by Velimir Ilic to Kragujevac TV K9 on
August 18 in which he again insulted B92 journalists, just hours after an
apology to the station was read in the Cabinet.

The interview, which the station did not broadcast, allegedly because the
tape was destroyed, said that B92 was not working legally and that it was
involved in financial misconduct.

"Of course, if this ticklish issue is raised in public, then they attack you
like dogs. And everyone attacks you and then they are ordered to provoke you
and if you now say anything they will accuse you of being a friend of Marko
Milosevic, of influencing. What connection do I have with Marko; I've never
laid eyes on the man. And something else, this boy from Pozarevac, he
withdrew his statement ten months ago, not recently, but now that is being
abused as well. Another thing, that boy is a close relative of mine. His
mother and my late mother were the children of two sisters. And now here was
an opportunity, get that Ilic, now we'll sort him out, we'll attack him: so
there he builds a hundred kilometers of road, he does this, he does that,
now we'll sort him out, we can involve him in some issue and so on.", said
Ilic in the interview.

B92 noted that Zoran Milovanovic did not withdraw his allegations that Marko
Milosevic threatened him with a chainsaw nine months ago as claimed by Ilic,
but one month ago.

The minister himself recently claimed to have influenced him to change his
statement.

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Povratak