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ACTION ALERT UPDATE - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA (SERBIA)

6 December 1996

Radio B92 and Radio Index resume broadcasting; CPJ delegation
sent to Serbia to protest recent crackdown on media

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

**Updates IFEX alerts 4, 3, 2 December and 28 November 1996**

(CPJ/IFEX) - After wide international protest, government
authorities on 5 December 1996 permitted the resumption of
broadcasting of Radio B92 and Radio Index, both of which had been
shut down two days earlier.

Meanwhile, CPJ chair Kati Marton has left for Belgrade to lend
support to Serbia's beleaguered independent media and lead CPJ's
effort to investigate recent actions by President Slobodan
Milosevic to stifle press freedom. Marton will hold a news
conference at 12 noon on 7 December at the studio of Radio B92.

Appended to this update is a chronological account of attacks on
the media in Serbia and Montenegro in 1996.

BACKGROUND:
On 3 December at 15:00 hours, Radio B92 and Radio Index went off
the air. From 28 November to 2 December, the broadcasts of Radio
B92's entire programs from 9:00 to 14:00 had been jammed. The
station later received a letter from the Ministry of
Transportation and Communication saying that it had operated
illegally. The Serbian media have been the target of continued
harassment by government authorities for their coverage of
opposition protests after President Milosevic's government
annulled the 17 municipal elections won in most Serbian cities by
the opposition (see IFEX alerts).

For further information, contact Catherine Fitzpatrick (x 104) or
Amanda Onion (x 101) at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave, New York NY 10001,
U.S.A., tel:+1 212 465 1004, fax:+1 212 465 9568, e-mail:
europe@cpj.org, aonion@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/.

The information contained in this alert update is the sole
responsibility of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or
publication, please credit CPJ.
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Crackdown on the News Media in Serbia and Montenegro in 1996

5 December 1996: Radio B92 is permitted again to broadcast after
widespread international outcry and condemnation of President
Milosevic's attempts to silence the independent media in Serbia.
The student-run station Radio Index is also able to broadcast
again.

3 December 1996: Radio B92 is taken off the air by Serbian
authorities. In a letter delivered to the radio station, the
Federal Ministry for Transport and Communication of the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia declares that the station does not have a
valid licence to operate. Radio B92's journalists remain on the
premises of the radio station and continue to gather news and
disseminate it by its Internet site on the World Wide Web:
http://www.opennet.org/

Radio B92 editor-in-chief Veran Matic points out in a letter to
the Ministry that the station has repeatedly applied for a
licence since 1991, but its petitions have been rejected or
ignored. He notes further that the radio transmissions were
broadcast by a separate legal entity, Radio Television Serbia
(RTS), the owner of the transmitter, which has an agreement with
Radio B92 to rebroadcast its programming.

3 December 1996: The student-run independent station Radio Index,
which shared a transmitter with Radio B92, is taken off the air
by Serbian authorities.

3 December 1996: The radio station Boom 93 in the town of
Pozarevec is banned from broadcasting by government authorities.
The private radio station owned its own transmitter and was
operating under a temporary licence.

29 November 1996: In Podgorica, Montenegro, authorities threaten
not to extend the frequency licence of Antenna M, Montenegro's
only independent radio station. Antenna M had also been
broadcasting reports from Radio B92.

29 November 1996: The Yugoslav Federal Inspector for Traffic and
Communications bans five radio stations (Radio Ozon, Radio
Soliter, Dzoker Radio, Radio 96, and Star FM) in Cacak, one of
the cities in Serbia where the opposition defeated supporters of
President Milosevic in the recent local elections. Some of the
stations had been broadcasting news programs from Radio B92.

27 November 1996: The state-owned Borba publishing house refuses
to print more than 70,000 copies of the independent daily "Blic",
which had started to print 250,000 copies after the onset of the
demonstrations. The entire editorial board of the newspaper
resigns after it is told to stop reporting on the demonstrations.

19 November 1996: Radio B92's transmission is jammed regularly as
the independent radio station begins coverage of widespread
demonstrations to protest President Milosevic's nullification of
the opposition candidates' victories in most Serbian cities in
the 17 November municipal elections. By 28 November the
broadcasts of Radio B92's entire program from 9 am to 2 am the
next day are completely jammed.

18 October 1996: Milovan Brkic, an investigative journalist for
the opposition- owned monthly journal "Srpska rec", and a current
candidate for the city assembly, is escorted from his office by
two plainclothes state security policemen into a car. The
policemen drive him to an undetermined location outside Belgrade,
where other state security policemen are waiting. The officers
then undress Brkic, beat him with sticks, and kick him. Brkic is
eventually released and taken to a hospital, where doctors
determine he has suffered three broken ribs, a damaged spleen,
and a concussion. In the latest issue of "Srpska rec", Brkic had
published an article discussing the links between state security
and organised crime.

7 July 1996: Slobodan Rackovic, a freelance journalist based in
Petrovac, Montenegro, is arrested and detained for more than
three hours at a police station in Petrovac. Police do not bring
formal charges against him, but rather describe the incident as
an "informal talk." Rackovic's house is searched during his
detention and the "talk" is continued the next day. At a press
conference earlier, Rackovic had called for the removal from
office of Montenegro's public prosecutor and others responsible
for the arrest of Bosnian refugees in Montenegro.

29 May 1996: City officials in the Serbian industrial town of
Smederova take majority control of Radio Smederova, which had
been the region's only independent broadcaster, and install
members of the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) on the
station's executive board. The city government installs a new
station manager and cuts off electricity at the station's offices
to ensure the success of the takeover.

7 April 1996: Six policemen enter the printing offices of "Koha",
an Albanian-language weekly magazine in Pristina, and order
printing to stop until they have examined the issue's contents.
The prosecutor's office takes offense at a satirical composite
photograph depicting President Milosevic alongside men in Nazi
uniforms. The incident results in a three-day publication delay.

9 March 1996: During a live broadcast of an opposition party
rally, the transmission of Radio B92 is blocked. The transmission
jams about 40 times while speeches of two opposition leaders are
being broadcast. Radio B92 believes police caused the
transmission problems because signals can be blocked only from
police stations. Radio B92 reporters say that jamming occurs
every time the station covers events about the opposition party.

15 February 1996: Police from the SPS enter the offices of NTV
Studio B in Belgrade and shut down its broadcast equipment. The
Commercial Court annuls Studio B's registration as a joint stock
company, allowing Belgrade's Municipal Assembly to gain control
of the station. Most of Studio B's employees are replaced by
members of the Municipal Assembly or the SPS. CPJ urges President
Milosevic to allow Studio B to resume broadcasting without state
interference.

___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard
Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.net/amarc/pulsar.html
Tel: +593-2-525521  Fono/Fax: +593-2-542818 o 226648
Fax en Montreal, Canada: +1-514-221-2009
Av. America 3584, Casilla 17-08-8489, Quito, Ecuador