<nettime> ANEM WEEKLY REPORT: October 14 - 20, 2000

[<mediawatch-owner@freeb92.net>]

ANEM WEEKLY REPORT ON MEDIA REPRESSION IN SERBIA
14. OCTOBER -- OCTOBER 20, 2000

GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO GRANT LUKOVIC PAROLE

BELGRADE, October 14 2000 - The Serbian Justice Ministry yesterday
refused a parole request from imprisoned journalist Zoran Lukovic. The
former Dnevni telegraf journalist was convicted last year on libel
charges filed by sacked Dedinje Clinic Director and former Health
Minister Milovan Bojic.

Lukovic's lawyer said today that the only legal recourse left for him
was a full pardon. He commented on the release of journalist, Miroslav
Filipovic, by the Nis Military Court earlier this week, saying that it
seemed that the Serbian Government saw Bojic as meriting greater
protection under the law than the security of the country.

CRISIS HEADQUARTERS: NO ACCESS TO POLITIKA FOR TIJANIC 

BELGRADE, October 14 2000 - Politika AD media house Crisis
Headquarters decided yesterday to bar journalist Aleksandar Tijanic
from entering the Politika building until Tuesday October 17, Beta
reports. Aleksandar Tijanic has been appointed new director by the
Managing Board despite Crisis Headquarters' demands that Politika US
correspondent Darko Ribnikar be appointed to the post. The incumbent
director Dragan Hadzi Antic submitted his resignation to the Managing
Board of the house earlier this week.

"We are against Tijanic taking over Politika, because we believe all
this is being done in order to enter the Politika archives so as to
conceal the machinations involved in the process of privatisation,"
the Crisis Headquarters said. The Crisis Headquarters claim that
Tijanic was appointed director by the "assembly of sixteen people
loyal to the former director".

DEMAND FOR RETURN OF TV NOVI SAD TO VOJVODINA

BELGRADE, October 14 2000 - The Television Novi Sad Strike Committee
yesterday demanded that the Vojvodina Parliament return the founder
rights of Radio Television Novi Sad to Vojvodina and appoint a
temporary co-ordination body.

In a statement sent to Beta, the Television Novi Sad Strike Committee
emphasised that Milan Todorov could not be director of Radio
Television Novi Sad and Television Novi Sad. The Strike Committee
proposed the setting up of a temporary co-ordination body which would,
among others, include Slobodan Budakov as advisor, Dragisa Stankovic
as chief programming co-ordinator and Rencar Tivadar as info section
co-ordinator. The temporary co-ordination body would manage the
programming and business of Television Novi Sad until such time as the
Vojvodina Parliament appointed the new house management.        

LARGER SALARIES FOR SOCIALIST AND YUGOSLAV LEFT MEMBERS

BELGRADE, October 14 2000 - Employees of Radio Television Serbia have
learnt in recent days that a certain number of their colleagues,
members of the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left,
received a substantial sum of money in the form of variables in
addition to their basic salary, SRNA was told by well-informed sources
in RTS. According to SRNA sources, these additional payments were
discovered during the salary processing when it was discovered that
members of the Socialist Party and the Yugoslav Left working in the
Info section had larger salaries than their colleagues doing the same
job for the same number of years.         

SRNA reports that this applied not only to senior officials of the
left coalition such as RTS director Dragoljub Milanovic, whose salary
was around 10,000 German marks and editors Milorad Komrakov and
Tatjana Lenard, but also to other journalists and technical crew who
were members of these two parties. The additional payments were, of
course smaller than those received by the editors.

"It's a good thing that all salaries were documented. We will soon
publicly announce who was receiving how much," the SRNA source said.

MONUMENT DESECRATED

BELGRADE, October 14 2000 - The monument dedicated to Radio Television
Serbia employees who lost their lives in last year's NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia was desecrated on Thursday night, Beta was informed by the
victims' parents today.

Beta reports that flowers were replaced by a liquor bottle and three
heads of cauliflower.

On Thursday night State television broadcast for the first time a
documentary entitled "Anatomy of Pain" about the bombing of the state
television building when the sixteen employees were killed. The film,
directed by Janko Baljak, was shown after the prime time news
programme Dnevnik.

RTS INDEPENDENT UNION: ONLY KOMRAKOV RESIGNED 

BELGRADE, October 14 2000 - Radio Television Serbia Independent Union
will not allow the return of those editors and journalists who sullied
the profession and worked under orders from the former regime to this
media house, nor will they allow what these people did to be
forgotten, union leaders told a press conference in the Belgrade Media
Centre yesterday, Radio B92 reports.

RTS Independent Union senior official and head of the temporary
editorial collegium Isidora Sekulic said that the new RTS had been
working in very difficult conditions since October 5 and that due to
technical reasons it was not possible to control whether the Kosutnjak
building had been frequented by people who did not belong there...
"The basic levers of the television management have not shown their
faces for well-known reasons, but journalists from the former RTS
prime crew have come and demanded to work in the info section,"
Sekulic said. Members of the RTS Strike Committee, who are also
members of the independent union, said that out of the entire former
management only Milorad Komrakov had resigned.

President of the RTS Independent Union Lazar Lalic told the press
conference that this union, which because of the persecution of its
leaders over the last ten years had dropped to 350 members, had
suddenly received 17,000 new members since October 5.

NALIC ON LUKOVIC'S REQUEST FOR RELEASE

BELGRADE, October 15 2000 - With just one word, "dismissed", the
Serbian Justice Ministry declined imprisoned Dnevni telegraf
journalist Zoran Lukovic's request for early parole. Lukovic was
convicted on charges filed by former Serbian Health Minister Milovan
Bojic. Commenting on the Justice Ministry's failure to grant Lukovic's
parole, his defence lawyer Gradimir Nalic told Radio B92 today that we
"witnessed the Military Court, which defends much higher values,
releasing Filipovic and it seems that the Justice Ministry considers
that Milovan Bojic merits much greater protection." Nalic said that
Lukovic had waited for a response to his request for days due to the
Ministry's haughtiness, adding that the parole request would be made
again in a few days when, he hoped, the situation would have
normalised and the new authorities would have had time to consider
Lukovic's case or when Minister Bojic's influence had come to an end.

DNEVNIK ACCUSES SOCIALISTS OF MANIPULATING LOCAL TELEVISION

NOVI SAD, October 15 2000 - Novi Sad daily Dnevnik yesterday accused
the Serbian Socialist Party of turning local Television Most into the
"Socialist Party television channel", financed by "extorting money
from Novi Sad businessmen". The daily writes that this television
channel was granted both a permit and frequency overnight by Federal
Minister of Telecommunications Ivan Markovic and immediately started
broadcasting. The money for financing Television Most is reported to
have come from around fifty well-situated businessmen who attended a
meeting scheduled by secretary of the Socialist province branch and
acting director of the television station Dusan Bajatovic. "Between
January and July this year, some of these companies have transferred
around six million dinars or around 300,000 German marks" the paper
writes, not specifying to whose account the funds had been transferred
to. "It is quite obvious that with the help of 'voluntary' donations
you can create anything, all that is required is for you to be a
Socialist," Dnevnik concluded.

SEFKI POPOVA MURDER SUSPECTS ARRESTED

PRISTINA, October 15 2000 - UN police forces carried out a wave of
arrests in Pristina yesterday including the arrest of suspects
involved in the murder of journalist Sefki Popova. Police officers
aided by 290 KFOR soldiers carried out raids in thirteen different
places arresting 25 persons including 16 women. "The majority of
arrests were for misdemeanours but three of those arrested have been
accused of serious crimes, including murder", said the statement from
the UN police. The statement concluded by saying that an investigation
was underway but that official indictments had not yet been issued.

RENEWAL MOVEMENT: SERBIAN MEDIA "DOSIFIED" 

LESKOVAC, October 16 2000 - The local branch of the Serbian Renewal
Movement in Leskovac yesterday assessed that the "DOSification" of
media in Serbia had created new Television Serbia, new Tanjug, new
Politika, new Vecernje novosti and new local media.

The statement issued by the Leskovac branch of the Serbian Renewal
Movement said that around 150 journalists from Borba, who were sacked
in 1995 on the orders of Brcin and Ivan Markovic, had not been
returned to work. "We expect those who made the only independent daily
in Serbia in 1995 to be allowed to fulfill their rights without being
obstructed by this mysterious Crisis Headquarters", the statement
continues.

The Serbian Renewal Movement also stated that it expected the
stockholders of Politika AD to be able to appoint their directors and
editors themselves. "The Renewal Movement appeals against the new
nationalisation of Politika AD planned by the Radicals and the
Socialists, nor does it agree with allowing the Democratic Opposition
of Serbia to choose this house's management instead of the
stockholders. We must not allow one injustice to be replaced by
another," concludes the statement reported by FoNet.       

NEW SOUTH-EAST EUROPE MEDIA ORGANISATION 

ZAGREB, October 16 2000 - Under the patronage of the International
Press Institute, a founding conference of the South East European
Media Organisation (SEEMO) was held in Zagreb yesterday. The aim of
the organisation is to improve pluralism and to encourage the free
exchange of information and cooperation between different media in the
region.

The one day conference was attended by representatives from news
agencies, print and electronic media and media institutes from
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia,
Rumania and Yugoslavia. At the conference, editor-in-chief of the Beta
agency Ljubica Markovic and director of the Albanian news agency ATA
Frok Cupi were elected coordinators of all participating news
agencies, director of Rumanian Radio Dragos Seuleanu was elected
coordinator for electronic media and president of the Belgrade daily
Danas Managing Board Radomir Licina for printed media. Oliver Vujovic,
Belgrade correspondent for the Austrian daily Die Press, was elected
secretary-general of the organisation.          

Membership of the South East European Media Organisation is open to
all journalists in the region who support the freedom of information,
the conference concluded.

Yugoslav media were represented at the conference by Executive
Director of Radio Index  Milan Pavlovix, Director of Ekonomist
magazine Mijat Lakicevic, Director of Radio B2-92 Sasa Mirkovic,
Director of Radio Kontakt Zvonko Tarle, Editor-in-Chief of Montena
television Koca Pavlovic and Director of the Montena-fax agency Stevo
Vucinic.

TIJANIC RESIGNS, RIBNIKAR REFUSES TO BE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BELGRADE, October 16 2000 - Aleksandar Tijanic resigned from the
position of acting director of Politika AD on Saturday, while Darko
Ribnikar, the Politika correspondent from New York, refused the
offered position of editor-in-chief, Belgrade daily Danas writes
today. Politika writes that both men were appointed to these positions
on Friday by the media house's Managing Board presided over by Dragan
Tomic, President of the Serbian Parliament and the director of
Jugopetrol. Their appointments were also confirmed by the Stockholder
Assembly headed by Jara Ribnikar.

The Politika Temporary Business Committee described the appointment of
Tijanic as the result of "clumsy moves made by certain individuals who
would like to resume old practices in new times."
 
In a statement for Danas, member of the Politika AD Temporary Business
Committee Slobodan Aleksandric said that it was essential to urgently
change the make-up of the Managing Board and the Stockholder Assembly
whose task it was to appoint the director of the house in order to
overcome the current crisis. Aleksandric said that they currently
consisted of those loyal to Slobodan Milosevic and Dragan Hadzi Antic.
He said that the wish of the majority of employees was that Darko
Ribnikar be appointed director. According to legal procedures, the
director of the house is appointed by the Managing Board, and he then
in turn appoints the editors. Aleksandric said he was surprised that
nobody from DOS or the Stockholder Assembly had contacted the
Temporary Business Committee over the weekend.           

Tijanic left a letter explaining his resignation addressed to the
Crisis Headquarters, the house's union, the Managing Board and the
Stockholder Assembly on the Politika desk on Saturday. In a statement
made to daily Politika, Tijanic said that the director's position had
been proposed to him by "two DOS leaders, one of whom was in charge of
media". He emphasised that he had demanded that he and his
counter-candidate (Darko Ribnikar) come to Politika as a team. Tijanic
accused his former colleagues of not distancing themselves from the
television and press comments of six months ago in which he had been
accused of "personally murdering Federal Defence Minister Pavle
Bulatovic". Tijanic was sacked from Politika in 1993, after seventeen
years service.           

In a letter published in Politika, Darko Ribnikar claimed that he had
refused the position of editor-in-chief because he believed that the
"Tijanic-Ribnikar" package was devised by political forces "intent on
preserving control over Politika and thus preventing their somewhat
successfully launched return to the honourable members of the
journalist profession". Ribnikar said that many Politika employees had
urged him to help them by "taking over the leading position in the
house" and that with the help of the house and all the houses in
Serbia pledging for the new liberated Serbia he was ready to accept
such a gigantic and responsible task. However, Ribnikar emphasised
that the package he was offered and the people who offered it, made
that currently impossible.

The Temporary Business Committee also denied having barred Aleksandar
Tijanic from entering the Politika building.

JAGODINA TELEVISION K 21 TRANSMITTER SET ON FIRE

JAGODINA, October 16 2000  - A facility housing the Jagodina Radio
Television K 21 transmitter was set on fire on the slopes of Crni Vrh
last night. According to proprietor of this media house, Perica
Stepanovic, somebody broke into the premises first, setting fire to
the building thus destroying all the equipment in it. Police
investigated the scene early this morning, but no official statement
has yet been issued.

Perica Stepanovic said that Jagodina K 21 mainly broadcast sports and
entertainment programmes in the past, opening up its programming
during the election campaign to parties participating in the
elections. During the election crisis Jagodina K 21 also rebroadcast
programmes produced by ANEM and other independent production houses.

This is not the first incident of this kind in Jagodina. In August
this year the home of Jagodina weekly Stampa editor-in-Chief Goran
Milanovic was also set on fire. Police found the arsonists, but it
remains unknown to this very day who paid them to carry out the arson.

SLAVENKO BOJOVIC ON PIRACY

BELGRADE, October 16 2000 - Editor of Television Politika film
programming Slavenko Bojovic responded today to accusations made by
film distributors that he violated copyright. In today's issue of
Belgrade daily Danas, Bojovic accused leading film distributors and
film programming editors from certain television media of gaining
capital through video piracy and of creating respectable companies out
of that capital as well as obtaining awards for quality programming.

"The most respectable film editor in the country, currently the
president of the Anti-piracy Association," Bojovic claimed, "once
showed the pirate version of 'Forrest Gump' on television, before its
premiere in the US."

Bojovic has accused film distributors of monopolising business
dealings which prevented television from having quality film
programming, since they purchased good films only for cinema and
video, but not for television.

Bojovic explained that, after meeting lawyers and representatives of
the Ministry for Culture, in accordance with the Cinematography Act,
the former directors of Politika AD and Television Politika legalised
the broadcast of certain films by paying a "stamp" to the Ministry,
thus creating a situation where viewers could see films for which
nobody had a copyright in Yugoslavia on Television Politika.

Bojovic emphasised that he had been against the broadcasting of the
Hollywood Oscar winner Matrix on Television Politika on March 31 this
year, two weeks before its Yugoslav cinema premiere. According to
Bojovic, this film was brought from the video club on orders from the
editor of Television Politika.

SVILANOVIC: I STEPPED DOWN 

BELGRADE, October 17 2000 -DOS leader Goran Svilanovic told BK
Television yesterday that he stepped down from the Crisis
Headquarters, where he was in charge of media, because his proposals
for Aleksandar Tijanic as director and Darko Ribnikar as
editor-in-chief were not accepted, FoNet reports.

MANOJLO VUKOTIC NOVOSTI EDITORIAL TEAM COORDINATOR

BELGRADE, October 17 2000 - Journalists from Vecernje novosti have
appointed Manojlo Vukotic as temporary coordinator of the daily's
editorial collegium, the daily's staff stated yesterday. The statement
issued yesterday specifies that at a secret ballot Vukotic obtained 98
votes compared with 42 votes for his opponent Dragan Bogutovic. "This
is a great historical opportunity marking the return of Novosti to its
traditional belief, that of being a one party daily, the party of the
readers," Vukotic said after his appointment. Vukotic emphasised that
Vecernje novosti would not belong to any one party, but that they
would belong to themselves.         

MONTENEGRIN TELEVISION THANKS SERBIAN MEDIA

PODGORICA, October 17 2000 - Editor-in-Chief of Montenegrin Television
Velibor Covic has asked the president of the Independent Association
of Serbian Journalists to thank all journalists and media houses, "as
well as hundreds of thinking people from Serbia" who cooperated with
Montenegrin state television over the past years.

"Believing that many independent journalists will take on the
responsibility for the democratisation of the most influential media
in Serbia, Montenegrin Television fully expects the establishment of
new forms of cooperation, aimed at the honourable and prosperous
living of the Montenegrin and Serbia people, regardless of all
eventual possible forms of the state and legal status of Serbia and
Montenegro," said Covic's letter to Gordana Susa. The editor-in-chief
of Montenegrin Television stated that this house had broadcast the
complete production of VIN, Mreza and ANEM over the last several
years, as well as the programme "Objektiv", dedicated to events in
Serbia via satellite.

DEMAND FOR REPLACEMENT OF STATE MEDIA CORRESPONDENT FROM PIROT

BELGRADE, October 17 2000 - Mayor of Pirot Aleksandar Manojlovic and
the director of city info company Sloboda, Boban Nikolic, yesterday
welcomed the change in editorial policy in state and pro-government
media in Belgrade, but called on the leadership of that media to hire
new correspondents in Pirot, because the current ones had been
reporting in "an unprofessional and unbiased manner" for several
years.

Manojlovic and Nikolic added that it would be a waste of time to
attempt to list all the lies uttered in the capital's media against
the Zajedno for Pirot coalition, which governed the town in the
previous mandate.

RESIGNATIONS IN RADIO CACAK

CACAK, October 17 2000 - Editor-in-Chief of Radio Cacak Mira
Maslarevic and her deputy Nada Hadzimurtezic have resigned in protest
at the recent confiscation of local Television S equipment and its
subsequent removal to Television Cacak. Television Cacak was founded
by the local parliament.

POLITIKA AD MANAGING BOARD TO CHOOSE DIRECTOR

BELGRADE, October 18 2000 - The Politika AD Managing Board is expected
to hold a session today to elect the new director of this media house,
Slobodan Aleksandric, member of Politika's Temporary Business Team and
newly-elected member of the Managing Board told Danas.

According to Aleksandric, Politika employees have demanded that Darko
Ribnikar, Politika correspondent from New York be appointed the new
director. "Ninety-five per cent of the workers have voted for him,"
Aleksandric said. In addition to Aleksandric, the Managing Board
includes President of the Serbian Parliament Dragan Tomic, Radmila
Cvetkovic on behalf of the Postal Service, director of the Politika
printing shop Nedeljko Kovacevic, and Ljubomir Mihajlovic, director of
the Commercial Bank. Aleksandric was elected member of the Board at
yesterday's editorial meeting, in place of Djordje Martic, former
editor of Politika ekspres who resigned the day before. The Board is
short of one member to will replace Dragan Hadzi Antic who recently
resigned from his position as Politika's general director. "We expect
the current members of the Board also to resign at the first session,"
Aleksandric said. According to Politika's Statute, the general
director appoints editors of various editions.

DANAS ON RESIGNATIONS IN RADIO CACAK

CACAK, October 18 2000 - Commenting on the resignations of Radio Cacak
editor-in-chief Mira Maslarevic and her deputy Nada Hadzimurtezic,
officially filed in protest at the break-in to Television S premises
and the subsequent confiscation of equipment, which was removed to
Television Cacak and incorporated into this television's system,
Belgrade daily Danas, quoting informed local sources, today writes
that the background to the whole affair lies in "problems regarding
the distribution of funds obtained by Television Cacak from foreign
television houses, which paid for the footage of the Ibar Highway on
October 5".

Danas writes that the total sum is rumoured to amount to 11,000 German
marks and is reported to have been divided amongst the employees. The
employees of Radio Cacak and daily Cacanski glas rebelled against this
form of distribution.

Dragan Glipovic, director of Cacanski glas told Danas that more
information would be available when the Managing Board had been
convened.

HEIR TO THE THRONE'S OFFICE OBJECTS TO TANJUG

BELGRADE, October 18 2000 - The office of the heir to the throne
Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic today objected to misinformation from
the Tanjug news agency about the number of people who greeted the heir
to the throne in Cacak, Gornji Milanovac, Lazarevac, Kragujevac and
Kraljevo during his recent visit to Yugoslavia. Quoting Tanjug
information published in today's Politika, a statement issued by
Prince Aleksandar's office emphasises that it is often very difficult
to make a realistic evaluation, but that there can be no question of a
mistake "when the number of those present is systematically reduced by
ten to fifteen times". The statement claimed that the practice of
"deceiving the public" which had been until recently Tanjug's forte
when it came to events unsuitable for the former authorities, appeared
not to have changed.            

NEW MEDIA - STILL NOT PROFESSIONAL

BELGRADE, October 18 2000 - The radical change in editorial policy
carried out by state and pro-regime media in Serbia has not lead to
the full professionalisation of those media, states a report published
by the Media Centre and Strategic Marketing based on the monitoring of
the most influential media between October 6 and 12, Beta reports.

The monitors observed the process of "a mass cleaning up" of the
biographies of those journalists and editors who until recently
drastically violated all the criteria of their profession. The report
cites the case of the new photography editor of Vecernje novosti,
Ratko Radetic, who "personally demanded that two photographs from the
left election rally in Berane be merged," as now claiming that his
intention was to cause outrage and not to present a larger crowd.

The report also states that Pero Simic, the man who sued four of his
colleagues for the damage to the honour and reputation of former
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is now the author of a series of
articles in Novosti entitled " The Fall of the Monarch from Dedinje".

The most professional electronic media was deemed Television YU Info,
whose founder was the Federal government. Radio Television Serbia, it
was stated, broadcast programmes prepared in highly irregular
technical conditions, by journalists lacking in experience.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST ASSOCIATION IN INFORMATION MINISTRY 

BELGRADE, October 19 2000 - DOS leaders began talks last night
regarding the appointment of the coalition's representatives in the
transitional Serbian government. Democratic Party President Zoran
Djindjic told the press that there would be no problems about the
distribution of portfolios held by DOS in the transitional Serbian
government. Beta learnt from DOS sources that the DOS seat in the
Ministry of Information would be offered to the Independent
Association of Serbian Journalists.

JOURNALIST ASSOCIATION EARLY SESSION ON OCTOBER 28

BELGRADE, October 19 2000 -The Serbian Journalist Association today
called on all its members to gather at an early session scheduled for
October 28 and "put an end to servile journalism and turn a new,
clean, bright page in history". Association members were urged to
participate in the early session "in defence and renewal of their
guild association, which should represent the vital interests of the
profession in accordance with the ethics of the journalist vocation".

PANTELIC: EMPLOYEES SUPPORT ORLIC FOR DIRECTOR 

BELGRADE, October 19 2000 - Member of the Radio Television Studio B
temporary management team, Jugoslav Pantelic stated today that the
majority of employees in this media house supported the appointment of
Slobodan Orlic to director and editor-in-chief of Studio B, Beta
reports. Pantelic added, however, that the "final word on the
appointment belonged to the Studio B Managing Board", which should be
appointed by the City Assembly. Slobodan Orlic was former journalist
of BK Television and Studio B. He was also the vice-president of
Social Democracy, one of the members of the Democratic Opposition of
Serbia.

Slobodan Orlic stated that he would accept the position if the
Managing Board agreed to his appointment.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS WRITE TO NOVI SAD CHIEF OF POLICE 

NOVI SAD, October 19 2000 - The Independent Association of Vojvodina
Journalists has sent an open letter to Novi Sad head of police General
Marinko Kresoja requesting that he order the public destruction of all
criminal files opened on arrested journalists, Otpor activists, their
mothers and supporters, Beta reports today.

"Members of your police force entered apartments without warrants,
arrested young people and opened files on them as if they were
criminals, thieves, and terrorists," said the letter. The Association
stated that until it received a reply from General Kresoja, this
letter would be published in every issue of Novi Sad daily Nezavisni.

STATE TELEVISION REBROADCASTS MONTENEGRIN NEWS 

BELGRADE, October 19 2000 - Radio Television Serbia yesterday began
rebroadcasting the Montenegrin state television evening prime time
news programme on its second channel. Beta was told by the Radio
Televison Serbia info section that the Montenegrin news programme was
not rebroadcast in agreement with either the management of that media
or the Montenegrin state management.     

PALAVESTRA: BROVINA FREE WITHIN 48 HOURS

BELGRADE, October 19 2000 - Imprisoned Albanian poet Flora Brovina is
to be released from custody within the next 48 hours, President of the
Serbian PEN Center, Predrag Palavestra, said today quoting "reliable
sources". The Serbian and International PEN Centers have lobbied
Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica for the release of Brovina who
was imprisoned last year on charges of having conspired in terrorist
activities.     

DUSAN CUKIC'S SALARY 116,000 DINARS

BELGRADE, October 19 2000 - A list of former Vecernje novosti
management salaries was put up on the daily's bulletin board
yesterday, Belgrade daily Glas javnosti writes today. According to
this list, acting editor-in-chief Dusan Cukic received 116,000 dinars
in August.  Cukic's assistants Ilija Zurovac and Ivan Pajdic received
80,000, and 40,000 dinars respectively. Coordinator of the Novosti
editorial team Manojlo Vukotic said that he had not yet had the
opportunity to see the rest of the employee's salaries but had
immediately made public the salaries he had discovered to date.

INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATION NOMINATES BISERKA MATIC

BELGRADE, October 20 2000 - The Independent Association of Serbian
Journalists today announced their acceptance of the Democratic
Opposition of Serbia's offer to appoint its representative of the
transitional republic government in a joint Information portfolio. The
Association's Executive Committee unanimously voted for long time
journalist, daily Politika analyst and President of the Association's
Court of Honour Biserka Matic.

COMMERCIAL COURT ON BORBA

BELGRADE, October 20 2000 - The Belgrade Commercial Court has decided
to launch a procedure to evaluate conditions for the liquidation of
the federal public company Borba, acting president of the court Goran
Kljajevic told Beta today. The decision to launch the procedure was
made by the Court Liquidation Council which yesterday established
temporary security measures restricting the rights of Borba director
Zivorad Djordjevic and all other authorised persons thus terminating
all payments from accounts ordered by the said persons. The Council
appointed Manojlo Vukotic as temporary Borba representative.

RODIC ON SRBIJASUME TELEVISION

BELGRADE, October 20 2000 - General director of the Srbijasume company
Milan Rodic told a press conference yesterday that the Srbijasume 92
television station was created with the aim of educating the young and
producing programmes which would deal mainly with ecology, Radio B92
reports.

Rodic said that a group of people from the Belgrade Youth Council had
approached Srbijasume proposing a deal with this company in order to
create a television station, because although they possessed the
equipment, they did not have adequate financial assets. When asked
whether he knew that the equipment which the people from the Youth
Council claimed was theirs, was in fact the subject of a court case at
the time, Rodic replied, "I did not know that, in fact I didn't talk
with them at all. My associates did that and all they told me was that
the Youth Council had approached them with a proposal so I said we
could talk to them and decide whether to support them and invest money
in their plans for this television station". Rodic said that the
television station was not political and he considered it a shame that
it had closed down. Rodic concluded by proposing that B92 staff and
Srbijasume resume work on this ecological television together.

The Belgrade Youth Council took over Radio B92 during the NATO bombing
and confiscated the radio and television equipment belonging to this
station and the Association of Independent Electronic Media.

POLICE RETURN TRANSMITTER TO RADIO PANCEVO

PANCEVO, October 20 2000 - Radio Pancevo will shortly resume
broadcasting at an FM frequency covering the same territory as before.
Members of the Belgrade police Communication Bureau yesterday returned
the media house's stolen transmitter, worth more than 50,000German
marks, which mysteriously disappeared on May 17 from Milica Hill near
Belgrade.

According to Radio Televison Pancevo's lawyer Goran Matic, the members
of the Belgrade police who returned the transmitter said that they had
only been authorised to hand over the equipment and not to release any
information.

JOURNALIST ASSOCIATION EARLY SESSION

BELGRADE, October 20 2000 - An early session of the Association of
Serbian Journalists, described as the first at which the journalists
will make decisions for themselves, has been scheduled for October 28
at 10 a.m, daily Danas reports today.

The reasons for this initiative were stated to be the compromising of
the Association, its subordination to former Radio Television Serbia
management, and the implementation of narrow party interests, which
have disgraced this 120 year old association.

Nino Brajovic, member of the Initiative Board which scheduled the
early session, told Danas that the Managing Board of this association
did not have any legitimacy, because it was appointed through election
fraud at the Election Assembly in Smederevo in 1996, neither was it
legal since its four-year mandate had expired in June. Brajovic
described the Managing Board as being "servile to power centers" and
supporting the "worst inquisition-style Public Information Act ever".

One of the reasons for this initiative was also the association's
silence on the violence exerted against journalism and journalists,
and a wish to "allow the principled not to be ashamed without reason,
and the unprincipled to face the consequences of their actions".

RADIO B92 OFFICIALLY RETURNED TO ORIGINAL STAFF

BELGRADE, October 20 2000 - The Belgrade Commercial Court has found
the inclusion of Aleksandar Nikacevic as director and authorised
representative of Radio B92 into the court register, carried out on
April 1 1999, groundless, thus validating the earlier entry of Sasa
Mirkovic as director and authorised representative.

The Belgrade Commercial Court ruled that the inclusion of Aleksandar
Nikacevic into the register had been carried out according to the
Statute of the Belgrade Youth Council, which was not authorised to
adopt such a statute, nor was the Statute adopted in accordance with
the previous, still valid Statute.

The decision of the Commercial Court was preceded by the decision from
the Belgrade Youth Council Executive Committee to annul the Statute
adopted on March 30 1999, as well as the appointment of Aleksandar
Nikacevic as the radio's director.

Radio B92 employees expect a successful conclusion to the remaining
court procedures launched for the protection of their rights and the
return of their equipment.
    
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