Council Rides Roughshod Over Media Freedom

Belgrade, April 26, 2006 – The Association of Independent Electronic Media is outraged by last night’s closure of BK Television in Belgrade. The association believes that this rash intervention by the Serbian Broadcast Agency Council is a threat to the legal basis underpinning electronic media operations in Serbia in a way which goes far beyond the present procedure of broadcast license allocation.

ANEM notes that the Serbian Constitution and international conventions guarantee the freedom of expression. This includes the right to be critical of the decisions of various organisations with public authority, including the Broadcast Agency. Thus the suspension of a broadcast license on the grounds of such criticism is unacceptable and is seen as a serious attack on the freedom of expression in this country. It is not acceptable for the Broadcast Agency to interpret criticism of its decision as an illegal attempt to influence the work of its council.

ANEM also regards as unacceptable the serving and execution of decisions at night and with police backup, with no previous attempt to enforce such decisions in a more appropriate way. The association believes that provisions in the Broadcast Act for a range of enforcement measures available to the council imply that these should be applied progressively as required. It is not appropriate to invoke earlier warnings to BK Television over biased reporting in presidential elections or bias towards political parties in 2004 and 2005 in this case, as the present suspension of the license is obviously a response to the manner in which the company has reported on the public competition for frequency licenses.

The Broadcast Agency is faced with the difficult task of bringing order to the chaotic situation in the Serbian media sector and will have to make many difficult and unpopular decisions connected to this. However such decisions must not be made in haste lest they fail to conform to legal provisions. Decisions made in this way will serve only to create further public disturbance.

ANEM calls on the Broadcast Agency to reconsider and revoke its decision, particularly that part of it which represents a clear violation of the freedom of expression.