H.E. Slobodan Milosevic
President of Yugoslavia
Belgrade
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Vienna, 21 October 1998

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI) is most concerned about the severe threat to press freedom posed by the new information law of the Republic of Serbia, which was adopted by the Serbian Parliament on Tuesday, 20 October 1998.

Under the new Law on Public Information, the media will be deemed guilty as soon as the state charges them for a misdemeanour and until they can prove the contrary. The law also introduces a ban on listening to foreign stations which broadcast in Serbian and introduces heavy fines for so-called media misdemeanours.

We understand that during the parliamentary reading of the law, representatives of the ruling coalition, most notably Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj, threatened the independent media and described independent editors as NATO officers and Javier Solana as “the man who decided on the bombing and destruction of Serbia and killing of its citizens” and their editor-in chief.

The law, which was rushed through parliament under fast-track legislation, followed the closure this month of three Belgrade newspapers, Danas, Dnevni Telegraf, and Nasa Borba, and several broadcasting stations, Radio Index, Radio Senta, TV Pirot, Radio Kontakt, and Radio City, under the Government of Serbia’s Decree on Special Measures in Circumstances of NATO’s Threats with Military Attacks Against Our Country, which prohibited the re-broadcasting or publishing of foreign news reports deemed hostile to Yugoslavia.

IPI; the global network of editors and media executives, regards the introduction of the new law – which incorporates key elements of the government decree – as a grave violation of international principles and further proof of the authorities’ intent to silence the critical voice of the independent media in Yugoslavia. We urge Your Excellency not to take advantage of this critical moment in the Kosovo crisis and to ensure that the Serbian government abandons its censorship of the independent media.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director