[rohrpost] SERB GOVERNMENT SEIZES RADIO B2-92 (satellite position, Internetaudio links)

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>]

RADIO B2-92 AND STUDIO B SEIZED!

17.05.00 BELGRADE, Wednesday - In a surprise raid at about 0200 CET this
morning the Serbian Government seized control of Belgrade City broadcaster
Studio B, closing down its news program. The attack also pulled the plug on
independent Radio B2-92 in Belgrade, which broadcasts on Studio B's third
frequency. A statement released this morning over the signatures of Deputy
Serbian Prime Ministers Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical
Party and Milovan Bojic, a prominent member of the Yugoslav Left, said that
the Republic of Serbia had taken control of Studio B because the station
had repeatedly called for the overthrow of the Serbian Government. The
director and editor-in-chief of Studio B, Dragan Kojadinovic, a member of
the Serbian Renewal Movement, described the act as the completely illegal
take-over of the Belgrade's municipal broadcaster, adding that it
demonstrated that the government was virtually introducing a state of
emergency in the country.
Satellite position: HOT BIRD 5 VERTICAL POLARIZATION VIDEO 11114 AUDIO 7.74
Internet audio links will be announced soon on http://www.freeB92.net

ANEM STATEMENT: REGIME SEIZES STUDIO B IN POLICE RAID
BELGRADE, May 17, 2000 -- The Association of Independent Electronic Media
protests in the strongest terms at the police raid and seizure of the
largest free broadcaster in Serbia, Belgrade's Studio B. ANEM urges the
public to do all in its power to stop this illegal act.
The raid on Studio B's premises occurred at 2.00 a.m. A large number of
police completely blocked the Beogradjanka building in central Belgrade
where the broadcaster is located. A recorded message was broadcast on
Studio B informing the public that the Serbian Government had resolved to
take over the public broadcaster Studio B which was controlled by the
Belgrade Municipality. The resolution quoted a demand from the Serbian
Information Ministry to take over Studio B because frequent calls for the
violent overthrow of the constitutional order had been made on the
station's programs.
The Serbian Government said that the legal grounds for the resolution was
that Studio B was state-owned and that the state had decided to take direct
control of "its own property" and remove all proprietary rights from the
hands of the Belgrade Municipality.
The Serbian Government also resolved to dismiss the management of Studio B
and appoint Ljuboslav Aleksic editor-in-chief of the station. The
resolution instructs Studio B to continue broadcasting as a company wholly
owned and operated by the Serbian Government. The Serbian Government Decree
was signed by Deputy Serbian Prime Ministers Milovan Bojic and Vojislav Seselj.
ANEM described this unprecedented move as lacking even any pretence at
legal justification. The Serbian Government's resolution is
unconstitutional and illegal and its only goal is to prevent the operation
of the largest and most influential broadcaster in Serbia which is not
under control of the regime.
In taking over Studio B the Serbian Government has also prevented the
operation of Radio B2-92 which, after three bans and a regime takeover, had
leased a radio frequency from Studio B and premises in the same building.
The building also houses student broadcaster Radio Index and the
influential non-government daily Blic. This raid has thus left Belgrade in
complete media darkness, with almost no radio or television station not
under government control.
ANEM has made an urgent appeal to the public to do everything possible to
help prevent a complete media blackout and open dictatorship in Serbia. We
call on all democratic forces in Serbia to unconditionally unite their
forces in the defence of the basic freedom of speech and information.
Press contact:
tel.: +361 475 0704 / 361 353 4598
email: visitb92@pronet.hu


------Syndicate mailinglist--------------------
 Syndicate network for media culture and media art
 information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate
 to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at>
 in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress



----------------------------------------------------------
# rohrpost -- deutschsprachige Mailingliste fuer Medien- und Netzkultur
# Info: majordomo@mikrolisten.de; msg: info rohrpost
# kommerzielle Verwertung nur mit Erlaubnis der AutorInnen
# Entsubskribieren: majordomo@mikrolisten.de, msg: unsubscribe rohrpost
# Kontakt: owner-rohrpost@mikrolisten.de -- http://www.mikro.org/rohrpost