02. 07. 2002

Government Withdraws Draft Broadcasting Act

BELGRADE, July 2, 2002 - The Serbian Government today introduced a new delay on its apparently reluctant path towards democratisation of the media. In a note to the Parliament explaining the withdrawal of urgent broadcast legislation due to be debated tomorrow, the Government claimed that the postponement had been forced by as many as a thousand amendments to the bill having been submitted. In fact only one hundred and eighty amendments have been proposed. The Association of Independent Electronic Media described the withdrawal as one of the most serious blows to the democratisation of the media since the government was elected. The association drew parallels with the process by which the Marjanovic Government of 1998 produced the notorious Public Information Act, warning that the Djindjic Government appeared keen to retain the stranglehold on the media established by the Milosevic regime.