02. 06. 2003

ANEM accuses Interior Ministry

BELGRADE, 2 June, 2003 – The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has repeatedly requested that libel and insults be decriminalized in order to protect the freedom of speech and information more completely. The Interior Ministry has filed libel charges against Blic News chief editor Zeljko Cvijanovic and part-time associate of the Kurir paper Jovica Krtinic because, as they claimed, the article "Legija and Siptar plant Buha’s murders” is “full of false facts on the already solved murder of Buha, and with an obvious intention to discredit the months of long work carried out by a large number of policemen.” ANEM finds it unacceptable that the work of the Interior Ministry and other state bodies is being protected from public inspection and judgment by libel charges. The organization adds that only the court will give an answer in proceedings against journalists as to whether the police have made any omissions that the article illustrates.