14. 07. 2005

CULTURE MINISTER CHANGED HIS MIND

BELGRADE, July 14, 2005 – Culture Minister Dragan Kojadinovic accepted the amendment to the changes of the Public Information Act at yesterday’s Parliamentary Council of Culture and Information session, which abolished the introduction of media register proposed by the minister himself. Kojadinovic said that “obviously many still feared the past times” and noted that the registration of media at this particular moment would not be good. By accepting the amendment proposed by Milan Stanimirovic from the Democratic Party, which abolished the introduction of local media evidence, the Culture Minister divided the members of the Council. Four representatives from G 17 Plus and Democratic Party of Serbia voted for abolition, while the same number sustained from voting. For that reason, Kojadinovic urged the Parliament to decide on the debate and voting on the issue. MP Rajko Baralic from the Socialist Party of Serbia protested over Minister’s abandoning the view he had earlier debated for at the parliamentary stage. Baralic left the session saying: “Shame on all of you who have changed your mind. You as well, Minister!” “The minister has completely changed his view on the Act. It’s impossible that someone can completely change his mind in just two days”, Baralic told media after the session. Baralic was also bothered with other three MPs from the Democratic Party of Serbia, who had “heartedly debated in the favor of the provision”. This time, they voted for the amendment of the MP of the Democratic Party. Ljiljana Nestorovic from the Social Democratic Party told media that the issue on registering the media at this point was “a very sensitive issue”. “I think that anyone who publishes the papers and is partly the owner of them needs to be registered. There is nothing litigious there, nor undemocratic. Even the countries members of the European Union have such solutions. By accepting Stanimirovic’s amendment, the government has practically abandoned this motion, which was recommended by the OSCE”, said Nestorovic. Litigious resolution According to the litigious resolution, the required data were those such as the name and address of the media founder, name and type of media, ownership structure, name and address of the editor-in-chief, editor of periodical publications and proxies and so on. Print media would also be required to provide details on the name and address of the publishing company, while electronic media would need to provide details on appropriate broadcast licenses.