18. 08. 2005

THREAT – A MESSAGE TO ALL JOURNALISTS

BELGRADE, August 18, 2005 – Media organisation Reporters Without Borders voiced dismay at the insulting comments which Serbian investment minister Velimir Ilic made to journalists of RTV B92 at a press conference on 15 August. "We are appalled at the way the minister and his aide insulted and threatened journalists in public," the press freedom organisation said. "If politicians react like this to questions they do not want to answer, it shows how fragile press freedom is in Serbia-Montenegro." Alex Lupis, the senior coordinator of European programs in the New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists, had told the Voice of America that Minister Ilic’s treats to a B92 journalist are something which above all should be dealt with under the law. “I think that a situation in which a government official threatens a journalist with death should first of all be a matter for the police and the judiciary. Then I would add that the way in which these services react in such a case will show how much the current government is really committed to free media in Serbia. But unfortunately, since Kostunica has headed the government there has been less and less respect for the media and much less consideration of them”, said Lupis. “The Serbian government generally reacts negatively to attempts by the media to research the origins of crime during the conflicts of the 1990s, and similarly in cases of government corruption”, he added. “It is well known that Kostunica’s government cooperates closely with the Socialist Party of Serbia which, as everyone knows, was responsible for media repression in the nineties. I think that there is a quite justifiable concern that the government, which doesn’t care much for the protection of human rights, could attack the media even more. I believe that the threats of Minister Ilic confirm that”, Lupis said. According to Lupis, Ilic’s threats are a message for all journalists in Serbia. “I think this sends a very powerful message to media that the government willhit back sharply if any journalist tries to investigate sensitive political issues such as corruption, criminals and breaches of human rights, all these deviant phenomena remain hidden and unresolved. In these conditions, society stagnates and cannot develop either politically or economically. I think that this is not in Serbia’s best interests.” The commitment of the government to further democratic reforms is also questioned: “The pressure on the media is opposed to the goals of the democratic community. All of this, in fact, leads to questioning the commitment of the Serbian Government to democratic reform. It raises the question of whether Serbia, if it continues with such policies, will be able to take its place in the European Union”, said the European head of the Committee to Protect Journalists.