27. 12. 2005

TIJANIC SUPPORTIVE OF THE PROTEST

BELGRADE, December 27, 2005 – Section of independent journalists, members of the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists (IJAS), called all former and current honorary staff of Radio Television Serbia to join the peaceful protest scheduled for today in front of the Television building in Takovska street at noon. The gathering is organized as an act of protest over the unpaid sum of around two and a half million Euros which this media house owes to journalists. The journalists also protest over the unfulfilled promise of the RTS General Director Aleksandar Tijanic to settle all debts to them in the shortest period. “IJAS calls all journalists to jointly support the protest of their colleagues and to warn all media employers in Serbia that such behavior, against the law and disrespectful of the elementary workers’ and human rights, won’t be tolerated”, said IJAS President Nebojsa Bugarinovic. Bugarinovic also reminded that the Section had appealed twice to the RTS Managing Board and the Broadcast Agency, urging them to settle the unpaid honoraria in the shortest possible time. “The Broadcast Agency Council denied having any legal competence over this public company, while there was no comment from RTS. In the meantime, RTS Managing Board had reached the decision to raise the salaries for 34 percent, at which point the issue of covering the arrears and current honoraria was never mentioned. We demand, in the name of all honorary workers of RTS, all debts to be settled by December 31, 2005. If RTS fails to do so, we will back all correspondents and journalists to seek the legal assistance of IJAS lawyers or file independent criminal charges against this house”, said Bugarinovic. RTS Director Aleksandar Tijanic told Belgrade media yesterday that he fully understood and supported all demands of the journalists, as well as the protest itself. “I promised them they were on the priority list, but this autumn RTS has fallen into a deep financial crisis. It was not my decision to leave those people without the pay check, but a vis major and the current financial situation. The program needs to go on. Seven days ago I ordered the part of arrears (for one third of the associates) to be paid by December 31, and the rest to be settled after January 1, 2006. Despite of this, I still support this protest and think that the status of the honorary workers should be immediately resolved”, said Tijanic. Tijanic said the status of honorary journalists could be resolved through unions and journalists’ associations, which should take different attitude toward media owners and protect journalists from those who treat them as slaves.