25. 04. 2006

RBA: INVESTIGATION AGAINST TV BK

BELGRADE, April 25, 2006 – The Broadcast Agency announced to have launched an investigation of the legality of the TV BK conduct. The Agency claimed to have identified numerous violations of the Broadcast Act and other broadcasting regulations, arguing that the majority owners of the BK Telecom were the Europe Insurance and Astra bank, both companies in the process of liquidation, and that it was unclear who had appointed Milomir Maric new CEO and Chief Editor of TV BK and when. The Broadcast Agency also objected to voiced criticism by Nis-based TV 5 and BK TV for not getting the explanation from the Agency only five days after the decisions were announced. “The campaign that BK leads against us or their behavior does not surprise me at all. They have been like that for the last couple of years when they’ve been criticizing the opposition parties or serving of one political option”, said Aleksandar Vasic, the deputy chairman of the Agency Council. Meanwhile, the Culture Minister Dragan Kojadinovic accused the Broadcast Council Chairman Nenad Cekic of “selling the national wealth at whim”. “If Cekic sees himself as the Pope and the members of the Council think they are his cardinals, then they have put themselves above the president of this country, or even Prime Minister”, said the Culture Minister. Chairman of the Broadcast Agency Council Nenad Cekic warned that this regulatory body “would not yield to the pressures to withdraw the decisions made by this Council”. On the other hand, the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists (NUNS) and Association of Serbian Journalists (UNS) issued a joint statement saying that the process of allocating national frequencies and electing the Managing Board of the Public Service Broadcaster ignored the public interest. “The Broadcast Agency had been swayed by the needs and interests of the most influential political parties and financial lobbies”, said in the statement of two professional associations.