I. UNTAES proposes independent media model to Serbs.CROATIA
II. High Representative’s plans to reorganize media.
III. High Representative accuses SRT Pale of sabotaging station.
IV. Plavsic favours Banja Luka/Pale alternate broadcasts.
V. SRT’s future shape outlined by Deputy High Representative.
VI. Sfor reportedly ready to beam Banja Luka TV via satellite.
VII. Serb Republic not to replace Krajisnik on SRT board.
VIII. Opposition parties request control of second TV channel.
IX. Broadcasters slam anti-media violence.
X. “Special vehicles” reportedly used to broadcast Pale SRT.
XI. US aircraft said to be jamming Pale SRT programmes.
XII. Explosion wrecks SRT transmitter in Bijeljina.
XIII. Bosnian Serb leader says media control makes election campaign unfair.
XIV. Radio-TV chief in Pale says media undermined by international community.
XV. Pale-based TV told it must dismiss director, change editorial policy.
XVI. SRT Banja Luka to sever cooperation with Pale studio.
XVII. Serb Radio Doboj “intensifying” anti-Sfor propaganda.
XVIII. Contact Group “conclusions” on Serb media.
XIX. “Serb Sarajevo studio” broadcasts on Pale frequency.
XX. Yugoslavian broadcasts lessons of freedom.
XXI. High Representative to appoint new Serb Radio-TV head.
XXII. Changes in SRT sought by High Representative.
XXIII. High Representative seeks to cut political influence on media.
XXIV. NATO Says It Shut Serb Radio to Silence Propaganda.
XXV. Defying NATO, Hard-Line Serbs Resume Broadcasting in Bosnia.
XXVI. Bosnian Serbs reject demands on SRT.
XXVII. SRT editor rejects attempts to set up “protectorate.”
XXVIII. Serb journalists call on SRT managers to resign.
XXIX. Serb local radios call for freedom of expression.
XXX. Bosnian Serbs reportedly fall out over Sfor action.
XXXI. Serb leader says Sfor action counterproductive.
XXXII. Authorities to dismantle “all” illegal transmitters.
XXXIII. SRT Pale studio to opt out of alternate broadcasting deal.
XXXIV. Police dismantle transmitters relaying Croat TV.
After the UNTAES [UN Transitional Administration
for Eastern Slavonia] mandate expires, the Serb leadership and the United
Nations want to see the existence of independent Serb media in the region,
was the joint position formulated by representatives of the Joint Council
of Municipalities [ZVO] and UNTAES at a meeting yesterday [4th November]
in Vukovar.
Chief UNTAES Spokesman Philip Arnold presented the
Serb leadership with a proposal for a possible solution to the future status
of four Serb radio stations and Serb television in Vukovar and Beli Manastir.
The proposed model is based on the privatization of property and organization
of an independent media model that would have the financial backing of
the US government and the European Union.
The Serb side characterized the proposed model as
a very good basis for negotiations and expressed the opinion that—provided
a compromise is made regarding ownership relations and broadcasting times
for television stations—an agreement on the final status of Serb media
could be worked out very soon.
According to the proposal, the entire project for
the status of Serb media in the region would be realized through the national
committee for restoration of confidence and the Serb side will present
its views on the media issue to UNTAES within a couple of days.
Participating in the talks were ZVO President Milos
Vojnovic, ZVO Vice President Mirko Jagetic, ZVO Information Committee Chairman
Milan Trbojevic, Independent Democratic Serb Party Vice President Miroslav
Keravica, Chief UNTAES Spokesman Philip Arnold, and his deputy, Yuri Cisik
[phonetic].
Croatian Serb radio, Beli Manastir, November 5, 1997
II. High Representative’s plans to reorganize media.
Simon Haselock, spokesman for the Office of the
High Representative (OHR), says the OHR is planning to bring in fundamental
changes in the media in Bosnia-Hercegovina, which will affect all media
outlets in the country, from television to the press. The plan is to introduce
reforms first in the television sector, which is regarded as the most influential.
Following is the text of a report by the Bosnian newspaper ‘Dnevni Avaz’;
subheadings as published:
One of the crucial issues to be reviewed by the
members of the Peace Implementation Commission for the Dayton agreement
in Bonn will be the reform of the media in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
At this body’s meeting at ministerial level, planned
for 9th and 10th December in Bonn, the Office of the High Representative
[OHR] will broach the issue. It is still too early to guess what the decision
of the final arbiter of the peace agreement for Bosnia-Hercegovina might
be.
The OHR plans a fundamental reconstruction of the
media in Bosnia-Hercegovina, which will encompass all the media in the
country, from television to the press. Of course, we shall first implement
reforms in the most influential media, that is, television, after which
we will move on to the rest, OHR spokesman Simon Haselock told ‘Dnevni
Avaz.’
Haselock is significantly involved in preparing
the international community’s media strategy in our country.
A federal network
Haselock claims that the reconstruction will start
at the basic level, that is, the cantons in the federation, and that the
entire media strategy for the federation will be built on this. The same
model will be offered to the [Bosnian] Serb Republic and Bosnia-Hercegovina
as a whole.
The legal basis for the media reform is the Law
on Telecommunications, which has to be passed at state level and which
is the tougher part of the job, and the Law on the Media, which can be
passed very quickly at cantonal level and subsequently implemented throughout
Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Until this happens, we are planning to form two
commissions authorized for the entire country, which could exist independently
of any institutions. One commission would make sure that media standards
are respected and would issue licences. The other would be of an appellate
nature and would deal with complaints on media treatment or media behaviour
in the communications process. Both commissions would consist of domestic
and foreign members, Haselock said.
Asked about the kind of standards that would be
implemented, Haselock said that they were the principles on which the Western
media were based.
The foundation for the new media strategy in Bosnia-Hercegovina
is based on the allies’ post-war experience in Germany. There the reconstruction
of the media started with the local bodies of authority, just as in Bosnia-Hercegovina
at cantonal level, and then the network was developed on several levels,
all the way up to state level. This means that it will not be important
whether or not a medium is privately owned, but whether it adheres to contemporary
journalistic standards, Haselock said.
He added that there were mechanisms for penalizing
those who failed to adhere to the principles that define the work of a
medium in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
To judge from everything, we shall form a judicial
council that will be tasked with monitoring the behaviour of the media
and, if necessary, with making suggestions and proposals. If these suggestions
and proposals are ignored, the responsible individuals could find themselves
in jail, while the medium could be shut down. So far, it has not happened
in the West that a medium was closed down on the basis of a legal ruling,
Haselock claims.
Salary from the government
The judicial council will also consist of domestic
and foreign members and it is possible that it will be headed by a foreign
judge with experience in the media, perhaps someone who has done much similar
work in eastern Europe.
I have no concrete names for the time being. Of
course, the judicial council could be completely independent and could
act throughout Bosnia-Hercegovina, while the foreign members of the team
would be paid by the governments that send them, Haselock said. The OHR
spokesman could not say how long the entire project of reconstructing the
Bosnia-Hercegovina media could last, nor how much it would cost.
We will be asking the Peace Implementation Council
in Bonn not only to define the project, but also to prepare the funds to
support it. It is, however, difficult to say what their response will be,
Haselock concluded.
Prescribed standards
It is still early to speak about details, but it
is to be expected that a television channel will have to adhere to the
prescribed standards in order to operate at all. You will not be able to
launch a sports or entertainment television channel if the programming
does not include this type of broadcast.
These is a precise formula in the West according
to which a medium must work. It means representing entertainment, sports,
education, political or cultural items in the programmes. It does not mean
that every per cent of the programming must be filled with the prescribed
content, but that there are standards that are a framework for a medium’s
work, Haselock said.
‘Dnevni Avaz’, Sarajevo, October 30, 1997
III. High Representative accuses SRT Pale of sabotaging station.
High Representative Carlos Westendorp [on 25th
October] accused the Serb Radio-TV [SRT] Pale studio of removing vital
equipment from the Veliki Zep transmitter [near Han Pijesak in eastern
Bosnia]. Zoran Zuza reports:
[Reporter] Since this morning, the office of the High Representative
in Bosnia-Hercegovina has been broadcasting a new message on the frequency
of the [Mt] Trebevic transmitter near Sarajevo, from which the SRT signal
is broadcast to the Sarajevo-[Mt] Romanija region.
The message accuses SRT editorial staff in Pale
of the sabotage of a key transmitter, to wit, the Veliki Zep transmitter,
which was recently seized, and from which the signal from SRT’s Banja Luka
studio was broadcast to the eastern [Bosnian] Serb Republic.
Before Sfor [NATO-led Stabilization Force] seized
Veliki Zep, technicians of the SRT Pale studio removed equipment from the
transmitter, thus preventing viewers in the eastern Serb Republic from
watching Banja Luka TV programmes.
The office of the High Representative and Sfor are
working together to repair the damage and restore reception, the message
says, adding that the office will cooperate closely with the OSCE to ensure
equal access to SRT for all political parties ahead of the parliamentary
elections in the Serb Republic.
Radio B92, Belgrade, October 26, 1997
IV. Plavsic favours Banja Luka/Pale alternate broadcasts.
Bosnian Serb Banja Luka TV on 24th October broadcast
a wide-ranging live interview with Bosnian Serb Republic President Biljana
Plavsic. Referring to the takeover of Serb Radio-Television (SRT) transmitters
by troops of the NATO-led Stabilization Force, Mrs Plavsic said the solution
of alternate broadcasts from the Banja Luka and Pale studios was fair,
and called for “healthy competition,” adding: “The Pale studio must broadcast,
but within a framework.” Mrs Plavsic said the programmes broadcast from
Pale had been “really terrible and could have had terrible consequences.”
She noted that there was an agreement that broadcasts from Banja Luka should
be relayed to the eastern Serb Republic by satellite. Referring to remarks
by President Milosevic of Yugoslavia that Bosnian Presidency co-chairman
Momcilo Krajisnik should resign, she said she believed this referred to
his other post as chairman of the SRT board of directors. She added: “I
told Mr Krajisnik in January that a man in his position cannot be the chairman
of the SRT board of directors. That could only happen in a totalitarian
regime.” Following are excerpts from the interview with Biljana Plavsic
by Milos Pribic in the Banja Luka studio, broadcast by Banja Luka TV; subheadings
added editorially:
[Pribic] Good evening to the audience of Serb
Television and Serb Radio. Biljana Plavsic, president of the Serb Republic
[RS], is tonight’s guest of Serb Radio-Television [SRT], that is, your
guest and ours. Madam president, good evening and welcome.
[Plavsic] Good evening.
[Pribic] . . . Could we say that the Sfor [NATO-led
Stabilization Force] takeover of the SRT [Serb Radio-Television] transmitter
lies in the same category, that is, the implementation of the Dayton Agreement?
[Plavsic] As you said a while ago, that is
more than the Dayton Agreement. Did you put it that way? You used a good
expression in your last question. The information structures, like the
army and the police, belong to the entities. This was the case until recently.
However, programmes broadcast by the Pale studio were really terrible and
could have had terrible consequences. To indoctrinate the public every
evening with claims that Sfor is an occupying force could have had far-reaching
consequences, not so much for Sfor but for the Serb Republic. To compare
them with Nazis. Comparing me, standing on the balcony in Banski Dvori
[presidential palace in Banja Luka] is not such a big deal.
Nothing the group from Pale says can surprise me
any longer. They said so many dreadful things. However, the international
community is here on the ground and they were probably quite worried what
would happen to their soldiers if the people were told every evening that
they are the occupying force reminiscent of Hitler, Mussolini and so on.
Thank God it stopped, because the people could have reacted in an irrational
way. We could not have blamed the people in that case, but those who broadcast
such statements every evening. Let me tell you, Goebbels is no match for
them.
Such a mindless policy jeopardized something to
which we are fully entitled. I hope the problem will be resolved after
all. The Pale studio must function, but every institution has a framework.
System of alternate broadcasts “really fair”
[Q] As early as 1st October, that is, at the
beginning of the month, you sent a letter to [High Representative Carlos]
Westendorp about that, calling for the implementation of the Belgrade agreement,
that is, for alternate broadcasts from the two studios. However, the situation
has not changed. I think the situation was even aggravated a little as
a result of the incorrect behaviour of SRT leaders in Pale. What can we
do now? How can we achieve the unity of the SRT media landscape?
[A] I think the solution for both studios—to
have the studio in Banja Luka broadcast on one day, the Pale studio on
the other—formulated in the agreement is really fair. It is good to let
citizens make up their own mind about what is correct, about the fairness
of reporting of the two studios. It is good to have healthy competition.
. . .
Satellite broadcasts to eastern Serb Republic mooted
[Q] A viewer from Bijeljina asks: The situation
on the RS media scene, especially regarding SRT, is fairly undefined. More
specifically, will the eastern part of the Serb Republic be only covered
by a satellite signal, as announced by international officials?
[A] The lady probably knows what the press
wrote about some equipment that disappeared from Veliki Zep. I think we
did not have the time to install new equipment there. Then we had an agreement
that the signal from the Banja Luka studio be relayed to the eastern part
via satellite.
[Q] We do not know when that will happen.
[A] We talked about that, but we should find
a way to have the Pale studio functioning again. . . .
Krajisnik should resign as SRT chairman
[Q] Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic told
the ‘Washington Post’ that Momcilo Krajisnik should resign. Could you comment
on the turning point in the policy of Slobodan Milosevic?
[A] I neither read nor heard that. If that
is true—[changes thought] Is this a question from Banja Luka? Never mind
now. I did not hear that. In the past four or five days, I have received
indirect information that Mr Milosevic said Mr Krajisnik should resign.
However, the statement is tied to the visit of Mrs Marton.
[Q] From the US Committee for the Protection
of Journalists.
[A] Yes. It seems to me the statement refers
to his function as chairman of the SRT board of directors, because Westendorp’s
letter, or his demands to be precise, clearly say that Mr Krajisnik must
resign from that position, that Bosnian Serb [Television Director] Toholj
must also leave, and that some other personnel changes must be made. This
is the most important of all.
I can only say that I told Mr Krajisnik in January,
perhaps even last year, that nowhere in the world can a man in his position
also be chairman of the board of directors of the television. We discussed
that at a meeting with Mr Milosevic. Also, to be on various boards of directors,
that can only happen in totalitarian regimes. To be chairman of the board
of directors of television, that inevitably leads to one-sided reporting,
which is a far cry from the professionalism of television. I think that
is hard on the reporters, too. I also believe this is unprecedented. I
even went as far as to have told Mr Krajisnik: If you want your own television,
pay for it. Do whatever you want with it. Let there be no restrictions
on that television. But this is state television, which belongs to every
citizen and not to one man only.
Bosnian Serb Television, Banja Luka, October 24, 1997
V. SRT’s future shape outlined by Deputy High Representative.
“Once we identify all the impetuous Pale technicians and journalists, we will probably be able to establish an international board of directors that will have a counselling role. We have already spoken to Radio Luxembourg, and Mr Westendorp is considering some people. In other words, the tendency will be to go towards professional journalism. However, let us forget Pale for the moment, since SRT [Serb Radio-Television] Banja Luka has to be reconstructed as well, and we have already let Mrs Plavsic know that the Banja Luka SRT studio has to move out of the building in which her office is located as well. Before the elections, they will have to provide all the parties with equal airtime so that they are represented equally, and this includes the SDS [Serb Democratic Party]. This means that we are not preventing anyone from accessing the media, but we are against ideological journalism, ethnic hatred and propaganda,” Jacques Paul Klein, Deputy International High Representative, told ‘Vecernje Novine.’
“Luxembourg is organizing the Pale programme,” ‘Vecernje Novine,’ Sarajevo, October 24, 1997
VI. Sfor reportedly ready to beam Banja Luka TV via satellite.
. . . After the damage to the television transmitters
which allowed citizens of Visegrad, Bratunac, Srbinje [Serb name for Foca],
Rudo and the Hercegovina region to receive TV broadcasts, the international
community is considering the possibility of broadcasting SRT [Serb Radio-Television]
from the Banja Luka studio via satellite, we have learned from well informed
sources.
One of the US satellites would take over this programme
and then direct it to the SRT transmitters on Mt Trebevic near Sarajevo
and Leotar near Trebinje, thus covering the eastern part of the Serb Republic.
The SRT programme from the Banja Luka studio would
be broadcast in this way until the end of the election campaign.
‘Vesti’, Bad Vilbel, October 23, 1997
VII. SerbRepublic not to replace Krajisnik on SRT board.
Svetlana Siljegovic, information minister in the
Serb Republic [RS] government, stated today that the Serb Republic government
will not yield to pressure and replace Momcilo Krajisnik as the president
of the board of management of Serb Radio and Television (SRT).
“Last year, they replaced (Radovan) Karadzic for
us, and now Krajisnik is under attack,” she said at a news conference held
in the light of the seizure of five SRT transmitters.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 23, 1997
VIII. Opposition parties request control of second TV channel.
Four central opposition political parties on [21st
October] requested a parliamentary discussion on their proposal to take
over the second channel of the state television and radio.
Presidents of the HSLS (Croatian Social Liberal
Party), the HSS (Croatian Peasants’ Party), the HNS (Croatian People’s
Party) and the IDS (Istrian Democratic Party) forwarded into parliamentary
procedure the draft of their bill on amendments to the Croatian Law on
Radio and Television, which proposes the division of Croatian Television
(HRT) channels between the ruling party (HDZ—Croatian Democratic Union)
and the opposition, on the model of the Italian Rai state television.
“Our aim isn’t to create another party television,
but an objective one,” the president of the HSLS, Vlado Gotovac, told reporters
in Zagreb. “We don’t see this as a final solution, but one step in the
creation of a completely free and professional television, like the BBC,”
Gotovac said, adding that today “the HDZ’s interests on the HRT equal state
interests.”
Today’s initiative by the opposition would, according
to Gotovac, also settle the issue of insufficient media freedom in Croatia,
especially on the HRT.
HINA news agency, Zagreb, October 21, 1997
IX. Broadcasters slam anti-media violence.
Here is a statement from the Association of Independent
Electronic Media [ANEM] on yesterday’s incident during the ceremonies marking
the liberation of Belgrade [from the Germans at the end of the World War
Two]:
ANEM wishes to express its profound concern over
growing violence aimed at journalists and radio stations involved in the
association’s work. During yesterday’s ceremonies organized by the SPS
[Socialist Party of Serbia] and JUL [Yugoslav Left] at the Sava Centre
[conference centre in Belgrade] an incident occurred in which B92 reporter
Milos Milic was beaten up and abused.
After the ceremony the B92 reporter interviewed
Mr Dragan Tomic, the chairman of Belgrade’s Socialists and acting president
of Serbia [and parliamentary Speaker]. In the course of the interview one
of Tomic’s security people brutally pulled Milos Milic away from the startled
acting president, threatened him and physically abused him, slapping him
in the face and pulling his hair.
At around 1500 [1300 gmt] yesterday, a bullet was
fired into the studio of Novi Sad Radio 021 while a special programme on
the Montenegrin elections was being prepared. This happened after persistent
phone calls and threats by listeners. Luckily no-one was hurt in this incident.
With regard to the aforementioned incidents, ANEM
is appealing to all state bodies, organizations and citizens to secure
peaceful and unhindered work and free reporting to all media. We demand
that the relevant authorities protect journalists from acts of gross physical
abuse and to immediately find the perpetrators of these incidents and inform
the public about this, the Association of Independent Electronic Media
said in its statement.
Radio B92, Belgrade, October 21, 1997
X. “Special vehicles” reportedly used to broadcast Pale SRT.
Can the Pale section of SRT [Serb Radio-Television]
broadcast its programme again and thus break all blockades imposed on it
by Sfor [NATO-led Stabilization Force] and the international community?
Judging from everything, it can.
According to information that ‘Dnevni Avaz’ has
obtained, last week’s sudden two-day broadcast of the programme from the
Pale studio, which is apparently under Momcilo Krajisnik’s control, was
started off by activating the codes of “Bura” [northeast wind blowing on
the Adriatic] and “Kosava” [cold southeast wind blowing in north-east of
Serbia].
The former JNA [Yugoslav People’s Army] possessed
27 special vehicles fitted with computer equipment for broadcasting television
and radio programmes, as well as for jamming. Thanks to these vehicles,
programmes can be broadcast at any time of day or night and from any location.
The former JNA obtained them specially in order to be able to create a
complete media blockade over Albania at any time!
The vehicles and all the equipment are now in the
possession of Belgrade, that is, the FRY. They are allegedly under the
total control of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army.
What is particularly interesting here is that, according
to the previous plan, the “Yutel” programme of that time should have been
broadcast via these vehicles, whereby all blockades of that programme would
have been avoided.
Ante Markovic, prime minister of the former Yugoslavia,
gave his approval for these special vehicles to be given to “Yutel,” but
Slobodan Milosevic and the top brass of the former JNA stopped that, fearing
the programme that would have been broadcast.
According to our sources, the vehicles for broadcasting
television programmes were never used until the SRT broke into the television
network last week.
‘Dnevni Avaz,’ Sarajevo, October 21, 1997
XI. US aircraft said to be jamming Pale SRT programmes.
SFOR [Stabilization Force] Spokesman Maj John Blakely
reported in Sarajevo [on 20th October] that the international forces used
an aircraft to jam the frequencies of the Serb Radio-Television (SRT) Pale
studio.
Blakely said at a news conference in Sarajevo that
a US aircraft started to broadcast a message last night informing the Serbs
in the eastern part of the Serb Republic that the Pale authorities are
responsible for the interruption of the regular programme.
This is the first time that this plane has been
used to jam SRT programmes, said Blakely.
[The arrival of three US electronics warfare aircraft
in Bosnia and details of their role and capabilities were reported by the
Voice of America on 13th September.]
Serb Radio, Banja Luka, October 20, 1997
XII. Explosion wrecks SRT transmitter in Bijeljina.
The Serb Radio-TV [SRT] transmitter in Bijeljina
[eastern Bosnia], which was operating on channel 43 UHF, was destroyed
at 0215 [0015 gmt] this morning, Serb Bijeljina radio reported today. The
radio added that this was a terrorist sabotage action carried out with
a timed explosive device.
The transmitter, from which the local programme
was broadcast, was situated on a multistorey residential block in the town
centre. The explosion destroyed a monitor and all the electronic equipment.
The site itself and the access to the transmitter were also destroyed.
The estimated damage is DM50,000. The explosion
caused considerable damage to flats in the multistorey block and nearby
buildings.
First results of the investigation indicate that
there is no danger of fire. Investigators of the Interior Ministry are
searching for the perpetrators of this act of terrorism, Serb Bijeljina
radio reports.
[The Yugoslav news agency Beta on 20th October reported:
“Banja Luka, 20th October: At about two o’clock this morning [0000 gmt],
a powerful explosion destroyed the transmitter of Serb Radio and Television
(SRT) in Bijeljina.
The transmitter was mounted on a building only 50
metres away from the SRT studio in the town. An investigation team has
carried out an inspection, but there is still no official statement available.
Unofficially, the explosion was the result of an act of sabotage involving
the planting of explosives. The destruction of this transmitter has effectively
completely halted the broadcasting of SRT programmes from Bijeljina and
reception of the signal from the Udrigovo transmitter, which is under the
control of the Stabilization Force [Sfor].” ]
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 20, 1997
XIII. Bosnian Serb leader says media control makes election campaign unfair.
[Announcer] The member of the Presidency of
Bosnia-Hercegovina from the [Bosnian] Serb Republic [Momcilo Krajisnik]
had a meeting in Pale today with the head of the OSCE mission in Bosnia,
Robert Frowick. After the meeting Frowick said that the OSCE role was to
secure equal access to the media for all sides. He said that negotiations
to this end would continue and that the OSCE would do its utmost to secure
normal conditions for the coming elections.
Krajisnik said that the Serb side had insisted that
the elections be held in accordance with, as he put it, the [Bosnian] Serb
Republic rules and as stipulated by the Belgrade Agreement [signed by Krajisnik,
Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic and Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic on 24th September], i.e. that parliamentary and presidential
elections should be closely linked. We insist on the management of Serb
Radio-TV [SRT] being placed back in the hands of its founder, i.e. the
government of the Serb Republic as urgently as possible, Krajisnik added.
Reacting to [High Representative Carlos] Westendorp’s letter on the SRT
status, Krajisnik said:
[Krajisnik] Of course, I wrote a letter, I
suggested negotiations as the way of finding the best solution but unfortunately
Mr Westendor—I had a very high opinion of him and we even enjoyed a very
good relationship—he, in fact, does not want to talk, he wants the issue
of Serb Radio-TV to remain unsolved and its founder to be kept at bay in
order to give control to Mrs [Biljana] Plavsic [Bosnian Serb president].
This is all designed to bring to power some new forces headed by Mrs Plavsic,
to help them during the election campaign in an illegitimate way.
This is intolerable, we shall fight it but I do
not believe that we shall succeed since this is struggle is being fought
on an unequal footing.
Radio B92, Belgrade, October 20, 1997
XIV. Radio-TV chief in Pale says media undermined by international community.
The editor in chief of Serb Radio-TV, Drago Vukovic,
has described as worrying the letter sent by the Serb Radio-TV Banja Luka
studio coordinator, Ratomir Neskovic, to High Representative Carlos Westendorp.
Neskovic accused Pale studio of broadcasting its programme in violation
of the Belgrade Agreement [in which the rival Bosnian Serb leaders agreed
on election dates and on an undivided media network].
According to Vukovic, Serb Radio-TV Pale studio
is not violating the agreement but fighting for its implementation by broadcasting
its programme while its work is being undermined by the international community.
Radio B92, Belgrade, October 19, 1997
XV. Pale-based TV told it must dismiss director, change editorial policy.
The replacement of the director-general of [Bosnian]
Serb Radio-TV, a change in the editorial standards and supervision of the
editorial policy are the conditions for the lifting of the blockade of
the [Serb Radio-TV] transmitters [taken over by the NATO-led force], Simon
Haselock, a spokesman of the high representative in Bosnia-Hercegovina,
said this evening.
The fourth condition is that Sfor [NATO-led Stabilization Force] be
allowed to inspect [Bosnian Serb radio and TV] transmitters.
What you see at this moment is a blank screen: the
international community is not responsible for this, but someone else is,
someone who has already taken four transmitters out of action, Haselock
told [Bosnian Serb news agency] SRNA, without specifying whom he had in
mind.
Radio B92, Belgrade, October 18, 1997
XVI. SRT Banja Luka to sever cooperation with Pale studio.
The coordinator of Serb Radio-TV [SRT] Banja Luka
studio, Radomir Neskovic, has sent a letter to High Representative Carlos
Westendorp saying that the recently signed Belgrade agreement is being
violated by the broadcast of programmes from Pale. Zoran Zuza reports:
[Reporter] The SRT programme prepared by journalists
in Pale has been broadcast throughout the day [17th October] despite the
fact that the High Representative’s office has not given its permission
and that four transmitters, seized on 1st October, are still under Sfor’s
[NATO-led Stabilization Force] control. Carlos Westendorp was informed
about this in a letter from SRT Banja Luka studio today. The letter adds
that the broadcast of programmes from the [Serb] Sarajevo studio is in
violation of the Belgrade agreement and the agreement with the international
community on a single information system in the [Bosnian] Serb Republic.
The letter, signed by the coordinator of Banja Luka
studio, Radomir Neskovic, informs Westendorp that programmes were broadcast
from the SRT studio in Bijeljina last night, in violation of the agreement.
It was produced following the same disputed editorial policies [of the
Pale studio].
Neskovic says that the programme was broadcast from
Bijeljina via the Sep, [Mt] Trebevic [south of Sarajevo], Kmur, Leprsnik
and Leotar transmitters and that it could be seen and heard from Bijeljina
[eastern Bosnia] to Trebinje [Hercegovina].
The Banja Luka signal cannot be received in the same parts of the eastern
Serb Republic where the signal from Bijeljina is not received.
In order not to remain isolated in its perilous
editorial policy, the management of SRT in Pale wants to create a confrontation
between as many people from as large an area as possible and the international
community, to create a political problem of wider proportions and to avoid
fulfilling the conditions you have set, the letter to Westendorp says.
It adds that there cannot be any further constructive
cooperation with the management of SRT in Pale and that their future activities
in the SRT information system will jeopardize parliamentary elections and
the democratization process in the Serb Republic.
The letter was reported in the main TV news bulletin
prepared by editors in Pale with the comment that Neskovic did not mind
the fact that programmes from Banja Luka had been broadcast exclusively
ever since the seizure of transmitters.
Your reporter has learnt that the management of
the Banja Luka studio has not even tried to get in touch with their colleagues
in Pale to reach an agreement on broadcasts of their programmes on alternative
days.
The information system of the Serb Republic is therefore
divided along the same lines which divide the Serb Republic when it comes
to the police—the signal from Banja Luka studio is received in the municipalities
controlled by the Interior Ministry loyal to President Biljana Plavsic.
Radio B92, Belgrade, October 17, 1997
XVII. Serb Radio Doboj “intensifying” anti-Sfor propaganda.
Polish Maj Artur Bilski, the spokesman for the Nordic-Polish
Brigade of the Stabilization Force (Sfor), accused the local radio in Doboj
of intensifying its propaganda against Sfor members [on 16th October].
At a regular news conference he accused Radio Doboj
of broadcasting a report according to which the driver of a US tank killed
two civilians and wounded one. This incident happened on Sunday [12th October]
near Odzak on the Doboj-Modrica road. The official investigation into the
accident is still under way.
Local radio chief editor Ozren Jorganovic adamantly
rejected Bilski’s claim, saying that Radio Doboj only broadcast the report
from ‘ Vecernje Novosti,’ and that the Sfor members should complain to
the newspaper.
Bosnian Serb radio behaviour
At 1000 gmt on 17th October a station identifying
itself as Srpska Radio-Televizija (Serb Radio-TV) was monitored on 1071
kHz and 1386 kHz carrying a 10-minute “Serb radio programme” news bulletin.
The station was believed to be broadcasting from Pale.
The Banja Luka publication ‘Dnevne Nezavisne Novine’
reported on 17th October that “for several days now,” the eastern part
of the Serb Republic had been deprived of signals from Bosnian Serb Radio’s
Banja Luka studio. The paper added: “According to what ‘Dnevne Nezavisne
Novine’has found out, there are several reasons why the broadcasting of
the programme has been disrupted, but broadcasting experts claim that the
most likely thing that has happened is that someone (probably from the
Serb Democratic Party [SDS] leadership) ordered the Serb radio signal to
be disconnected from the transmitter at Veliki Zep. The transmitter is
the only remaining Serb Radio-TV [SRT] transmitter from Doboj to Trebinje
that is not under the Stabilization Force’s [Sfor] control. The Veliki
Zep transmitter is located in the vicinity of Han Pijesak, and, owing to
the proximity of certain military facilities that are secured by members
of the Serb Republic army, Sfor has not even tried to take control of it,
unlike the transmitters at Duge Njive near Doboj, Udrigovo near Lopare,
Trebevic near Sarajevo and Leotar near Trebinje. However, Veliki Zep is
considered to be one of the crucial facilities in the SRT’s broadcasting
system and it seems that someone has exploited this, thus blocking information
that is not to the liking of the SDS leadership.”
At 1400 gmt on 19th October a radio station describing
itself as “Srpska Radio-Televizija” (Serb Radio-TV) broadcast a seven-minute
news bulletin “from Serb Sarajevo.” The station was monitored again on
21st October, when it was broadcasting on 103.8 MHz, one of the frequencies
assigned to Serb Radio from Pale.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 16, 1997
XVIII. Contact Group “conclusions” on Serb media.
The Contact Group continues to work for the implementation
of the Peace Agreement under the guidance of the decisions taken by ministers
of the PIC [Peace Implementation Council] Steering Board Countries at Sintra.
The Contact Group looks to the High Representative
to implement agreed policy on the ground and supports him in carrying out
this responsibility.
On the question of the regulation of the media in
Bosnia-Hercegovina, the Contact Group is working urgently for a Bosnia-Hercegovina-wide
system which meets normal European democratic standards.
In the short term, the Contact Group requires a
number of immediate steps in Republika Srpska [RS]:
“Chairman’s conclusions of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Contact Group meeting in Rome on 17th October,” Italian Foreign Ministry web site, Rome, October 17, 1997
XIX. “Serb Sarajevo studio” broadcasts on Pale frequency.
[Bosnian] Serb Radio-TV Sarajevo [Pale] studio this
evening rejoined the Serb Republic information system and started to broadcast
its programmes.
The blockade which had lasted several days [as heard—since
4th October] was lifted with the broadcast of the main news bulletin, following
which the studio continued to broadcast its programmes.
The studio confirmed to SRNA that since the broadcast
of the programme, viewers had been ringing expressing satisfaction because
they again had the opportunity to watch programmes broadcast by Serb Sarajevo
studio.
The employees of Serb Radio-TV Serb Sarajevo studio
had decided earlier today to end their strike, which had started at the
beginning of this month when Sfor [NATO-led Stabilization Force] members
seized four transmitters.
[At approximately 1729 gmt on 16th October, the
television frequency normally used for Bosnian Serb TV (Pale), but which
had in recent days been carrying the Bosnian Serb TV (Banja Luka) signal,
suffered a momentary outage, followingsome advertisements broadcast from
the Banja Luka studio, after which there appeared a full-screen caption
advertising the “Dnevnik” evening news, which was different in design from
the usual Banja Luka caption. There was a significant deterioration in
the quality of the signal, and the signature tune for the news and the
on screen “SRT” logo in Cyrillic were observed to be different from previous
days.
When the news bulletin began, the studio background
and presenters were different from previous days. The following announcement
was heard: “Good evening, esteemed viewers, from the Serb Sarajevo studio
[Srpsko Sarajevo studio].”
At the end of the bulletin, an announcer said: “During
the period of time when we were disabled from broadcasting, we organized
Slobodno [free] and over the next few days we will be telling you about
what happened.”
After the news ended at 1830 gmt, the frequency
continued to carry programmes from the Pale studio.]
BBC Monitoring Research, October 16, 1997
XX. Yugoslavian broadcasts lessons of freedom.
By Richard Reeves
“Why aren’t you in jail?” I asked. Veran Matic stiffened
for an instant. Then he answered: “Serbia is a ‘soft’ dictatorship. Even
under Milosevic there is a certain space in which you can operate.”
Mr. Matic is an operator. In 1989, he helped create
B92, an independent (and illegal) radio station in Belgrade, which has
become the center of a loose network of 28 stations covering 70 percent
of the country.
The operation also includes affiliated newspapers,
a book publisher, video and CD divisions, and a cultural center—all independent
of state systems. More important than that, B92 is still there.
Every few months or weeks, the government of Slobodan
Milosevic, the president of the Republic of Yugoslavia, tries to shut B92
down—and fails. In brilliant and romantic riposte, Mr. Matic wins again
and again.
When the transmitter was shut down, B92 threw open
its windows and broadcast to crowds in the streets. At other times, silenced
for days, the station used the Internet to send news to the BBC, the Voice
of America, Deutsche Welle and Radio Free Europe, which then broadcast
reports back into the Serbian countryside.
When the Ministry of Information announced a “final”
shutdown in four days, B92 switched to Orwellian programming praising Mr.
Milosevic lavishly, saying, in Veran Matic’s words, “Stay tuned: This is
what we will sound like in four days.”
Old trick
It was a variation of the old newspaper trick of
attacking censorship by leaving columns blank where true news would have
been. People in Belgrade were actually throwing radios into the street
and, at B92’s urging, flooding the min]
“After all,” Mr. Matic continued. “We are not totally
independent ourselves. We have to try to protect ourselves against our
own political leanings.”
What are they? “Well, we are not part of the opposition;
we established ‘equal time’ provisions during the elections. But if police
are beating students, we run the students’ side.” He laughed, then added:
“And if students begin beating policemen, we’ll still support the students.”
World is watching
What next for his country? “It is almost impossible
to overthrow Milosevic, but his decline has started,” Mr. Matic observed.
“He can try to make chaos, using the police, but that is now a dangerous
strategy, because the world is watching and supporting the democratic movement.”
B92 is responsible for some of that. I asked Mr.
Matic what will happen to the station in a new Serbia. He answered: “The
Western stations will come in with their programming and drive us out of
business.”
Richard Reeves writes a syndicated column.
Baltimore Sun, October 14, 1997
XXI. High Representative to appoint new Serb Radio-TV head.
High Representative for Bosnia-Hercegovina Carlos
Westendorp has decided to appoint a “transitory international director-general”
and two deputies to head Serb Radio-TV (SRT) in order to “adjust this television
network to democratic standards and the spirit and letter of the Dayton
agreement.”
In a letter he sent to Momcilo Krajisnik, Serb member
of the three-member Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency, Westendorp said that
he will insist on the resignation of SRT Director-General Miroslav Toholj
and all members of the SRT board of management, including Krajisnik himself.
Explaining that he “decided to take this necessary action in order to enable
the Serb Republic (RS) citizens to have access to truly open, independent
and objective television programmes,” in his letter to Krajisnik, Westendorp
lists a number of conditions that will apply to the SRT, requesting that
they “be accepted at once.”
The letter states that the Office of the High Representative
will draft a statute and editorial charter for the SRT, which should be
adopted by the RS government as well. If the SRT does not comply with this,
the consequence will be “being immediately denied the right to broadcast
programmes.” At the demand of the authorized representatives of the international
community, the SRT will be obliged to broadcast programmes requested by
these representatives “without editing or commenting.” Westendorp is reportedly
also planning to bring in teams of journalists and editors “to train personnel
and supervise” the programmes they are making. The SRT journalists and
editors will be evaluated in a similar way to how the police are,” which
means that “only those who are positively evaluated will be able to get
a job again.”
“New regulations for monitoring elections in conformity
with international standards” will also be introduced. It is said in Westendorp’s
letter that the SRT will have to bind itself in writing to full cooperation
with the new leadership. The SRT should also submit “a full list of transmitters,
frequencies and studios” and bind itself not to make any technical changes
to them without the consent of the Office of the High Representative and
Sfor [NATO-led Stabilization Force]. The Sfor or the Office will also have
to be given a list of persons who are “permitted to enter, stay and work
in the SRT transmitters and studios.” The SRT transmitters and studios
will be protected only by Sfor troops, who will have access to all SRT
facilities. In order to cover the entire territory of the RS, the SRT,
it is said, should ensure the connections with the existing network of
the OBN [Open Broadcast Network]. It is also requested of the SRT that
it submit a written agreement with “all future changes that may turn out
to be necessary.”
In his letter to Krajisnik, Westendorp reiterated
that the seizure of SRT transmitters “was necessary because of the crude
distortion of the report” on the news conference held by Hague Tribunal
Prosecutor Louise Arbour whereby “the earlier agreement between you, the
Pale SRT, and the international community was violated.” “The Serbs deserve
something better than that, they have a right to media that would tell
them the truth and give full freedom to a broad array of opinions, including
the stands of the opposition and minority groups. Instead of that, they
were presented lies and distorted pictures,” reads the letter Westendorp
sent to Krajisnik yesterday.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 9, 1997
XXII. Changes in SRT sought by High Representative.
The international community’s High Representative
Carlos Westendorp met Momcilo Krajisnik, chairman of the Serb Radio-TV
[SRT] board of directors, in Sarajevo [7th October]. The officials discussed
the media, Westendorp’s spokesman Simon Haselock said at today’s news conference.
At the meeting, Westendorp set out for Krajisnik
numerous criteria for restructuring SRT, which, if accepted, will enable
the [resumption of] broadcasting of the Pale studio programme. Haselock
added that one of the main criteria pertained to politicians withdrawing
from the SRT’s board of directors, and their giving up their right to control
the station. Asked who the politicians were, Haselock said that the criteria
applied to Krajisnik himself, followed by board of directors deputy chairman
Stojic and SRT director Miroslav Toholj. Haselock stressed that the SRT’s
board of directors was primarily made up of politicians loyal to the Serb
Democratic Party [SDS]. He added that it was the High Representative Office’s
goal to reform the entire SRT programme, and to remove the influence of
politicians; this also applies to the Banja Luka studio, because the international
community is not fully satisfied with its reporting.
Radio Bosnia-Hercegovina, Sarajevo, October 7, 1997
XXIII. High Representative seeks to cut political influence on media.
The Office of the High Representative [OHR] is developing
a strategy for solving the issue of political influence on the media in
Bosnia-Hercegovina, spokesman Simon Haselock said on [6th October].
Haselock was quoted by the Bosnian Croat news agency
Habena as saying that the strategy would not focus only on Serb Radio and
Television (SRT), which is currently the office’s major concern, but on
the overall transformation of the media. Recommendations and changes will
be made public after the signing of an agreement with the assistance of
the Steering Committee of the Council for the Implementation of the Dayton
Agreement, Haselock said. He said that High Representative Carlos Westendorp
had met several times with the Serb member of Bosnia-Hercegovina’s collective
presidency and chairman of the SRT management committee Momcilo Krajisnik,
demanding that he come to Sarajevo for talks on restructuring SRT. Since
Krajisnik refused to come to Sarajevo, SRT, based in Pale, will continue
to be disconnected from the network of transmitters in the Serb entity
of Bosnia-Hercegovina, he added.
HINA news agency, Zagreb, October 6, 1997
XXIV. NATO Says It Shut Serb Radio to Silence Propaganda.
By Mike O’Connor
NATO peacekeepers and other international officials
in Bosnia said today that they were satisfied they had taken a step toward
bringing about responsible news coverage in Bosnia by shutting down a hard-line
Bosnian Serb broadcast network.
After two days of being humiliated by clandestine
broadcasts from hard-line Bosnian Serb nationalists, whose broadcasts NATO
thought it had already shut down, NATO soldiers located and took over a
key transmitter on Saturday.
The action demonstrated a new cohesion and assertiveness
by Western Governments in confronting hard-line Bosnian Serb officials.
However, some international officials acknowledged,
apart from the apparent irony of silencing broadcasts in order to encourage
free speech, there is a risk of ordering foreign soldiers to turn off a
network that many ordinary Serbs see as their only voice.
The officials fear that accusations of heavy-handed
censorship could actually increase support for hard-line Bosnian Serb authorities
who depict NATO as an occupying army, ultimately making it harder to create
an acceptable environment for a NATO withdrawal.
The United States, many European countries and private
foundations have spent an estimated $13 million to reform state-controlled
media and to create alternative media outlets. But after more than a year
of failed efforts, foreign officials said they felt compelled to use soldiers
to silence the principal Bosnian Serb opponents of the 1995 peace agreement.
On Oct. 1, NATO, under instructions from diplomats
overseeing the peace agreement, seized four transmission towers controlled
by hard-line Bosnian Serb leaders and turned them over to other Serbian
authorities, led by President Biljana Plavsic, who is thought to be more
accommodating to the peace accord.
The most recent showdown began last Thursday evening,
when the hard-liners managed to resume broadcasting from hidden transmitters.
On Saturday, a small unit of American soldiers, part of the NATO peacekeeping
force, was sent up a mountain in eastern Bosnia to shut down one located
transmitter.
Explaining their decision, American diplomats and
military officers said the broadcast was being used to incite violence
against NATO soldiers and foreign officials.
Foreign diplomats say that they do not intend to
allow hard-line Bosnian Serb leaders, based in Pale, to regain control
of the broadcast network unless they conform to Western standards of journalism.
For the moment, the diplomats say President Plavsic
has agreed to their demands that her radio staff members be retrained by
foreign professionals and that a foreign official supervise the broadcasts.
While this could yield broadcasts more acceptable
to foreign diplomats, many Bosnian Serbs may consider them to be just another
form of propaganda.
Asked what she thought of the NATO action, a peasant
woman, Milka Skipina, 58, standing across the street from the main studio
of the hard-line Serb television network in Pale, pointed to the building
and said: “Pale television comes from the Serb people. It is ours, we made
it, it is us. The foreigners want to silence it because they want to make
us weak.”
The network based in Pale has helped convince many
Bosnian Serbs that only the most extreme nationalists can protect them
from an array of enemies—both in Bosnia and the rest of the world. The
network has spent years proclaiming that only its voice can defend Serbian
rights.
“I thought that in the West everyone has a right
to be heard,” said Mrs. Skipina, “What about people like me?”
New York Times, October 21, 1997
XXV. Defying NATO, Hard-Line Serbs Resume Broadcasting in Bosnia.
By Mike O’Connor
In a slap at the international officials who had
declared their broadcasts a danger to peace, hard-line Bosnian Serbs returned
to the airwaves tonight, managing to circumvent the NATO troops who had
seized their transmitters.
As the transmissions here continued through the
evening, NATO spokesmen said they did not know how the Bosnian Serb authorities
were broadcasting, or how much of the country they were reaching.
One spokesman said NATO was trying to locate what
officials assumed to be at least two clandestine transmitters. On Oct.
1, NATO seized four television and radio transmitters controlled by hard-line
Bosnian Serb authorities based in Pale, outside Sarajevo, and turned them
over to the Bosnian Serb President, Biljana Plavsic, who is being supported
by the West.
American and European diplomats said they were compelled
to ask NATO to seize the transmitters because of inflammatory broadcasts
that were undermining the peace agreement and inciting violence against
NATO soldiers and foreign officials.
Tonight, spokesmen said NATO troops were still holding
the transmitters. But at 7:30 P.M., on television screens in Sarajevo,
the broadcast from the studio controlled by Ms. Plavsic in Banja Luka was
replaced by a transmission from Pale.
“The idea is to go back to business as usual,” Jovan
Zametica, an adviser to Radovan Karadzic, leader of the Bosnian Serb hard-liners,
said in a telephone interview. “Real Serb TV is back on the air,” he exulted.
The first program was a news show fairly typical
of those broadcast by the faction, though its attacks on President Plavsic
were toned down slightly. It was followed by a panel discussion in which
the United States was described as an evil empire that has occupied a formerly
independent state of ethnic Serbs.
While this was on the air, NATO officers said NATO
soldiers were searching for the sources of the signal, and others were
trying to determine if it violated the rules laid down by foreign officials
overseeing the peace agreement. “We assume this is against the rules, but
to be honest we don’t really know what the rules are now,” said a NATO
officer speaking on condition of anonymity.
Whatever the rules, the signal continued. After
the panel discussion, a Mel Gibson movie, “Ransom,” appeared.
Mr. Zametica jeered at assertions that hard-line
broadcasts were a threat to peace. He cast the NATO seizure of the transmitters
as theft, and the broadcast tonight as a blow against censorship.
“We can’t have just one point of view, the view
of Biljana Plavsic, be broadcast,” he said. “I think this should be applauded
by every democrat in the world.”
Western diplomats describe the regime represented
by Mr. Zametica as oppressive and thoroughly undemocratic. Even so, the
question of how to react to what is considered dangerous propaganda from
Pale broadcasts has absorbed foreign diplomats and officials here.
Officials from former Communist countries in Eastern
Europe have been the most restrained. They contend that shutting down a
broadcast system smacks of the authoritarian tactics used under Communism.
But the United States has assumed far more authority
here in recent months, and the conviction of American officials that the
propaganda should be silenced has, for the moment, won the debate.
New York Times, October 17, 1997
XXVI. Bosnian Serbs reject demands on SRT.
Momcilo Krajisnik, the Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency
member from the Serb Republic [RS], and [RS] Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic
rejected High Representative Carlos Westendorp office’s criteria for the
reorganization of the Serb Radio Television [SRT], OHR [Office of the High
Representative] Spokesman Simon Haselock said.
According to Radio Bosnia-Hercegovina, Haselock
said that, in the letter addressed to the OHR, Krajisnik and Klickovic
challenged the legal basis for the international community’s actions aimed
at reforming the SRT.
Haselock said that the ban on Pale television will
remain in force until the station agrees to be restructured.
Westendorp’s spokesman expressed concern with the
reporting of Croatian Television’s Mostar studio, which, prior to the elections,
had broadcast numerous insulting statements.
Haselock said that the OHR will undertake the same
measures it has taken against the SRT Pale studio if the Mostar studio
continues with such broadcasts.
Westendorp has decided to appoint a “transitional
international director general” to head the SRT, and two deputies who would
“adjust the network to democratic standards, in keeping with the spirit
and letter of the Dayton agreement.”
In a letter addressed to Krajisnik two days ago,
Westendorp said that he would “insist on the resignation of SRT Director-General
Miroslav Toholj, and all members of the SRT Board of Directors,” including
Krajisnik.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 10, 1997
XXVII. SRT editor rejects attempts to set up “protectorate.”
The international community is planning to introduce
a protectorate over Serb Radio-Television (SRT) and to destroy it, SRT
Editor in Chief Drago Vukovic told BETA [on 10th October].
The letter which UN representative Carlos Westendorp
sent to Momcilo Krajisnik, Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency member from the
Serb Republic (RS) and chairman of the SRT board of management, hints at
the plans of the international community to create a single Bosnia-Hercegovina
Television, Vukotic said.
In the letter, whose contents were publicized yesterday,
Westendorp demanded that Krajisnik immediately accept major personnel changes
in the SRT and supervision of the international community over its personnel
and editorial policy.
According to Vukotic, the central studio and “master”
of the joint television would be in Sarajevo, along with two other studios
in Banja Luka and Mostar.
As people, Serbs and professionals, we will never
accept that, because we consider it to be the introduction of a protectorate
and the destruction of SRT,” Vukovic said.
He added that he was encouraged by reactions coming
from the world, which boil down to the assessment that, according to the
Dayton agreement, information is under the jurisdiction of the entities.
Vukovic is of the opinion that Westendorp’s letter
is a “trial balloon,” that is, it is putting the SRT to the test.
“They want to see our reaction and are surprised
by our behaviour, because they thought that the seizure of the transmitters
would cause ‘ a reaction of the people’ and conflicts,” Vukovic said.
He expressed hope that Westendorp’s requests would
not come about and hinted at a possibility of the SRT accepting some concessions,
but he failed to say what kind of concessions.
“I request that the RS leadership and signatories
of the Belgrade agreement solve this problem as soon as possible. Our basic
interest is to start working, because the people must have information,”
Vukovic said.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 10, 1997
XXVIII. Serb journalists call on SRT managers to resign.
The Association of Journalists of the Serb Republic
(UNRS) has upheld the demands of a team of journalists of Serb Radio-TV
[SRT] in Pale for the [NATO-led] Stabilization Force [Sfor] to return the
four transmitters it seized, and has urged that the letter of the Belgrade
accord be honoured.
In its statement, the UNRS concludes that it “would
be wise” if the SRT board of management, headed by Momcilo Krajisnik, were
to resign and if the Serb Republic [RS] government appointed an interim
managerial board consisting of party representatives and non-party people
until the new republican parliament is constituted.
The association accused “a portion of the SRT” of
not giving an equal chance to all political options but “acting like a
loudspeaker of only one party” and took the view that Director-General
Miroslav Toholj and SRT Chief Editor DragoVukovic should resign.
“The seizure of four SRT transmitters further complicated
the situation in this media organization, which, with its editorial and
business policy, for a long time fell short of the requirements of the
democratic public,” says a statement signed by Branislav Bozic, president
of the UNRS managerial board.
The association concluded that “the situation is
worst in the SRT studios in Pale and Banja Luka,” and supported “a professional
approach and activity on the part of the Banja Luka SRT radio and television
studio.”
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 7, 1997
XXIX. Serb local radios call for freedom of expression.
Directors and chief editors of around 20 local radio
stations in the [Bosnian] Serb Republic gathered today at a public debate
organized by Serb Radio-TV [SRT] in Pale, from where they sent an appeal
to the international community to enable SRT journalists to work and to
lift the blockade of the SRT transmitters.
Expressing their solidarity with the employees of
SRT Serb Sarajevo studio, who went on strike four days ago over the blockade
of this [Pale] studio’s broadcasts, participants in the public debate said
that this and other studios had the right to continue working, in line
with the Belgrade agreement [on settling differences between the Banja
Luka and Pale Bosnian Serb leaders].
They called on all patriots and all people of public
renown “to express their solidarity with the right to the freedom of expression
and information,” which is the essence of the action of the Slobodno [Free]
movement, and to join the public debate being organized by SRT Serb Sarajevo
studio on a daily basis.
At a public debate which was organized at the behest
of chief editors of local radio stations, it was said that a majority of
these stations based their news bulletins on their own reports and SRNA,
but it was also said that in order to achieve more timely and objective
broadcasting, the network of local radio stations ought to be included.
“The plug was pulled on SRT owing to a dispute with
the international community,” Serb Republic Minister of Information Svetlana
Siljegovic said, adding that the employees’ strike was a protest against
bullying by the international community. Mrs Siljegovic recalled that what
the international community wanted—a single information system in Bosnia-Hercegovina—was
not laid down in the Dayton Agreement.
SRT Director-General Miroslav Toholj said that SRT,
which attempted to provide objective information while observing the rights
of its founder, the Serb Republic government, protested against one principle—the
approach taken towards SRT.
“The international community has even proposed a
single information network for the whole of Bosnia- Hercegovina, something
that we cannot agree with,” Toholj said, adding that “what they are calling
for is unitarization of Bosnia-Hercegovina, in line with the new world
order formula, not in line with what the Serbs, Croats and Muslims want.”
He went on to say that SRT would use peaceful methods
to ensure that its rights are observed.
Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA, October 7, 1997
XXX. Bosnian Serbs reportedly fall out over Sfor action.
The latest crisis between the [NATO-led] Stabilization
Force [Sfor] troops and the Serb Republic leadership in Pale, which emerged
when Sfor seized four Serb Radio-Television [SRT] transmitters, has started
serious polemics between the Pale leaders about the Serbs’ long-term strategy
towards the international community. As one of the ministers in the Serb
Republic government in Pale told ‘Gradjanin’, Momcilo Krajisnik [Serb member
of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency] is very angry with SRT Director Miroslav
Toholj for censoring the news conference by Hague Tribunal Prosecutor Louise
Arbour, as a result of which Sfor seized SRT transmitters.
“I will personally make sure of shutting you down,”
the ‘Gradjanin’ source reports him as saying. Krajisnik is angry because
he has completely lost control of SRT in the past few weeks, although he
is the president of the SRT management board.
The ‘Gradjanin’ source claims that Krajisnik, although
he more or less controls the Ministry of Internal Affairs, managed with
great difficulty in the past few days to stop the police in Pale from organizing
“a people’s event.” “Everything was ready for a counterattack on Sfor in
the areas of the seized television transmitters, but Krajisnik assessed
that this would have ended up badly and did everything to prevent it,”
said a minister in the Serb Republic government who wished to remain anonymous.
‘Gradjanin,’ Belgrade, October 6, 1997
XXXI. Serb leader says Sfor action counterproductive.
[On 5th October] in Pale US special envoy for
the Balkans Robert Gelbard and the member of the Bosnia- Hercegovina Presidency
from the [Bosnian] Serb Republic, Momcilo Krajisnik, had talks about the
status of the electronic media, the work of joint institutions and the
Belgrade Agreement. . . .
Following the meeting with US special envoy Gelbard,
the member of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency from the Serb Republic,
Momcilo Krajisnik, went straight to Serb Radio-TV’s [SRT] Pale studio,
where he met the striking journalists. He took part in the daily briefing
for domestic and foreign journalists. On this occasion he commented on
his talks with Robert Gelbard. Here is our reporter Zoran Zuzul:
[Reporter] Krajisnik said that he had told
Gelbard that there was not a single valid reason for the seizure of the
SRT transmitters, adding that mistakes were made during the broadcasting
of a programme made by the Office of the High Representative, but that
the Pale journalists atoned for them by broadcasting a correct version
of this programme. He confirmed that he had several talks with [Carlos]
Westendorp and [Jacques] Klein after the seizure of the transmitters, but
that the negotiations, as he put it, ended after the Pale studio had been
ordered to stop working.
Having assessed that the presence of Sfor [NATO-led
Stabilization Force] soldiers around the transmitters was counterproductive,
Krajisnik said:
[Krajisnik - recording] This event, this stifling
of the freedom of the media and the elimination [Serbo-Croat: eliminacija]
of the SRT Pale studio is certainly counterproductive. No-one has the right
to pit Sfor soldiers against the Serb people, who now think highly of them.
No-one has the right to widen the rift between the western and eastern
parts of the Serb Republic and between the Banja Luka and Pale studios
of the SRT. No-one has the right to destroy the agreement signed in Belgrade
by [Bosnian Serb President Biljana] Plavsic, [Yugoslav President Slobodan]
Milosevic and me.
[Reporter] According to Krajisnik, there are
two ways of resolving this problem. The first, that the transmitters be
liberated, that programmes made by the two [Banja Luka and Pale] studios
be broadcast on alternative days and that negotiations with the Office
of the High Representative resume. The second, that technical changes be
carried out on the transmitters so that programmes from the two studios
can be broadcast simultaneously on two channels until the elections.
Gelbard promised to brief Westendorp about these
two proposals. We have agreed that this issue should be resolved as soon
as possible, Krajisnik said. He appealed for the peaceful protests to continue.
Radio B92, Belgrade, October 5, 1997
XXXII. Authorities to dismantle “all” illegal transmitters.
All illegally erected transmitters or repeaters broadcasting
the programme of any television station that do not have the approval of
the relevant authorities will be dismantled, ‘Dnevni Avaz’has learnt from
well-informed sources.
This refers to all programmes of certain private
television stations, and to Croatian Radio-Television [HRT], which has
forcefully occupied Bosnia-Hercegovina’s media sector by taking possession
of certain repeaters, and erecting, without authorization, transmitters
which amplify HRT’s signal in the Zenica-Doboj, Tuzla-Podrinje and Hercegovina-Neretva
cantons.
Bosnia-Hercegovina Television’s signal is not broadcast
in Croatia because there is no agreement between the two states on the
exchange of programmes via terrestrial stations, which means that there
is no basis for facilities that broadcast the signal of the three HRT channels
in Bosnia- Hercegovina.
‘Dnevni Avaz’, Sarajevo, October 3, 1997
XXXIII. SRT Pale studio to opt out of alternate broadcasting deal.
The Pale studio of [Bosnian] Srpska Radio-Television
(SRT) has decided not to join the programme which is on [2nd October] being
broadcast from Banja Luka until the latest developments are resolved.
The decision was carried after the programme schedule
was disrupted. Under the schedule envisaged under the Belgrade agreement
of 24th September, a programme was to have been broadcast alternately from
the Banja Luka and Pale studios.
The agreement was reached in Belgrade by Srpska
President Biljana Plavsic and Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency President from
Srpska Momcilo Krajisnik, in the presence of Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic.
The programme schedule of the SRT was disrupted
following an action by the international force Sfor on Wednesday. Sfor
troops seized control of SRT transmitters.
The Sfor troops prevented broadcasting from Pale,
and a programme is being broadcast from Banja Luka as of Wednesday afternoon.
Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, October 2 1997
XXXIV. Police dismantle transmitters relaying Croat TV.
Yesterday four transmitters that served to amplify
the signal of Croatian Radio-TV [HRT], which is broadcast from Cubrena
above Kresevo, were dismantled and put out of operation. We have unofficially
learned that the task was performed by the Federation police forces.
Bosnia-Hercegovina does not have a bilateral agreement
with the Republic of Croatia about broadcasting radio and television programmes
from the neighbouring country.
‘Dnevni Avaz’, Sarajevo, October 2, 1997
Nebojsa Velickovic, the editor of Nis Television’s
[NTV] prime time current affairs programme “Telepres,” has resigned, Beta
has learnt from the television station, which was established by the city
assembly.
NTV sources claim that Velickovic resigned because
“he did not have the minimum of autonomy” in editing the programme.
One of the reasons for his resignation is the fact
that “almost all journalists who dominated the station” at the time when
it was controlled by the local Socialists have returned as NTV editors.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 26, 1997
II. Nis TV editor resigns over editorial policy.
Dragan Stankovic, editor of information programmes
at Nis Television has resigned following disagreements over editorial policy
with Nis TV chief editor Vojkan Milenkovic, the Beta news agency reported
on 5th October.
According to sources at Nis TV, Milenkovic “has
completely centralized editorial policy,” leaving Stankovic with “no freedom
to produce news programmes,” the agency said.
Beta news agency, Belgrade, October 5, 1997
III. Former Studio B managers vow to fight on.
“What happened in Studio B marks the regrettable
end of an attempt by a public media company to create a professional medium,”
former Studio B Chief Editor Lila Radonjic said at news conference [on
2nd October], stressing that she had returned to the station after a three-year
hiatus because she had received guarantees from the new city authorities
that Studio B would be given back to the shareholders.
She had, moreover, been promised that the city authorities
would not interfere with the editorial policy; the promisehad been broken,
but she and her editorial team had successfully dodged the pressures.
However, the new coalition in the city assembly
would never have chosen me for the post that I have been holding so far,
which makes me happy, the former Studio B chief editor said, adding that
she was concerned by the fact that, in addition to violating the citizens’
electoral will, the authorities had to violate the law to oust her.
As far as my removal is concerned, perhaps there
was a basis for it, but I wonder why they got rid of Studio B Director
Zoran Ostojic [see WM/40 1997, page 24].
I believe that this is a political deal involving
the return of Studio B to the Socialists, Radonjic said. The best proof
of this is Dragan Kojadinovic’s return to the post of director. Radonjic
told journalists that, on one occasion, Milan Bozic, at the time the deputy
chairman of the Belgrade Assembly and currently the acting mayor, threatened
to sack her if she did not stop broadcasting reports about parties boycotting
the elections.
Former Studio B Director Zoran Ostojic said yesterday
that he had agreed to go back to the station because the journalists who
had left earlier had made their return conditional on the return of the
Ostojic-Radonjic team.
We have been illegally dismissed, which is why we
have filed charges against the city assembly.
However, irrespective of the dismissal, we shall
remain in Studio B as journalists and fight to the bitter end, Ostojic
said.
The editors of the prime time Studio B programmes
“Viewers’ Interview” and “Impression of the Week,” Dragan Milicevic and
Olja Beckovic respectively, said that they had already invited guests to
participate in the programme, but they had not been “to the liking” of
the new director.
Former Belgrade Mayor Zoran Djindjic had been invited
to appear on “ Viewers’ Interview,” while Milan St. Protic, Vesna Pesic
and Dusan Kovacevic had been invited to appear on the “Impression of the
Week” programme.
However, it remains to be seen whether they will
be to the liking of Dragan Kojadinovic [Studio B’s new director and editor
in chief].
‘Nasa Borba,’ Belgrade, October 3, 1997
IV. Call for Croatian-language TV channel.
A letter from the office of Kresimir Zubak, member
of the Bosnia-Hercegovina Presidency, has just arrived in our newsroom.
The letter presents the Croat views of the electronic media in Bosnia-Hercegovina,
and is addressed to Simon Haselock, spokesman of the Office of High Representative:
Dear Mr Haselock, in connection with current events
and negotiations regarding the state of the electronic media in Bosnia-Hercegovina,
we are informing you officially by this letter of the Croat views of this
topic. In line with the constitution of Bosnia-Hercegovina, appended by
the agreement on human rights that will be applied in Bosnia-Hercegovina,
ordinal No 14, and in line with the constitution of the Federation of Bosnia-Hercegovina,
appended by [word indistinct] for protection of human rights, which have
the legal force of constitutional provisions, ordinal No. 21, it is anticipated
that the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages from 1992 is
an integral part of the constitutional provisions. Under the term regional
and minority languages, the aforementioned charter also refers to an official
language that is less frequently used on the entire territory or on a part
of the territory of a particular state.
According to this, it is beyond any doubt that the
Croatian language on certain territories of the Federation of Bosnia-Hercegovina
falls under the category of official language which is less frequently
used, and that the provisions contained in the charter, which has been
incorporated in the constitution of Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Federation
of Bosnia-Hercegovina, must apply to the Croatian language. Since the aforementioned
charter is part of the legal and constitutional order, we are insisting
on the principled and consistent implementation of all its provisions,
particularly in terms of the means of public information, or more specifically,
the electronic media.
According to article 11 of the charter, we demand
that:
1. a television channel in Croatian
language be set up within the television system of Bosnia-Hercegovina;
2. the obstruction of the broadcasting
and rebroadcasting of Croatian Radio-Television on the territory of Bosnia-Hercegovina
be halted.
This means, Mr Haselock, that the signatories of
this charter, including Bosnia-Hercegovina, have taken on the commitment
to guarantee the free and direct broadcasting of radio and television programmes
from neighbouring countries in a language that is same or similar to a
regional language of minorities, that is, in this case, to the official
Croatian language. By demanding that the implementation of the aforementioned
provisions be secured and facilitated, with the ultimate aim of securing
independent and autonomous public information through a radio and television
network in the Croatian language, the Croat side at the same time expresses
its readiness to participate simultaneously in joint radio and television
networks, state-run or independent, depending on what has been agreed,
reads the statement issued by the office of Kresimir Zubak to Mr Simon
Haselock.
Radio Bosnia-Hercegovina, Sarajevo, October 16, 1997