by way of Andreas Broeckmann on Wed, 28 Apr 1999 08:59:27 +0100 |
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Syndicate: <nettime> ANEM notice: TV Soko editor imprisoned |
ANEM press release Sender: owner-b92press-l@xs4all.nl TV Soko editor imprisoned BELGRADE, April 27 -- ANEM, the Association of Independent Electronic Media in Yugoslavia protests strongly at the one-year prison sentence handed down to Nebojsa Ristic, the editor of TV Soko in Sokobanja, eastern Serbia. On April 23 the Sokobanja District Court found Mr Ristic guilty of disseminating false information under Article 218 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Serbia, after he publicly displayed a poster ìFree Press Made in Serbia!î with a Radio B92 stamp. The District Court in Sokobanja declared that Mr Ristic had ìprovoked unrest among citizens and caused them to mistrust the decisions of state agenciesî. Mr Ristic is currently in detention pending proceedings. His lawyers filed an appeal against the sentence in the Zajecar District Court on April 26. It appears that the closure of TV Soko by the Yugoslav Federal Telecommunications Ministry on March 27 falls short of the aims of the authorities, who have now chosen to persecute the stationÃs editor personally. ANEM protests at the misuse of misdemeanour regulations to justify a one-year prison sentence in a case involving a poster which did not display ìenemy propagandaî. ANEM has warned on a number of occasions that Article 218 of the Republic of SerbiaÃs Penal Code is poorly and broadly worded, allowing the arbitrary prosecution of journalists. In its protests at the assassination of Slavko Curuvija, the bombing of the Usce Business Centre and the tragic deaths of eight of its colleagues in the attack on Radio Television Serbia, ANEM has expressed the hope that attacks on journalists would cease, regardless of who committed them. ANEM regrets that the local powers of Sokobanja appear to have decided on a brutal confrontation with TV Soko and its editor. ANEM demands that the District Court in Zajecar cancel the shameful and unreasonable sentence on Nebojsa Ristic. ANEM notes that it is exactly such sentences and other similar measures by state agencies which spread fear and unrest among the population. ANEM also demands that all forms of repression against journalists and media be stopped, regardless of who initiates them. Veran Matic, Chairman, ANEM - - - # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@desk.nl and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@desk.nl ------Syndicate mailinglist-------------------- Syndicate network for media culture and media art information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/east/ to unsubscribe, write to <syndicate-request@aec.at> in the body of the msg: unsubscribe your@email.adress