War Facillities in Peace Time Rip Off

When a "commissar-type" administration was introduced in the Belgrade daily Borba in late 1994, many cautioned that NTV Studio B was next in line, especially after the Belgrade City Assembly had expressed its intention of getting hold of a number of NTV Studio B shares. "Borba was used to a gauge the situation before Studio B", said the NTV Studio B director Dragan Kojadinovic, after hearing on Wednesday, 8 February that the Serbian Republic Agency for evaluating the value of capital had declared void four decisions taken by the Studio B Workers' Council in April 1991 on ownership transformation and the division of internal shares. "We were a bit naive, because we thought it was possible to play a fair game with the Belgrade City Assembly", said Kojadinovic. It makes one wonder if the expression "a bit naive" is an adequate description for someone who admits that he takes the Serbian authorities at their word. Trouble has followed NTV Studio B from the day it was founded - all electronic media not controlled by the authorities are viewed as a potential threat (as shown in practice). Studio B has resisted many attacks during the past four years since the introduction of a multiparty system in Serbia, from political challenges, police harassment and theft of equipment. With time, the ruling party chose the least painful method of strangling the independent media: through property-legal procedures. Late last year, the authorities launched a blitzkrieg against NTV Studio B, Borba, Svetlost from Kragujevac, Radio M from Sremska Mitrovica... At one time all these media had been socially-owned, and had, in the meantime, undergone a property transformation for which they had received the approval of the Republican agency for the evaluation of social capital. In the past two months they have all lost this approval.

"The law on property transformation was changed in late December 1994, according to summary proceedings", said Belgrade lawyer Milenko Radic and President of the Fund for the Development of Democracy and NTV Studio B's lawyer, talking to VREME. Apart from this, the Agency for the evaluation of capital (illegally, and contrary to the federal laws) has stopped being a public company and has become a republican organization, close in rank to a ministry, while its director has been given much greater competencies."

The state, or more precisely, the Belgrade City Assembly did not conduct the battle for Studio B on one front only. Apart from the already mentioned demand by the Agency, in mid December 1994 the Belgrade City Assembly started proceedings with the Commercial Court in Belgrade aimed at establishing ownership over Studio B, claiming that it owned "at least 35%". At the time ranking city officials claimed that city property was in jeopardy, that the finances allotted to Studio B (only a radio station then) from 1976 onwards had been earmarked for national defence, and that the radio was an organization which would inform the citizens in case of war, and that it had been given "preferential conditions in using business space", they even quoted a symbolic sum which the last founder of Studio B, the Belgrade Conference of the Socialist Alliance of the Working People (SSRN, later merged with the League of Communists into the Socialist Party of Serbia) had transferred to the firm's account in 1987...

NTV Studio B replied that it had leased the greatest part of its business premises and that it was paying a full price, that it was prepared to return the property cited by the Belgrade City Assembly immediately, and that the matter concerned "special vehicles and some technical equipment for the work of the radio station under war conditions" (according to Kojadinovic these are two outdated and little used military trucks, a second hand Lada Riva car and transportable transmitters which haven't been used in a long while), and that none of this had ever been part of the station's basic property.

The political battle for Studio B started at the same time as the legal one, since editorial policy lies in the background of the whole situation. The Serbian Committee for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms, the Center for Anti-war Actions, the Liberal newspaper, the Human Rights Committee of the Association of Writers of Serbia all acted in defence of Studio B. The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) threatened to defend Studio B with all means, in and out of the Assembly; the Civic Alliance of Serbia called on citizens to participate actively in all actions aimed at defending the right to free information.

Dragan Kojadinovic compared the situation with the "blinding of the people", and expressed readiness to defend the house with "all means", and called on citizens to ask themselves if they needed Studio B at all. Speaking on Radio B-92, Kojadinovic mentioned his talks with the representatives of the authorities: "I have recently had several talks with representatives of the authorities in private, and they included people close to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. I tried to gain time, but I also got a lot of useful information on what was being prepared for the independent media."

Obviously, nothing good is in store for them, but the authorities' current offensive brings up the question of motive. Many think that the explanation whereby Milosevic has to shut up all those who are not "state favorites" because he is forced to change the policy on which he based his political career, the most acceptable one.

Regardless of the motives, it is clear that the Socialists have chosen a favorable moment. The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) popularity ratings have never been as low, but at the same time, the people are not motivated to change anything. By distancing himself from Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Milosevic has gained some breathing space in his relations with the world. European and world diplomacy are slowly losing interest in events in the former Yugoslavia not linked directly to ending the war. The fate of the media in Serbia can hurt journalist associations or human rights organizations, but their real influence on their countries' policies can only be compared to Brigitte Bardot's crusade for saving baby seals. One or two governments will make a few threats, and then everything will be forgotten.

Uros Komlenovic

Nasa Borba and Svetlost

Following announcements, court proceedings and the introduction of a liquidator, the authorities have moved to "proven methods" in the battle against the Belgrade daily Nasa Borba. Since Saturday, 4 February, at the order of liquidator Radomir Radovic, Nasa Borba journalists cannot enter their offices in the building on Nikola Pasic Square. The order is being carried out by the security guards of DP Stamparija Borba (Borba Printing Works), and in the beginning the journalists were not allowed to take out their personal effects. They were allowed to do so on Monday, but according to a special procedure one by one, and under the watchful eyes of the security guards in the hall. They were not allowed to take out the typewriters they had brought to the office. Nasa Borba editorial staff have moved temporarily to the offices of the Trade Union "Nezavisnost" in Nusiceva St. Nasa Borba continues to come out regularly.

A similar fate awaits the weekly Svetlost from Kragujevac. The paper's editorial staff received a decision from the Republican Agency for the evaluation of capital, annulling the same Agency's decision of some twenty days before(!?) on the transformation of DP Svetlost into a shareholder company. The Agency "changed its mind" at the initiative of the Kragujevac City Assembly. The explanation, as usual, cites the "protection of social property". The Kragujevac City Assembly had transferred its founding and publishing rights to the company in September 1993. Following the Republican Agency's decision, the Commercial Court of Kragujevac could annul the decision on the registration of DD Svetlost in the Court Registry. Pessimists expect the following scenario to take place: a session of the Kragujevac City Assembly, turning Svetlost into a public company, the introduction of a new management - and the demise of one of the first independent papers in Serbia. Svetlost employees will lodge a complaint against the Republican Agency's decision with a higher court.

The Ugly Duckling's Flight

Radio M is doing well and has nice offices in the center of Sremska Mitrovica, so that the Socialists have decided to turn it into a public company

Radio M was founded in spring 1990, and its founder at the time was the Socialist Alliance of Working people (SSRN). "The founder's contribution was barely enough to open up a giro account," said Radio M editor-in-chief Goran Matic. "Before the unification of the SSRN and the League of Communists into the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the people from SSRN made an offer of the founding rights in the radio station to the municipality. The municipality turned it down with the explanation that it cost too much. The rights were then offered to the local paper Sremske Novine, and when they too turned them down, the SSRN renounced its founding rights in the name of the socially owned company Radio M. Everything was registered with the Public Media Registry and in court."

With time, the ugly duckling turned into a swan. Radio M started broadcasting on February 1991. It started with 14 and went on to 18 hours of program, and after a year turned into a full time radio station. Cooperation with the economy became better, and the radio grew quickly, both financially and with regard to the program.

In February 1994 Radio M was registered as a shareholder company. All the legal conditions were fulfilled, and the Republican Agency for the evaluation of social capital gave its blessing. But, a few months later, the Republican Agency changed its mind, and the Higher Commercial Court in Belgrade annulled the status of shareholder company. The radio station became a socially owned company once again. Goran Matic says that that was the beginning of the campaign against Radio M.

It is interesting that the attempt at taking over this radio station is not politically motivated - the editorial staff's readiness to accept control over the information program speaks in favor of this. Money seems to lie at the bottom of everything: Radio M is doing well without subsidies, the offices in the city center have been done up nicely, the salaries are good... Digital sound processing was introduced last year, everything is computerized, and in this respect Radio M is probably the most up to date radio station in the country. All this make Radio M just perfect for plucking so that the local authorities' appetites should not be wondered at. Arrogance is commonplace: Sremska Mitrovica is reminiscent of a Wild West city in which the sheriff, the judge and the mayor are the law.