Extinguishing the Light

The ruling party's persistent attacks culminated last weekend and Svetlost might well share Borba's fate: nationalization, imposition of a new managerial team, total change of editorial policy, loss of professional reputation built over the years and the readers' disdain. The Kragujevac City Assembly annulled its own decision of three years ago to relinquish its rights as founder of the herald Svetlost on behalf of a socially-owned firm by the same name, and decided to draw Svetlost back under its "maternal wing"; also, it announced the setting up of a public firm Svetlost and the appointment of a new managerial team. Miroslav Stupic, ex-chairman of the Kragujevac Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Board became the acting director.

The disagreement of the opposition representatives in the Kragujevac Assembly did not help. The majority system did what it was supposed to do and the opposition delegates walked out of the session. The City Assembly session began at 9 a.m. and all the voting was over by 10:30 a.m. At 11:00 a.m. the official "glad tidings" in writing arrived in Svetlost and at 1 p.m. the new managerial threesome barged into the office of Svetlost director Pavle Cirovic with the intention of taking over. By accident, they were accompanied by armed men in uniform, to "reinforce the building's guard service".

"I tried to explain to them that the Assembly decision was illegal" Cirovic told Vreme. "Under the Law on Firms, information activities of public importance include the radio and television, not the press. Therefore, no-one can adopt a legal act erasing the socially-owned firm Svetlost from the Register, nor alter the firm's status without the staff's approval. The City Assembly disclaimed its rights of founder three years ago and forever withdrew its claim on these rights and it cannot regain them alone. Under the law, if the donor wants to revoke his donation for some reason, he has to submit a request through the court. I finally told them to come back with a court decision if they wanted to talk to me."

The Svetlost staff immediately printed a special issue which was handed out free of charge the following day throughout Kragujevac. They organized a 24-hour watch of the premises and decorated them: tons of volumes of Tito's Collected Works were taken out of the drawers, wiped and placed on the bookshelves. Pictures of Tito, Lenin and Milosevic, "dug out" from somewhere, were hung on the walls. "We were being a bit benevolent there: we wanted to create an environment in which the new management would feel comfortable when it came to visit us again. We are good hosts", commented Svetlost journalist Ljubisa Obradovic.

During the weekend and on Monday, the staff were preparing the second special issue for Tuesday and in blitz polls, Kragujevac citizens all opted for their good, old and independent Svetlost. The other side had gone to work, too: the threesome came to Svetlost with a paper, the Kragujevac Commercial Court decision.

"I told them they rang at the wrong door", says "ex-director" Cirovic. "The court decision on the change of NRIO Svetlost's status has nothing to do with us. We changed our name into NGP Svetlost a long time ago and we are registered under it."

After Deputy Mayor Mandic pledged that no one in Svetlost would lose his job (people are our greatest treasure), the unhappy and unloved newly-appointed trio again withdrew to correct the mistake. Svetlost's legal representatives proclaimed the court decision a forgery: the request submitted by NRIO Svetlost is not verified by the stamp of that firm but by the stamp of the City Assembly; it is not signed by the director, but by the mayor, not to mention that NRIO no longer exists. Criminal charges were raised against Kragujevac Mayor Zivorad Nesic-Dzado for abuse of post. Svetlost's journalists noted that it was "simply incredible that an experienced jurist like judge Toplica Cvetanovic did not notice that the stamp did not correspond to the name of the firm."

"If you are a lawyer, come to the court, or take your attorney with you and take a look at the Register to see which firm exists and which does not", Cvetanovic, Kragujevac Commercial Court judge, told Vreme over the phone and explained the court did not comment on its decisions. "As far as we are concerned, the decision is both legal and enforceable. If we have made a mistake, it will be corrected by those smarter than us: the Belgrade Superior Commercial Court. Those who told you the tale of existing and non-existing firms can appeal to that instance".

Less than an hour later, Svetlost received another court decision, identical to the previous one except for the correction that the status of NGP Svetlost not NRIO Svetlost was changed. There was no time to analyze the new forgery, however: it was time to prepare the special issue of the herald "Vreme za Svetlost" ("Time for Light") which appeared in cooperation with Vreme and was sold by the newsboys on Wednesday evening. The "regular" issue of the "false Svetlost" was closed at the same time: journalists of Sumadijski dani, SPS periodical, not read by anyone, not even by the party members, took great pains to prepare and print their own Svetlost, which was to appear on the news stands on Thursday. So, two Borbas appeared in January, two Svetlosts in September....