Newspapers - The Greatest Victims

According to Prof. Miroljub Radojkovic's words, uttered at the First Meeting of Political Scientists, the ratio of penalised independent and regime-controlled media houses is 22 : 4. 'The media are most frequently punished when they transmitted someone else's statements, others' estimations of the government's efficacy or statements of the guests given live - even 18 times. 10 media houses were penalised due to their evaluation judgement, the parties' announcements were the cause of 7 penalties, the reason concerning the violation of the Constitution was given 4 times, while it was twice that the reason lay in the non adequate reports.'

It can often be heard that the aim of the Information Law was financially based - to apply the Law creatively in order to repress the independent media.

The example of 'ABC Product' shows that the Law is not a striking fist, but only one of, in terms of media, most visible means used in accomplishing this intention. On the example of this firm - which, apart from its daily newspaper 'Glas Javnosti' also has a press in which, until recently, 'Blic', 'Vreme', 'Nin', 'Knjizevne Novine', 'Srpska Rec' and other non-governmental newspapers have been printed - it is visible that the financial effects of the Information Law are more than irrelevant.

At more than 50 trials against 'Glas Javnosti', the judges proclaimed more than 100 penalties, in the amount of over 6 million dinars. Almost twice as much has been brought to the state by the financial police, they took about 10 million dinars from the 'ABC Product'. The Commercial Court gathered the biggest profit, it lightened the capital of 'ABC Product' for no less than 170 million dinars.