Serbian media welcomes court decision

29/07/2010

Serbia's Constitutional Court abolished the majority of provisions of the Public Information Law, noting that the draconian penalties threatened freedom of the press.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 29/07/10

The court's decision "was the only possible one", said Beta news agency's Ivan Cvejic. [Igor Jovanovic/SETimes]

Parliament passed the Public Information Law 11 months ago, but on July 22nd, the Constitutional Court of Serbia struck down most of its provisions -- primarily those imposing sweeping penalties on media outlets that violate regulations.

The court noted that the controversial provisions endangered the freedom of public speech.

"The threat of enormous penalties can put the survival of the media in question and, what is even more dangerous, can cause auto-censorship, because neither the founder nor the employees of a medium will be free from the worry of whether they will be punished for what they have to say freely," Judge Vesna Ilic-Prelic said, reading from the court ruling.

Beta news agency Editor-in-Chief Ivan Cvejic said the Constitutional Court's decision "was the right and only possible one, but the government probably will not learn anything from it, because its initial motives for adopting the Information Law were not to improve the environment for the work of the media".

"Journalists can be satisfied with the court ruling, but the general environment for the media will, unfortunately, remain very bad. Foremost because of the extremely bad economic situation, but also because of political and economic pressure," Cvejic told SETimes.

Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia Vice-President Jelka Jovanovic said the law "opened the way for editorial censorship and journalistic auto-censorship, especially given the atmosphere of fear created during the law's adoption".

"A media law should be adopted that will encompass professional standards and prevent ownership monopoly, which is the biggest obstacle to freedom of press," Jovanovic told SETimes

The government has had no comment following the court's decision, although some MPs called for the resignation of Culture Minister Nebojsa Bradic, as the minister in charge of the media.

The ruling parties, however, have shrugged off responsibility for passing the law that was found unconstitutional. Democratic Party spokeswoman Jelena Trivan dismissed allegations that the law had been passed to appease certain government members.

"It is true that a discussion on the law was led within the ruling coalition, but a consensus was reached and the government stood behind the law, which, unfortunately -- as I can say from this distance -- was then passed. The Constitutional Court has abolished the provisions as unconstitutional and that is proof that journalists have a right to criticise," Trivan told reporters.