REM sanctions Kurir and Prva as Vucevic backs Informer

At its session on Tuesday, November 10, the council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) imposed measures on three television stations for breaking the rules during the election campaign and dropped proceedings against a fourth. TV Kurir may not air its “Dnevnik” news show for one day or “Vesti” for two days, TV Prva received a one-day advertising ban, and TV V5 from Valjevo got a warning.

Earlier that morning, the seven-day ban on the “Prva info” show on Informer was enforced for the first time, and the screen showed only the station’s logo from 7:00 to 8:30. Informer supporters gathered outside the REM building on Nikola Pasic Square, among them SNS president Milos Vucevic. A decision on Informer itself had not been published by the time of writing.

What did the council decide on Kurir, Prva, V5 and K1?

The session began at 10 a.m., and the agenda was adopted unanimously. Kurir came first. By majority vote, the council banned “Dnevnik”, aired on September 29, for one day and “Vesti” for two days. According to N1’s report, that “Dnevnik” carried a political advertising message in its main news show, which the Law on Electronic Media prohibits, the campaign program was not labeled as such, and a violation of the rulebook on protecting human rights in the provision of media services was also found.

The second proceeding concerns a broadcast from October 7. N1 reports that the Monitoring Service’s analysis found multiple violations and names “Vesti”, while RTS names the show “Puls Srbije” from the same date. The council rejected Kurir’s request to merge the two proceedings, as well as its request to exclude council member Rodoljub Sabic from the decision. Danas reports that two of the four proceedings concern allegedly false claims by Kurir about Sabic and his candidacy for a council seat.

Kurir’s attorney Zvonko Rankovic said REM never sent them a complaint or adopted a supervision plan, then argued that the regulator is selective:

“You run proceedings and impose measures against only one half of the media market. The other half of the media market, we all know who I am talking about, the cross-border television channels, stays out of reach of the regulation, of Serbian rules, of domestic national legislation and of the measures imposed, which means they will not be sanctioned, while the other half of the media market will, unfortunately, be sanctioned.”

The council replied that, “regardless, with a plan and without a plan, the legal provisions apply and the rulebooks that have entered into force apply,” and that “a plan cannot be an excuse for not respecting the legal provisions.”

TV Prva was penalized over the show “Dan na dan”. According to Cenzolovka, cited by N1, host Milomir Maric called council members stupid, said a “school for the handicapped” should be opened for them, and alluded that Sabic is an alcoholic. Prva’s attorney, Slobodan Kremenjak, explained that the show is an outside production that was taken off the air before the proceedings began:

“It has already been taken off the air and has not been on the air for some time. So the media service provider made that decision before and independently of the proceedings you launched.”

The council accepted this as a mitigating circumstance but judged the violation especially serious, so a reprimand was not enough and a one-day advertising ban was imposed by majority vote. TV V5 was warned for an unintentional error, since it rebroadcast Informer’s “Specijal”.

The proceeding against TV K1 over the show “Dobro jutro, Tanjug” was dropped by majority vote. The station’s representative, Jasmina Bojovic, director of Minacord media, said the show was designed as a debate in which opposing views are presented:

“The guests were two academically profiled professors, a sociologist and an economist. At no single moment did the hosts, the editors, the newsroom or the television that aired it stand behind the views the guests expressed.”

What happened around Informer?

Informer announced on November 9 that it had received the ban decision. Council president Stevica Smederevac told FoNet that the ban covers not only the name “Prva info” but any content in the same format, even if the show is renamed or moved to another time slot. He also announced that monitoring will track the station’s conduct, and before the session he said:

“Freedom of speech in this case is not the freedom to insult and attack council members or anyone else.”

He added that the regulator is following “the firm path that the law prescribes and that gives security to both media service providers and the regulator.”

The agenda also included the proceeding against Informer itself, along with an October 27 initiative from media associations and civil society organizations to revoke its license. On November 4, the council unanimously banned “Prva info” for seven days, but it has not yet decided on the license initiative. At the previous session, on November 6, the largest number of examination proceedings was opened against Informer.

Editor in chief Dragan J. Vucicevic said that around 7:30 that morning, according to him, three police officers came to his home address with a warrant to bring him in on a charge of prolonged insult, filed by Sanja Fric of Studentska lista. After police consulted a judge and the prosecutor’s office, he was released to attend the session, provided he submit proof that he was there. The newsroom does not have a response from Sanja Fric or Studentska lista.

At the session, Vucicevic said:

“This is not REM, this is a kangaroo political court. They are proposing an urgent measure for Informer to be shut down today. This is the terror of Studentska lista. They will not let our accredited journalists into REM’s premises, but they let in private individuals. By law there is a right to public access, our journalists are accredited. They want to ban a television station in a rush, this is the prelude to the most terrible media darkness, this is something that has never happened in Serbia. Today they will kill the most-watched television station.”

Who gathered outside the REM building?

The rally was called by Informer, Serbian Sovereigntists president Vuksa Dragovic and the Center for Social Stability. Dragovic handed REM three demands about the legality of the regulator’s work and composition, its handling of complaints from non-governmental organizations, and the application of the law to Informer, N1 and Nova S, and announced a blockade of the session if they were not met. Sabic responded that blocking a session of a state body would be a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison.

The gathering began before 10 a.m. An N1 reporter saw SNS officials Milos Vucevic, Zorana Mihajlovic and Nebojsa Bakarec among those present, along with defense minister in the caretaker government Bratislav Gasic. The crowd chanted “We won’t give up Informer”. Police were nearby and there were no major incidents, though N1 says some participants hurled insults at its crew. The same source recalls that Informer supporters disrupted its crew at the previous rally and charged at Sabic after the session. Journalists were again barred from the hall and followed the session on a broadcast in the corridor.

Vucevic gave the assembled crowd an assessment carried by Novosti:

“A bad verdict, not for Informer, a bad verdict for Serbia, for the Serbian public, for objectivity and truth. It will take time for people to sober up.”

Vucicevic also addressed the crowd outside the building:

“Thank you for the support, it means a lot in these times. This is a sad day for me. Everything we built and did for 20 years, someone today, by raising eight hands, wants to shut down, 330 employees are in danger today, 330 families. We have more than 500 children. They are strangling a television station in a completely unconstitutional and unlawful way. They have not formed a parliamentary majority or a government, and they are already shutting down media. That evil Vucic, as they called him, never sued a single journalist. They are shutting down a television station on the orders of Studentska lista. Under the Constitution, nobody has the right to shut down a television station.”

According to Danas, he also said Informer had filed criminal complaints against all council members, as well as against the organizations Birodi and CRTA, and that an appeal would be submitted to the Constitutional Court:

“What they are doing is not in line with the law or the Constitution.”

He added: “They have a political task from Studentska lista and that is fine, but one day they will have to pay for it.”

What comes next?

Two questions remain open: the council’s decision on the proceeding against Informer, and the fate of the initiative to revoke its license, on which the council has not yet decided. Ahead of the session, Smederevac said that of roughly ten proceedings launched earlier, four cases are still pending, Informer’s among them, and stressed that the regulator must act in line with the law so its decisions are not overturned before the Administrative Court.