Subject: FW: WILL THE REAL RADIO B92 PLEASE STAND UP!
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 18:54:52 +0200
from
http://b92.klari.net/b92/journal/default.asp?rubriek=1&id=337&language=2
News from B92
FROM THE STAFF OF THE REAL B92!
WILL THE REAL RADIO B92 PLEASE STAND UP!
BELGRADE, April 13, 1999 -- The new
management of Radio B92, headed by the
self-styled manager, Aleksandar Nikacevic,
seized control of Radio B92 from the hands of
its staff on April 2, 1999, with no legal
grounds to do so. Radio B92 is a socially
owned company. Under Serbian law this means
that the employees of the company are
responsible for hiring and firing senior
management. The new management was appointed
by the Belgrade Youth Council, which claims
that Radio B92 is its subsidiary.
Ten days earlier, on March 24, the Yugoslav
Telecommunications Ministry banned Radio B92,
seizing essential transmission equipment to
prevent the resumption of broadcasts. To
justify this, the Ministry alleged that B92
had exceeded its maximum permitted
transmission power of 300 W. In fact B92 had
been broadcasting at between 190 and 220 W.
It appears that the ban on transmission does
not apply to the usurping management. On
April 12, that management began broadcasting
from the B92 transmitter on 92.5 MHz, using
the "B92" call signal.
The transmission power is approximately 1,000 W.
Why did a group of war profiteers close to
government circles get the green light to
seize Radio B92 as a trophy of war? The
reason most often cited is a letter from B92
Editor-in-Chief Veran Matic. The letter,
which was published in the New York Times and
Le Monde, protested against NATO's military
intervention in Yugoslavia. It also
criticised the Milosevic government.
Radio B92 has been familiar to Belgraders for
almost a decade. In the past three years it
has become known worldwide as a champion of
democracy and free speech in Serbia. All the
staff of this Belgrade broadcaster have
expressed the strongest opposition to the
usurping management. No staff member has or
will cooperate in any way with them, nor will
they collaborate in ruining the reputation it
has taken them a decade to build. The team of
the only legitimate Radio B92 emphasises that
it has no connection with the program which
began broadcasting yesterday on the 92.5 MHz
frequency in Belgrade.
Radio B92 has traditionally been a
rallying-point for the Belgrade public. Under
normal circumstances we would call on that
public to defend the radio they trust, the
radio which rates Number One in Belgrade.
However, thanks to the war and the critical
situation in the country, the closure and
takeover of the station have gone unreported
in most media. In these circumstances the
Radio B92 team is restricted to seeking
redress through the courts for the
unscrupulous takeover of the station and the
destruction of the name and image of Radio
B92, both within Yugoslavia and abroad.
The legal procedures so far begun include an
appeal against the court decision appointing
Aleksandar Nikacevic manager of Radio B92.
Charges have also been pressed against
Nikacevic and the Belgrade Youth Council
director, Vlada Zagradjanin, for unlawful
seizure of the Belgrade premises and
equipment of ANEM, the Association of
Independent Electronic Media in Yugoslavia.
ANEM, of which Radio B92 is a founding
member, is a totally separate business entity
from B92 and its takeover is not supported by
even the putative court decision invoked in
the case of B92.
The staff of B92 will also demand the
revocation of new company documents
registered by the courts and used to
facilitate the takeover of the station. These
documents were lodged by a person not
authorised to do so.
The staff of Radio B92 assert that the state
of war must not mean anarchy. On the
contrary, it should result in the strictest
respect for the law. Since the moment they
first charged in and took control of our
studios by force, the usurpers have taken one
illegal step after another.
The staff of Radio B92 are compelled to
acknowledge that force is on the side of the
usurping management. They emphasise, however,
that law and justice are not.
This is the third time in its ten-year
history that our station has been banned. We
shall endeavour to preserve the Radio B92
team and to begin a number of projects. These
will clearly prove that the Radio B92 known to
the world before this forced takeover still
exists. The B92 staff have managed to
preserve the station's web site under their
control. This will not be updated until the
radio is returned to its staff.
The most radical manifestation so far of
Serbia's Draconian repression of its
independent media was the murder, just two
days ago, of Slavko Curuvija, the owner and
editor-in-chief of the independent daily
Dnevni telegraf and the fortnightly
Evropljanin. This appalling crime has made it
almost impossible to guarantee safety and
normal working conditions for independent
media and journalists.
In addition to the enemy within, a new enemy
without has appeared. Friendly mentions of
independent media in Yugoslavia by
politicians from NATO countries have been
interpreted in this country as calls for the
lynching of staff from those media. Radio B92
has been by far the most prominent target for
such attacks.
The primary aim of B92's leadership is now to
protect all staff members from blackmail,
arrest, satanisation and libellous
accusations of espionage and fifth columnism.
All of this in a country now debating the
reintroduction of the death penalty.
While the NATO bombing continues, it is
practically impossible to establish any
serious action which would return Radio B92
to its staff. There is no institution in the
country which could help in these conditions.
The team built up over ten years is now held
hostage to circumstances. Offices and
telephones are hard to come by, there is no
gasoline, communication systems are breaking
down. The leaders of the B92 team are under
constant surveillance. All this has reduced
their ability to take action.
Despite these difficulties, B92 will
endeavour to maintain the continuity of its
work. We expect to soon accommodate the
laid-off team in new premises. In the
meantime B92 will launch an action to support
the 45 full-time employees and some thirty
part-time staff. Project Free B92, launched
by Help B92, will play an important role in
this.
We call on international organisations,
media, and other friendly parties to express
their solidarity with Project Free B92 and
assist us in establishing a new
infrastructure for our activities. This would
enable us to organise a number of projects to
promote freedom of speech and expression and
to be ready to resume work the moment the
military intervention in Yugoslavia comes to
an end.
The Real B92 staff
-----
from
http://helpB92.xs4all.nl/helpb92.html
What is HelpB92?
HelpB92 was established at 5:00 p.m. on
Wednesday, March 24, 1999.
Radio B92 from Belgrade is the only
significant electronic media in Serbia that
remained truly independent, both from the
regime and from the opposition. Though a
local station, with limited range - covering
only the centre of Belgrade - the station
became the informative, cultural and
democratic centre of Belgrade and Serbia. Its
programs are original, inventive and of a
consistently antiwar, anti-nationalistic
flavour.
Representatives from a number of
organizations came together in Amsterdam's
cultural/political center De Balie to talk
about emergency plans in case B92 were to be
taken off the air. An office was immediately
set up in the attic of the Balie in the heart
of Amsterdam with computers and a small audio
studio. At the moment about 10 people are
busy writing texts, translating them and
putting them in HTML.
Everything has been made ready for the
provision of (minimal) alternative news
service at the moment that B92's journalists
are no longer able to continue regular news
service via the Web site.
Who are HelpB92?
The founders are B92 (Belgrade), De Balie
(Amsterdam), De Digitale Stad (Amsterdam),
Next 5 Minutes (Amsterdam), Press Now
(Amsterdam), Radioqualia (Australia), De
Waag/Society for Old and New Media
(Amsterdam) and XS4ALL (Amsterdam).
We welcome other organizations' support of
this initiative. Send a short description of
your organization, an URL and a small logo to
helpb92@xs4all.nl to be added to this list.
Information about the supporting organizations:
B92
For more information about B92 see
http://helpb92.xs4all.nl/infob92e.htm
De Balie
De Balie is a cultural-political center in
the heart of Amsterdam. De Balie has a large
cafe and three auditoriums where public
events are held almost daily. These include
discussions, debates, underground film
screenings, multi-day festivals and readings.
URL:
http://www.balie.nl
De Digitale Stad
De Digitale Stad (The Digital City) is a
public meeting space on the Internet. With
almost 90,000 residents, it is one of the
most successful digital communities in the
world.
URL:
http://www.dds.nl
Next 5 Minutes
The Next 5 Minutes is an international
tactical media festival held every three
years in Amsterdam. The first edition, in
1993, was devoted to video activism. The
second, in 1996, was devoted to the growth of
the Internet as an alternative means of
distribution of critical information and new
art forms. The third took place March 12-14
of this year. Important themes during the
festival were the rise of non-governmental
organizations and the counter-strategies of
multinationals against Net activism.
URL:
http://www.n5m.org
Press Now
Press Now is an organization that supports
the independent media in Southeastern Europe.
It was founded in 1994 by journalists, writers
and media experts from that region and the
Netherlands.
URL:
http://www.dds.nl/~pressnow
Radioqualia (Australia)
Radioqualia is an organization that
researches experimental online broadcasts,
mixed with traditional broadcast techniques.
Radioqualia is Adam Hyde en Honor Harger.
URL:
http://radioqualia.va.com.au
De Waag (Society for Old and New Media)
De Waag is an institute for research and
development in the social uses of
communications technologies. It holds events
and produces projects relating to political,
artistic and other cultural aspects of new
media.
URL:
http://www.waag.org
XS4ALL
XS4ALL was the first Internet Provider for
individuals in The Netherlands. Founded in
1993, XS4ALL now has over 60.000 customers
and ranks as the 3d ISP in the Netherlands.
XS4ALL is best known for its public actions
in a wide range of internet-issues, varying
from privacy and cryptography to a fear
stance against wiretapping by state & police.
URL:
http://www.xs4all.nl
Public Netbase (Vienna)
Public Netbase is an Austrian Internet
content provider, media lab, public access
space and organizer of many events,
conferences and performances that deal with
the new media, and its cultural, artistic,
and political implications. Public Netbase
brings together experimental technology,
artistic practice and critical discourses.
URL:
http://www.t0.or.at. Contactperson for
the Vienna B92 support campaign: Micz Flor
(e-mail:
micz@t0.or.at).
Their special links:
Meinungsforum / Opinion Forum [Kosovo Konflikt]
http://www.yourserver.co.uk/threadder/messages/3.htm
Anonymous mailinglist
http://www.t0.or.at/~micz/a/