Associations of citizens, journalists and the media today asked the competent institutions to urgently take concrete steps in order to fulfill the demands of citizens from the "Serbia against violence" protest.
U joint statement it is stated that for years they have pointed to the pernicious effect of media content that promotes violence, spreads panic, misinformation, malicious content and manipulation, with the assessment that such a media scene has developed solely because laws are systematically circumvented, and institutions do not react to violations of existing laws and accompanying by-laws.
The citizens of Serbia have very clearly identified the problems and, among the demands they made after the two tragic events that hit Serbia, they demand from the competent institutions the removal of the REM Council, the revocation of the licenses of TV Pink and TV Happy, the shutdown of print media and tabloids that publish fake news, falsehoods and continuously violate the journalistic code, it was assessed in the announcement.
Associations of citizens, journalists and the media called on the MPs to initiate the removal of members of the REM Council, and the Prime Minister of Serbia to initiate the adoption of amendments to parts of the Law on Electronic Media as soon as possible, in accordance with the priorities of the Media Strategy. It is requested to change the articles of the Law that regulate the authorized nominators of the members of the Council, so that the committees of the Parliament of Serbia and Vojvodina cannot be nominators of the members of the Council, then to determine the criteria and conditions that must be fulfilled by the candidates, as well as the election of the new REM Council, immediately after the adoption change.
Legal proponents of REM Council members - accredited universities, churches and religious communities, national councils, publishing associations and journalists' associations, associations of film, stage and drama artists and associations of composers, associations of citizens whose goals are the realization of freedom of expression and the protection of children - are invited to invite , in the capacity of their proposers, REM Council members to resign; Organizations call on government representatives, public companies and all institutions founded by the state to immediately stop all forms of media financing that violate the law on any basis, including advertising, projects, public procurement.
The Prosecutor's Office is called upon to respond without exception and without delay to any form of promotion and calls for violence in the media, and the courts to decide on the lawsuit filed by the citizens' associations due to the illegal decision of the REM Council to renew licenses for national broadcasting to televisions that violated the laws.
"After the decision of the courts, the new composition of the REM Council must conduct a new competition for the awarding of national licenses, respecting the conditions prescribed by the Law and the Rulebook on the minimum conditions for the provision of media services," the announcement states.
It is added that the initiative, which aims to resolve the current crisis within institutions, is based on the findings of international institutions, the findings of REM, domestic experts and domestic organizations that deal with the topic of the state of the media and media regulation. The initiative was signed by the Association of Media, Association of Online Media, Autonomous Women's Center, Belgrade Center for Security Policy, Belgrade Center for Human Rights, BIRODI, Center for Contemporary Politics, CRTA, European Movement in Serbia, Civic Initiatives, Youth Initiative for Human Rights.
The signatories of the initiative are the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina, the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, New Optimism, Partners Serbia, the Business Association of the Association of Local and Independent Media "Local Press" and the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation.
I.Đ./FoNet
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