According to the findings of the legal monitoring team, the media scene was marked by the media community's anticipation of the adoption of the Media Strategy by the government.
(ANEM/IFEX) – 30 September 2011 – According to the findings of the legal monitoring team, the media scene in Serbia in August 2011 was marked by the media community’s anticipation of the adoption of the Media Strategy by the Government. However, the fact that the opinions of the government and those of the media and journalists’ associations are divided even regarding the basic issues to that end, such as the state withdrawal from the media ownership as well as the resources of Serbia as a state to fund six new public service broadcasting, does not seem very promising.
Even in this period, journalists and media were not protected against various attacks, threats and pressures, while the practice of courts was also adversely affecting their position and work. Several selected examples of attacks and pressures on journalists and the media show again that preventive legal provisions prohibiting that, do not seem to have discouraged the perpetrators of these attacks, because they have not been accompanied by adequate penal policy in such cases, both in legislation and in judicial practice. All the more frequent is the situation where the practice of courts in media cases actually has a discouraging effect on journalists and media, demotivating them to practice investigative reporting. Of all analyzed cases, we draw attention to two judgments of the Appellate Court that raise doubts regarding their compliance with European standards, especially with the case-law of the European Court for Human Rights in the application of Article 10 of the European Convention, due to the restrictive interpretation of certain provisions of the Public Information Law.
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