Deat threats to Croatian minority magazine journalists in Serbia

[Ivo Skoric]

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE/ALERT - SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

15 January 2004

Journalists receive death threats

SOURCE: International Press Institute (IPI), Vienna

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is a press release by the South East 
Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an IPI affiliate:

VERBAL THREATS AGAINST JOURNALISTS IN SERBIA

Vienna, 15 January 2004

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a 
network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South 
East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute 
(IPI), is deeply concerned about the verbal threats directed against 
editors and journalists working at Hrvatske rijeci, a magazine for 
the Croatian minority, which is published in Subotica, Serbia.

On 13 January 2004, Hrvatske rijeci received three threatening 
telephone calls. According to SEEMO's sources, the threats were 
clearly anti-Croatian in content. In the first call, the voice said 
that if the magazine continued to publish, he would kill the staff. 
In the second call, the same voice said, "You are all dead." In the 
third call, he used swearwords. On 14 January, the magazine received 
two further anonymous threatening phone calls.

As SEEMO has been informed, these threats against Hrvatske rijeci are 
part of a campaign of intimidation carried out against the Croatian 
minority in Vojvodina, Serbia, over the past two weeks. Until now, no 
one has been arrested by police. SEEMO Secretary General Oliver 
Vujovic expressed alarm "that all of these cases happened in a multi-
ethnic region, such as Vojvodina, and after the December elections in 
Serbia."

SEEMO calls upon the authorities in Serbia, as well as the local
authorities in Vojvodina, to carry out an immediate and thorough
investigation and to bring to justice those responsible. We further 
urge the authorities to do everything possible to ensure that 
journalists and other media workers in Serbia are able to safely 
carry out their profession.

For further information, contact IPI at Spiegelgasse 2/29, A-1010 
Vienna, Austria, tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14, e-mail:
ipi at freemedia.at, Internet site: http://www.freemedia.at, or SEEMO,
Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria, tel (SEEMO+HELP LINE): +43 1 
513 39 40,  tel (SEEMO): +43 1 512 90 11 11,  fax: +43 1 512 90 15, e-
mail: info at seemo.org, Internet site://www.seemo.org