After the statement of Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, in which she claims that it is not clear what objections the media community has regarding the drafts of the Law on Public Information and Media and the Law on Electronic Media, the Coalition for Media Freedom recalls that it participated in all processes of adopting media policies and media laws in Serbia, with the aim of contributing to a more favorable environment for the free work of journalists and the media.
In those processes, our positions were clear, and we stated them publicly on several occasions. We sent detailed comments on both draft laws during the public debate and published them publicly on our websites.
We believe that the current Strategy for the Development of the Public Information System and the Action Plan accompanying it represent an agreement between the relevant media and journalistic organizations and the Government of Serbia on how the sphere of public information in Serbia should develop in the coming period.
Our positions during the participation in both Working Groups for drafting the Draft Amendments to the Law on Public Information and Media, as well as during the public debate on the Draft Law on Public Information and Media and the Law on Electronic Media, have not changed. Certain solutions in the proposals of these laws deviate from the Strategy for the Development of the Public Information System and as such represent a step back in relation to the agreement we reached when adopting the Strategy.
During the public hearing regarding the amendments to these two laws, we clearly indicated how we believe that the proposed solutions can be improved. If the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications does not want to propose laws to the Government with which the media community does not agree, we invite the Ministry to once again consider the proposals of the Coalition for Media Freedom, which we point to during the entire process of making changes to these two laws.
Given that the process of passing these laws has reached a point from which it would be very harmful to go back, we are ready to, in a constructive and honest atmosphere, with the representatives of the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications and other colleagues who participated in the passing of the bill, once again consider proposed solutions in order to try to find solutions acceptable to everyone, without pressure and conditioning.
We are submitting again the text of the comments on the proposed laws, which we submitted to the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications during the public debate:
Amendments to the Law on Electronic Media (in Serbian)
Amendments to the Law on Public Information and Media (in Serbian)