Journalists should not be imprisoned for what they write, say OSCE and Council of Europe

BELGRADE, 16 December 2002 - The OSCE and the Council of Europe responded to the imposition of a one-month prison term on a former editor-in-chief of the Montenegrin daily "Dan" by sending a letter to the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Montenegro.

"In order for society to preserve freedom of the media, cases of libel or slander against journalists should be dealt with by a civil court, but should in no circumstances result in a penal sanction," the letter said.

The joint letter of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OSCE Mission to the FRY and the Council of Europe was addressed to FRY Foreign Minister, Goran Svilanovic, and Acting President of Montenegro and Speaker of the Montenegrin Assembly, Filip Vujanovic.

The letter pointed out that freedom of the media is a generally accepted international legal norm and, therefore, journalists must not be imprisoned simply for what they write. Furthermore, so as to prevent the possibility of journalists being imprisoned in future, the OSCE and Council of Europe also urge the Montenegrin authorities to carry out an early revision of the Montenegrin Criminal Justice legislation to decriminalize the offences of slander and libel brought against journalists.

The letter was signed by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, the Acting Head of the OSCE Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mark G. Davison, and the Council of Europe Special Envoy for the FRY, Verena Taylor.

It follows a similar request made to the Serbian authorities following a recent case of criminal libel brought against the former Chief Editor and General Manager of the Belgrade weekly "NIN".