More proposers and candidates for members of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) stepped forward today from the election process, citing numerous irregularities and violations of the Law on Electronic Media.
With yesterday’s submission of six film associations and the Association of Dramatic Artists of Serbia, as well as their four candidates, the total number of those who have withdrawn from the process so far has risen to 78 authorized proposers and 16 candidates. In as many as seven out of a total of nine categories, proposers and candidates came forward, which clearly shows that this process has lost all legitimacy.
In today’s letter addressed to the National Assembly, the signatories state that the Committee for Culture and Information has officially decided not to accept any of the 30 objections submitted by legitimate proponents, which indicated a gross violation and misinterpretation of basic legal provisions. According to their statements, the Board itself found irregularities in several nominators and candidates in official documents, but decided to ignore them and keep everyone on the list, including those who did not submit the amendments that the Board previously requested.
The Board’s decisions according to which printed media are equated with electronic media if they have a website, that persons aged 15 to 18 are not children, and that everything qualifies as child protection, such as, for example, practicing old crafts or basketball training, are considered a misinterpretation of the law. They add that the Board refused to seek and wait for authentic interpretations of these terms before establishing the final list.
They also state that their demands for compliance with the law are presented as pressure on institutions and an obstacle in Serbia’s European integration. “If the European path is only possible for the country by violating its own laws – we cannot and will not be complicit in such a process,” it states.
“REM exists for the sake of protecting civil rights – freedom of expression, protecting children, preventing hate speech and ensuring media pluralism. Its purpose is not to fulfill political goals, international promises or simulate reforms within the framework of European integration”, the signatories point out.
Today begins a series of meetings of proponents from nine groupings that have nominated candidates for REM, with the aim of the proponents voting to select two candidates from each grouping. However, the proponents and candidates who withdrew from the process today warn that the vote will inevitably lead to the election of illegal candidates by numerous proponents who do not have the right to vote, and thus to the illegal composition of the REM Council.
We remind you that the violation of the Law on Electronic Media also occurred during the previous election process for members of the REM Council. The current process is conducted with even more pronounced procedural irregularities and gross violations of the law, while we still do not have the reaction of the Prosecutor’s Office to the submitted reports and the determination of responsibility for the violation of the law during the previous procedure.
You can read the letter that was submitted to the National Assembly today with the signatures of the proponents and candidates who withdrew from the further process HERE.