BELGRADE: A battle for the freedom of press in Serbia has moved from the courts to the streets.
After an attempt on Friday by the authorities to impose editorial control on Borba, Serbia's only independent national daily, two editions are being printed. On the streets readers have a choice between an ``official" pro-government version and on ``independent" edition. Both are published under the same masthead and, even more confusingly, both appear to be illegal.
For the past few years, Borba has consistently published opposition voices while most other papers have toed an editorial line reflecting President Milosevic's policies. For several months, however, the authorities have been attacking Borba through the courts by challenging its ownership. Last week they appointed a new editor, Dragutin Brcin, rump Yugoslavia's State Secretary for Information. This move sparked the rebellion.
An attempt to evict Borba journalists from their building failed. They are continuing to work while the pro-government version is apparently being prepared on government premises. According to Gordana Logar, editor of the independent edition, only four out of more than 100 journalists have defected to the rival.
On Saturday, the European Union condemned the move, calling it ``a further repressive measure" against the independent media. Yesterday, Mrs. Logar said she was baffled because the paper had supported Mr Milosevic's recent peace moves. She said that she was even more puzzled by a court ruling on Tuesday which in effect declared pro-government paper illegal as well.
Borba may have irritated Mr Milosevic by continuing to report on the Bosnian Serbs. Most other papers and state television ignore Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader. The attempt to curb Borba may also indicate a trend towards further authoritarianism. Mira Markovic, Mr. Milosevic's wife, writes a magazine column which often presages her husband's next move. In her last article she wrote that while ``parliamentarianism suits the English so well, it really does not seem to fit the Serbs at all".