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Yugoslav government shuts down media outlets |
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May 18, 2000
BELGRADE, MAY 17 (AP) - Making good on threats of a crackdown, police Wednesday took control of several media outlets critical of President Slobodan Milosevic and his government.
Police in woolen masks took over Studio B television and the popular independent radio B2-92 overnight at the stations' headquarters in downtown Belgrade.
Employees of the leading private newspaper Blic and the student Radio Index also found their offices padlocked early Wednesday.
About 50 employees of the four main media outlets stood outside the high-rise where their offices were located after security guards in plainclothes refused to let them in.
Milosevic's government had been threatening a crackdown on opposition forces since the killing Saturday of a senior official in the northern city of Novi Sad that authorities blamed on the opposition.
"The government has imposed an informal state of emergency," opposition leader Vladan Batic said. "This indicates an introduction of a civil war" in Serbia.
Aleksandar Cotric, a spokesman for the opposition-run Belgrade city government that owns Studio B, said after an emergency session of the city council that street protests will be called. Meanwhile, more than 100 opposition supporters blocked traffic in front of the building housing the four media outlets to protest the police action.
"We call on all Belgraders to come to defend their radio and television," Cotric said, adding that details of the planned rallies and protests will be announced after an emergency meeting by opposition leaders later Wednesday.
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