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The Serbian Government has issued a Decision according to which it is taking over Public radio-broadcasting company Studio B, whose founder is the City Assembly of Belgrade. This decision was made by request of the Ministry of Information of Serbia because of the frequent calls by this station for forceful change of the Constitutional government. This conclusion was aired by Studio B.

The public has been informed that the Serbian Government's legal foundation for this Decision was in the fact that Studio B is state property, and thus decided to take control over "its own property", seizing all founding rights from the City Assembly.

According to the Decision of the Serbian Government the authorization of all the bodies of Studio B terminated on the day the Decision was made, and Ljubisav Aleksic was named editor-in-chief. According to the decision of the Serbian Government Studio B is to continue operation as a fully responsible company, whose founder is the Serbian Government. Vice-presidents Milovan Bojic and Vojislav Seselj signed the Government Decision.

For FreeSerbia's coverage of all events during the day click here.

This morning at about 3 a.m. police entered the offices of TV Mladenovac and ordered Zeljko Matic, the technician on duty to stop airing the program. Police officers spent only a few minutes at the station questioned Matic, who he was, what he was doing and where the program was transmitted from. After terminating the signal and locking the station offices the police took Matic to the police station where is personal information was taken down.

Today a number of police officers blocked access to the television employees, and a police tape reading "stop - police" was put up. Milos Maslaric, the editor of TV Mladenovac stated for "Glas Javnosti" that the closing of independent media, among them TV Mladenovac does not only represent the beginning of total information darkness, but a step towards the complete cessation of all civil rights in Serbia.

The City Assembly of Belgrade called a meeting with a number of Belgrade embassy representatives and asked foreign diplomats to urgently inform their governments that the state has taken over Studio B. Milan Bojic, vice-president of the City Assembly appealed to the embassy representatives to give great significance to the events surrounding Studio B.

Diplomats from Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Israel, Greece, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Macedonia, Japan and other countries attended to meeting at City Hall.

Milo Djuknovic, the president of Montenegro assessed in the Hague that the resent actions of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will hasten his downfall. At a short press conference with Dutch minister of foreign affair Jozias Van Aartsen, Djukanovic said that he is not surprised with Milosevic's action against independent media in Belgrade.

"Dictatorial regimes always try to impose control over media. It was only question of time before Milosevic decided to close Studio B and radio B2-92. This is the best example of the arrogance of the Belgrade regime, which is attempting to smother all forms of democratic activity. Despite the weakness of the opposition in Serbia, I am convinced that this move will hasten the downfall of Milosevic's regime" added Djukanovic, stating that "such a brutal regime cannot endure".

"The relations between Montenegro and Serbia have never before been this weak" emphasized Djukanovic.

The topic of talks with the highest Dutch officials were the position of Montenegro and the situation in Yugoslavia, support for Montenegro's reform tendencies in the Yugoslav federation by the Netherlands, bilateral relations between Montenegro and the Netherlands and concrete projects of support and aid. Djukanovic is visiting the Netherlands before tomorrows EU talks in Brussels.

The declaration of the Serbian Renewal Movement to the people of Serbia reads, among other things:

"We invite people to show the regime their discord with its actions and defend independent media through all forms of civil disobedience, such as blocking traffic, street walks and interrupting work".

"I fully support the decision of the Republic Government to take over Studio B. any normal government in the world would have done it. Almost every evening they called for the toppling of the constitutional system. Someone will have to be held responsible for such things" said Vladimir Seslija, president of the delegate group of SPS in the City Assembly.

"Dear Muscovites, dear Russians, brothers, tonight in Belgrade Slobodan Milosevic's police forces occupied the greatest independent television Studio B, simultaneously disabling the operation of Radio B2-92 and Radio Index, the most popular radios in the country. In this way the regime of Slobodan Milosevic introduces a state of emergency and practically declared war on his own people. Serbia has been converted into a concentration camp of public word, a media ghetto and information gulag" said Vladan Batic, coordinator of the Alliance for Change at a protest of the Russian Journalist Alliance at Puskin Square in Moscow.

"I appeal to you Russian journalists, as Slav brothers, I appeal to new democratic government in Russia, I appeal to the journalists to help Serbian journalists, the Serbian opposition and Serbian people! Only a democratic Serbia can provide a future to its citizens! Here, in Puskin Square, the famed dissident and democracy fighter I, a Serbian dissident, beg of you to help our fight for a democratic Serbia. Only together can the entire freedom-loving world stop the tyranny and dictatorship" said Batic.

"Reporters without borders", the non-government organization for protection of the press protested against the taking over of RTV Studio B by the Serbian Government.

"This impermissible act is the result of the continuous harassment whose victim is Studio B. It is the matter of another chapter in wiping out the media which is currently happening in Serbia", it was concluded by Robert Menar, the Secretary General of this organization, in a letter to Yiri Dinstbir, the Special UN Envoy for human rights in the former Yugoslavia.

"Reporters without borders" demand of Dinstbir to personally intervene with the Serbian authorities in order to protect the media.

A number of "Otpor" members were taken in for questioning in the past two days, "Otpor" in Belgrade stated.

The Krusevac police took five "Otpor" activists from this city in for questioning, among them Srdjan Milivojevic and Zarko Malinovic. Branislav Milosevic was taken in Paracin, when police came to his apartment with a warrant.

Vladimir Popov was taken in Novi Sad, and in Smederevska Palanka police came with a warrant to the "Otpor" offices and left with Milos Starcevic, the only member of age. Darko Sper, "Otpor" member from Zrenjanin said that yesterday at about 10 p.m. Goran Martinov was taken in for questioning.

The police in Pancevo questioned "Otpor" members for the first time, even though in the past few months they have held a number of public events. Nenad Miletic was taken in first, at about 9.15 p.m. and as his colleague Ivan Malek was not found at home at the time, his sister was told that he was to report to the police by 1 p.m. at the latest. Acting in accordance with this order he appeared before the police a bit earlier, at 12.30. They were told that they were summoned for disturbing the peace, because they had allegedly made noise the previous night in an apartment building in Braca Jerkovic Street. They were detained for about half an hour, Miletic was booked with his photo and fingerprints taken for police documentation, and Malek was told to present a list of activists of "Otpor" in Pancevo.

The latest contact between Russian and Yugoslav officials predicts that Vladimir Putin, the new Russian President is deliberately undermining the pressure that the West is putting on Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, it is estimated by the "Washington Post".

The paper writes that during the past week Russia took "dramatic steps in order to strengthen ties with Yugoslavia", by "officially receiving" general Dragoljub Ojdanic, the Yugoslav minister of defense against who the Hague tribunal has brought charges of war crimes in Kosovo.

The paper adds that as the second step showing the direction of Russian politics during the recent visit to Moscow by Zivadin Jovanovic, head of Yugoslav diplomacy, the "poverty-stricken" government in Belgrade was given a credit of 102 million dollars and the sale of oil worth 32 million dollars to Yugoslavia was announced.

Russian military sources, reacting to accusations from Washington, stated today that Dragoljub Ojdanic, the Yugoslav Minister of Defense was not arrested during his recent visit to Russia because Moscow does not acknowledge the charges brought against him by the Hague Tribunal, Reuters reports.

The Interfax news agency cited sources explaining that Moscow does not acknowledge decisions of the International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia, which has accused a number of Yugoslav officials.

"Yugoslavia is a sovereign state and Russia has the right to develop relations, including those in the military sphere", Interfax quotes Russian sources.

The chief of Russian Diplomacy Igor Ivanov dismissed the statement by Carla del Ponte the chief prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal, regarding Ojdanic's visit to Moscow. "We will act in accordance with out bilateral relations, as well as with those that involve European stability and security," said Ivanov.

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