* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
24 July 2000
AI Index EUR 70/034/2000
News Service Nr. 143
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Secret justice is no justice
The secrecy surrounding the trial of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(FRY) journalist Miroslav Filipovic suggests that he is being targeted
for his work as a journalist, not for espionage, Amnesty International
said before the trial is due to start on Tuesday.
Miroslav Filipovic was arrested on 8 May in Kraljevo, southern Serbia,
and faces charges of espionage and disseminating false information. He
is being tried in a military court, and the prosecution has requested
that the trial be held in camera, claiming that military secrets are
involved.
"The FRY authorities are acting in contravention of international human
rights treaties by holding a secret trial before a military tribunal",
Amnesty International said. "Miroslav Filipovic is entitled to be tried
in public by an impartial and independent tribunal. There are no valid
reasons for holding the trial in secret, except to prevent the true
reasons for his prosecution becoming public. The military court trying
him cannot be considered impartial nor independent".
Although details of the specific charges have not been made public,
Miroslav Filipovic stated in press interviews before being detained for
a second time that he had been accused of "collecting ... data important
to the country's defence and supplying it to the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting in London" and articles that he had published had been
cited in evidence.
Some of these articles concerned alleged eye-witness reports of human
rights violations by members of the Yugoslav army and Serbian police and
paramilitaries in Kosovo.
Applications to the court for Miroslav Filipovic to be released from
custody have been refused on the grounds that he might abscond or seek
to influence witnesses.
"Miroslav Filipovic is not likely to receive a fair trial", Amnesty
International said today. "We are concerned that he has reportedly only
been permitted to meet with his lawyer in the presence of a guard, in
contravention of international standards on fair trial".
Should Miroslav Filipovic be convicted under these circumstances Amnesty
International will declare him a prisoner of conscience and call for his
immediate and unconditional release.
"Rather than persecute Miroslav Filipovic for his work as a journalist,
the Yugoslav authorities should investigate the allegations made in his
articles," Amnesty International said.
Background
Pressure on independent journalists and the media in FRY still continues
to increase. The Law on Public Information, introduced in November 1998,
has been used to levy huge fines, and put the commercial viability of
media organizations in jeopardy.
Radio and television stations, notably Radio B92 and Studio B
television, have been taken over by the authorities on dubious legal
grounds and their staff sacked by individuals closely linked to the
government. Journalists and newspaper proprietors have received prison
sentences for libel or for insulting the state and President Slobodan
Milosevic .
Under FRY law, espionage is the communication of secrets to any foreign
organization, or any person working for one, and allows wide discretion
in the definition of a "secret". Amnesty International is concerned that
the law is open to such wide interpretation that it may be used as a
measure to diminish freedom of expression rather than as a legitimate
defence of the security of the state.
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