Get Going for Change Movement Announces Protests in Front of RTS Over Rio Tinto Company

Rio Tinto's Information Center, Gornje Nedeljice(BETAPHOTO/MILAN TIMOTIC/DS)

The Get Going for Change movement has announced a protest in front of the building of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation (RTS) on Apr. 13 as, it claims, for the outlet’s silence as the Rio Tinto company wages a “brutal campaign” even though as a public service it has a duty to cover topics of importance to citizens.

“We ask, is RTS a public service or a service for the Rio Tinto company? We are going to broadcast a video called ‘Rio Tinto – Get Lost from the Drina,’” Get Going for Change campaign director Savo Manojlovic told journalists in front of RTS’s seat.

A symbolic performance was held in front of the building. Three stuffed monkeys with closed eyes, mouths and ears, dressed in T-shirts with RTS’s logo  were set up carrying a banner with the same logo and a message reading “Rio Tinto’s service.”

Manojlovic recalled that owing to a successful national initiative in Serbian parliament a bill was created on banning the mining of lithium, but that former speaker Vladimir Orlic “hid it” whereby, he said, he committed a coup. “Because of this bill RTS was forced to deal with this subject and open a debate because of the Public Information Act,” Manojlovic stressed.