Culture Minister on Media Freedom and Photographs of Crimes

Maja Gojkovic (Beta/Dragan Gojic)

Serbian Minister of Culture and Information Maja Gojkovic said on July 21 that whether there should be a ban on publicizing photographs like the ones showing the crimes Veljko Belivuk's group was suspected of could be considered, but "then media freedom is called into question."

"You see how much talk there is of media freedom in our state and then a portion of the public, which is happening in this case, asks that something be banned," Gojkovic told BETA, adding that the whole world avoided editing what the media would publicize. In her words, editors should primarily think about finding a measure between exclusivity and some influence on the public.

"Can such horrific acts be banned or not publicized, I think there is no such thing in the world. If there is, we will think about it, we are working on amendments and supplements to the Law on freedom of information anyway, but on the other hand, there is interference in the editorial policy of the media," said Gojkovic.

Asked how, as a lawyer, she saw the fact that the photographs had been made public even though the investigation was not done yet, she replied that "only the legal profession and courts can talk about that, politicians should not talk about it."