REM - Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (Beta/Milos Miskov)
A former member of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media's (REM) Council, Judita Popovic, warned on June 13 that the process of electing a new REM Council was meaningless, and that a decision by candidates to withdraw was rational.
Popovic told BETA that the authorities did not want members of the Council that were disobedient. “The REM is a mechanism that the current authorities rely on heavily and simply cannot afford to lose, because they need it to keep the electronic media under control and manipulate it. They want obedient members who will carry out their orders with regard to regulating the media," she said.
She also said that the European Union’s institutions dealing with media freedoms should by all means react. “It is clear that we are unable to change anything in this situation because we no longer enjoy the rule of law or functioning institutions. The REM is defined by law as an independent and autonomous organization, but there are no mechanisms to realize the REM’s role as prescribed by the law,” Popovic stated.
The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) reported that 16 candidates withdrew from the REM Council election process due to violations of the law. In addition to the candidates, 78 authorized proposers also withdrew from the process, according to NUNS.
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