Students participating in the blockade of higher education institutions in Belgrade have sent an open letter to the Committee on Culture and Information of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and announced how long the protest in front of RTS will last.
We publish the letter in full:
“We address you as the competent institution, which is obliged under the Law on Electronic Media to issue a public call for the nomination of candidates for membership in the REM Council, no earlier than six months and no later than three months before the expiration of the mandate of a Council member (Article 13).
We remind you that the mandate of the previous REM Council expired on November 4, 2024, and that on November 25, 2024, the Committee, by majority vote, adopted the Decision on Initiating the Procedure for Proposing Candidates for the Election of Members of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media and established the text of the Public Call. On January 20, 2025, the Committee published a list of 18 candidates for Council membership and held public interviews with the candidates, thereby fulfilling the condition from Article 14 of the Law on Electronic Media that the ‘election of Council members be placed on the agenda of the next session of the National Assembly.’
At the first session of the National Assembly held on March 4, 2025, the election of Council members was not on the agenda.
We also emphasize that Article 10 of the Law on Electronic Media states: ‘The Council of the Regulator consists of nine members elected from among respected experts in fields relevant to the work of the Regulator. A Council member may only be a person who has public standing, who through their work and activities has supported freedom of expression, free flow of information, the realization of human rights, the development of civil society, the advancement of democracy, and the observance of constitutionality and legality.’
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Given that the entire process of electing REM Council members has been marked by violations of laws and procedures, as well as a lack of transparency—resulting in the withdrawal of as many as 7 candidacies—the credibility and legitimacy of the process itself has been called into question.
Through this letter, we demand from you, the Committee on Culture and Information, to repeat the process of electing the Council members of the Regulatory Authority, by annulling the previous Public Call and publishing a new one, with a transparent process conducted before the public.
The protest in front of RTS will continue until you publish the Public Call for the election of REM Council members,” states the letter from the students participating in the blockade of higher education institutions in Belgrade.
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Source Nova.rs, Foto: ATA Images