The Police Arrest Dnevni Telegraf’s Photography Editor, Suspected to Be a Foreign Spy
(Belgrade) The Dnevni Telegraf’s photography editor, Predrag Mitic, and the head of computer editing, Omar Saracevic, were taken yesterday around 12:00 noon to the police station in part of Belgrade called Vozdovac, allegedly reported by citizens to whom they looked suspicious as the photography editor carried a camera.
During the police hearing, an inspector made three phone calls to appropriate authorities, reporting numerous camera lens and films inside a confiscated bag, which he also found suspicious. An official search preceded the arrest.
An explanation given at the stations said the two of them looked like “foreign mercenaries or domestic traitors” to a citizen who had reported on them. Talks in the station resulted in mutual pleasure that the whole affair was a misunderstanding and the equipment was returned to Mitic.
Eunet confirmed today that "Dnevni Telegraf" is no longer present on their servers. "Dnevni Telegraf" is back on the Net but with different web provider. Their capacities are limited so you can expect error messages and delays.
Daily paper, "Dnevni Telegraf" has been removed from the web by Serbian leading Internet provider Eunet. No explanation has been given. It is possible that the Milosevic's Government forced Eunet to do this because of recent sentence to the owner of "Dnveni Telegraf", Slavko Curuvija.
Scandalous: The First Municipal Prosecutor Goes on Prosecuting Journalists and Editors of Dnevni Telegraf
(Belgrade) The Belgrade First Municipal Prosecutor charged on January 15 journalist Olivera Zekic with the crime of spreading false information, stipulated by Art. 218 of the Serbian criminal code.
The charges says that Zekic has spread false information in the Dnevni Telegraf daily’s article titled "Federal Mint in Topcider Printed 2 Billion Dinars in Ten Days,” published on December 24, 1997.
Zekic’s claims, the charges say, implied the 1993 hyperinflation and were intent to stir citizens’ discontent and upset.
The deputy prosecutor, Nebojsa Maras, called on Slavko Curuvija, the Dnevni Telegraf publication editor, Dragutin Brcin, the director of the federal mint, and Zarko Ristic, a professor at the Faculty of Economics, as witnesses at a trial scheduled on March 15.
Vice president of Federal government, Zoran Lilic spoke with Libyan ambassador Saleh Ferjani. Lilic informed ambassador Ferjani about efforts of Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian and Federal government, Yugoslav diplomacy to resolve crises on Kosovo peacefully. "We can't give up our part of territory due to the threats of force because our people, our citizens authorized no one to do such a thing." Ambassador Ferjani pointed out that Libya and their leader, colonel Moammar El Gadhafi provide full support to Serbian and Yugoslav leadership in their efforts to resolve crises on Kosovo peacefully and by political means.
Profile: The Libyan maverick - information on Muammar Gaddafi; from the BBC.
The president of the Yugoslav Left's directorate and wife of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, Mira Markovic, announced on March 10, all forms of resistance against the greatest tyrant of the 20th century.
"The Serbs will not allow themselves to end up like the Indians, two centuries ago, nor will they turn themselves into European Khurds, nor will they accept the role of new Jews without putting up a great battle," Markovic was quoted as saying, at a rally in support of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and the state institutions. She also said the allegations of disregard for the rights and interests of the national minorities in Serbia were not true and that they simply served as an excuse for their authors to exert pressure and commit violence against a 'disobedient Serbia'".
A high official of the Yugoslav Left and Serbian deputy premier, Milovan Bojic, was quoted as saying that there could be no agreement between us and the terrorists, or us and NATO soldiers on our territory, regardless of their power. He added that the country was in extreme danger and that in such a situation extreme means were allowed, but he added that in choosing one of the two kinds of patriotism, one which sends our sons to war and calls on them to die for their country and one which teaches them how to live for the country, the Yugoslav Left would always opt for the latter.
Editor's note: Milovan Bojic is the one who pressed criminal charges against daily "Dnevni Telegraf". Prosecutor Milan Bajic and the judge who conducted investigation, Zoran Djordjevic were all party members of Yugoslav Left.
Slavko Curuvija, Owner of Dnevni Telegraf, Told Press Conference Yesterday:
(Belgrade) Slavko Curuvija, the owner of Dnevni Telegraf, appealed yesterday to the federal and the republican parliaments to dismiss Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, while the Serbian people to rally for urgent parliamentary elections.
"This is a sick state, while Serbs are delirious. We may be jailed, but this sentence has nothing to do with us personally. It’s high time to realize that the people behind all this are Mira Markovic (President’s spouse) and Slobodan Milosevic, surrounded by figures of doubtful ethics, and that these are their last throes before taking us all to abyss. I appeal to all responsible and reasonable people from the federal parliament to dismiss Slobodan Milosevic while there is still time, since the Kosovo question cannot be solved with him at the top. I appeal to the republican parliament to dismiss the government and set up a government of national salvation, and I appeal to all people of Serbia to rally for urgent parliamentary elections unless the two parliaments fulfill these requests…”
Criticizing editors-in-chief of Belgrade papers for not supporting Dnevni Telegraf’s journalists, Curuvija said: “What else might happen for them to abandon a pipe dream resembling the Jewish one in 1938?”
"I regret not seeing here editors-in-chief of Belgrade papers. I am particularly sorry about the absence of Dragan Kojadinovic, editor-in-chief of Studio B, who would probably explain why a feature about Dnevni Telegraf was aired in prime time news’ 38th minute. It is a scandal and shame,” Curuvija said…
Danas (March 9th)
Defense counsels of DT editor and reporters comment on prison sentences
(Belgrade) Rajko Danilovic and Borivoje Borovic, defense counsels for Slavko Curuvija, Zoran Lukovic and Srdjan Jankovic, editor and journalists of Dnevni Telegraf (DT), who had been sentenced to five-month imprisonment, in their statement for Danas yesterday announced their intention to lodge a complaint against the verdict, but that the sentences were sufficient proof that the legal process had been “political”. The complaint will arrest the sentence pending the decision by the court in the second instance, and the time limit for an appeal is 8 days.
“We intend to file a complaint against the verdict and hope that the Serbian justices still include some who apply the existing rather than party law. Drastic punishment proclaimed on journalists of Dnevni Telegraf for a text which, by itself, does not constitute a crime, confirms that the court and the prosecution are being abused for political purposes. The sentences evidence that the regime chooses no means to eliminate the DT as a medium and exercise repression against journalists. This repression has been applied for a long time now and this verdict marks its apex,” said counsel Rajko Danilovic.
The other defense counsel, Borivoje Borovic says that an unconditional prison sentence was expected although it is “for the first time after the war that a person is sentenced to imprisonment for a publicly printed word”…
Reactions:
The Independent Journalist Association of Serbia (IJAS) manifests its sharp protest over the prison sentences pronounced yesterday on three journalists and invites all colleagues to rise to the defense of the profession. Sentences to Slavko Curuvija, Srdjan Jankovic and Zoran Lukovic cause serious suspicions that a political rather than legal judgment has been passed. The entire court procedure was reduced to a court martial and the draconian penalty of five-month imprisonment aims not only to intimidate the journalists but also to abolish the journalist profession.
Bearing in mind that an information law which runs counter to the ways of the civilization has already been passed in Serbia enabling an open hunt on “unsuitable journalists”, the most recent sentences reveal that the regime obviously intends to obliterate professional journalism in this country and whatever latitude has left for manifesting a different view.
The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) said is was possible that such a severe punishment was ruled due to “personal disputes” between the suer, Serbian Vice-premier Milovan Bojic, and Curuvija.”
"Given the fact that spreading of false information is a remnant of past times, stipulated under the so-called verbal offense, the ANEM hopes that the court in the higher instance will “ignore facts related to political disputes” and “reduce, suspend or even annul the punishment.”
Otherwise, the ANEM’s release adds, Serbia will become known for “not only having journalists and the media draconically punished, but also jailing unfit journalists.”
(Paris) International organization Reporteurs Sans Frontieres yesterday protested against the sentence to three Belgrade journalists.
In its letter to the Yugoslav minister of justice Zoran Knezevic, Reporteurs Sans Frontieres find that the prison sentence for a journalist offense is incommensurate with the damage inflicted upon the injured parties.
In a document adopted on July 14, 1992 the UN Commission for Human Rights pointed out that “imprisonment as a negative sanction for expression of opinions is one of the most repressive means used to impose silence, and therefore constitutes a serious violation of human rights.
This Organization, therefore, recalls that that is why no democratic state proclaims prison sentences for journalist offenses.
The prison sentence threatening Dnevni Telegraf editor and reporters is not merely a showdown of the authorities with Slavko Curuvija and his papers, but rather seeks to intimidate all “disobedient” media and announces a new surge of repression, find Belgrade media editors-in-chief.
Radomir Diklic, director of the Beta news agency, says that this case is not against one man alone. “This is a signal to all of us to be careful what we do and announces a surge of repression. I cannot recall anyone going to jail for writing an article, ever. Legally speaking, the case is chaotic a jumble. The regime is thereby waving its finger at us and sending us all the message to behave.
Dragan Kojadinovic, RTV Studio B director and editor-in-chief, believes that previous fines imposed on the DT and the yesterday’s prison sentence are equally terrible, and that the legislator obviously intends to generate auto-censorship among the responsible people in the media. He says that the Criminal Code and the Information Law both treat journalists as constant offenders who should be brought to justice.
Radio B 92 editor-in-chief Veran Matic finds that the regime looks upon DT’s resistance as its own defeat. “The whole thing started with huge fines in order to make the firm financially collapse. When this failed, they turned towards imprisonment of editors and journalists. The process clearly reveals the continuity in the regime’s repression. It pursues its intentions through an official of the Yugoslav Left who previously used false documents to accuse the independent media.”
Nenad Cekic, Podgorica Radio Index director and editor-in-chief, believes that the regime obviously seeks to create a civil war in Serbia: “This is completely crazy. A kind of a state of emergency is being prepared, so that the remaining independent media cannot even think that they might be spared. Suffice it to take a look at Radio Television Serbia prime time Daily News to understand what is in store for us".
Veselin Simonovic, Blic editor-in-chief, claims that by making this move the authorities decided to finally deal with Curuvija and Dnevni Telegraf. “This is a good example of intimidation, telling other journalists and editors what may befall them. Court do not judge according to the law but rather according to a political dictate and we are all endangered”.
Imprisonment imposed on the Dnevni Telegraf’s publication editor and journalists is a continual of Slobodan Milosevic regime’s repression and the beginning of the dictatorship that would turn Serbia into a European Iraq, leaders of opposition parties assess.
President of the Democratic Party Zoran Djindjic: "Sentence on Dnevni Telegraf is closely linked with the overall situation in Kosovo and the existing crisis of the society…Any dissonant voice should be eliminated. A five-month imprisonment is much too strong signal to refer just to the media sphere and stands for the revival of the worst repression.”
The Democratic Party appealed yesterday to all democratic parties, independent media and civic associations to organize actions so as to annul the sentences on two Dnevni Telegraf journalists and the paper’s publication editor.
Spokesman for the Democratic Party of Serbia Milorad Jovanovic says that, given that Slavko Curuvija and Dnevni Telegraf are not primary targets of the information law, one should reasonably suspect that yesterday’s sentences are aimed at further political witch-hunt on the independent media.
The Civil Alliance of Serbia’s yesterday release stresses that the sentence on the Dnevni Telegraf’s publisher and journalists is clearly aimed to show all journalists that there are untouchable figures in this country. “A five-month imprisonment cannot save anyone’s honor, including that of Serbian Vice-premier Milovan Bojic. The Alliance trusts that such a sentence would not hush up those holding truth sacred. This is yet another misuse of justice, a court-martial-showdown with political opponents, showing that the regime has realized it could not even make pretence of the rule of law.”
The Democratic Alternative: "A man was murdered and another one was accused of it. A third man had a murder motive. When a fourth man realized that he drew the public attention to all the above facts. He didn’t quote a single name or a single fact. He didn’t even have the infamous article printed in Serbia, but in Montenegro.”
Vladan Batic, President of the Democratic Christian Party, said "the regime sentencing editors and journalists to prison, sanctioning a public word and suing for verbal offense is counting is last days. That regime has turned Serbia into a concentration camp, media ghetto and information gulag.”
Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement Vuk Draskovic said today that the sentence on the owner of Dnevni Telegraf Slavko Curuvija and the two paper’s journalists was "party-based and vengeful" and imposed "in an extremely prompt way."
Information Secretariat of Montenegro yesterday invited all democratic forces to condemn the most recent sentence of the authorities in Serbia against Dnevni Telegraf and Slavko Curuvija.
"The Secretariat hopes that all democratic forces will condemn this unheard of act of the regime against the proponents of the public word and that the current regime will no longer resort to this kind of repression against those who have a different mind".
In its public release the Secretariat notes that “this sentence is yet another indicator of the attitude the current Serbian regime takes towards the freedom of the public word and those who convey it.”
Montenegrin minister of jurisprudence Dragan Soc believes that the verdict pronounced on DT and Slavko Curuvija has nothing to do with the responsibility for the public word. “The sentence did not surprise me, nor did the speed with which the court came up with it. It was merely a question of time when the regime in Serbia would set out into this kind of open repression. There is no need to say that the sentence has nothing to do with legal provisions regulating the responsibility for public information or the practice of the democratic world.
Ljubisa Mitrovic editor-in-chief of Podgorica daily Vijesti says that “it is a political indictment and a political verdict”, and adds that “the most recent sentence on colleague Slavko Curuvija is another proof that the regime in Serbia does not give up its totalitarian, undemocratic rule which is alien to civilization and continues with the known practice of applying pressure".
President of the Liberal Alliance of Montenegro notes that the judgment on Slavko Curuvija once again confirms a complete media blackout in Serbia. “Things will not get better in Serbia until it has become an independent state and given up its fictions. Fast-pronounced sentence on Curuvija indicates the existence of a rigid system, such as Montenegro has, only here it is much more perfidious since our authorities have the obligation to pay court to the West ".
Vice-president of the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro Krivokapic states that in Serbia when journalists are concerned justice is administered with greater efficiency then in the case of terrorists. “We are pleased to see that the Serbian courts waste no time, but they manifest greater efficiency towards the journalists than the terrorists. The Serbian regime sings agreements with terrorists, while journalists are imprisoned".
Vesna Rakic-Vodinelic: "To the best of my knowledge a prison sentence has not been pronounced on a journalist for a criminal offense of disseminating false news ever before. Even Kosta Cavoski, former professor at the Faculty of Law, in Tito’s time, received a conditional sentence for the same offense ".
Sava Andjelkovic, lawyer, says that the symptoms indicating that this is a political trial are the speed manifested by the court in dealing with the case as well as the conduct of the president of the Board of Judges who refused presentation of all pieces of evidence relevant to disputable facts..
Vladimir Vodinelic: "From the legal point of view it is really fantastic that the court should condemn the accused while acknowledging that they had not committed the crimes they were accused of. Namely, the court says that the incriminating text does not disseminate untrue news concerning Milovan Bojic, but that it indirectly leaves the impression that this is being done". "Repression continues and we may expect it to increase, especially through the punitive policy to be established by the new federal information law. This is merely an illustration what the trials, i.e. persecution of journalists will look like according to the announced law. ".
(Belgrade) The owner of the Podgorica-based Dnevni Telegraf (DT) daily, Slavko Curuvija, and the paper's journalists Srdjan Jankovic and Zoran Lukovic were sentenced today to five-month imprisonment each, due to publishing an article criticizing the Serbian government vice president and director of the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases "Dedinje", Milovan Bojic and linking him with the murder of an Institute's physician, Aleksandar Popovic.
The First Municipal Court in Belgrade acquitted the DT editor-in-chief Dragan Novakovic, charged by Milovan Bojic for dissemination of false news. Justice Krsto Bobot explained that the statements and layout of the article published in DT on December 5, last year under the title “Murder Victim Criticized Milovan Bojic” “suggested that Milovan Bojic was responsible for the murder” of doctor Popovic.
He also said that the procedure failed to identify the author of the title or subtitles of the article published on the Internet, and therefore established that it was the responsibility of Slavko Curuvija as DT publications editor.
The court dismissed the claims of the defense based on anonymous criminal charges against Milovan Bojic, as well as the statement that the accusations had been typed on the typewriter of the deceased doctor Popovic.
Justice Bobot also explained that unconditional prison sentence corresponds to the criminal offense and should serve as a warning that people could not be accused of involvement in a murder in the media.
The court also found that the article published in the DT “upset the public” and inflicted damage upon Institute "Dedinje", whose director Milovan Bojic was.
Justice Bobot dismissed the defense claims that the court was “biased” and that the DT trial was politically motivated.
According to the judge, the defense and the prosecution may lodge a complaint against the verdict with the District Court in Belgrade within 8 days.
FONET (March 8th)
(Belgrade) Owner of Dnevni Telegraf Slavko Curuvija stated for Radio B 92 that, as of today, he considered himself a political convict.
He announced that his going to prison and the open struggle he intended to start in public these days would provide “the regime with an opportunity to show the true fact of its repression”.
Moscow - Development of economical and political cooperation between Belarus and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the main topic during meeting between President Alexander Lukashenko and the head of Yugoslav diplomacy Zivadin Jovanovic. Jovanovic is staying in the capital of Belarus in official visit. Branko Stosic and Belarus news agency Interfaks contributed to this report.
Political biography of dictator Lukashenko is available here.
Iraqi vice president Taba Yasin Ramadan had conversation on Sunday in Baghdad with high Yugoslav government official about strengthening bilateral cooperation, reported Iraqi news agency INA. General-major and chairman of government owned "Yugoimport-SDPR", Jovan Cekovic, delivered greetings from Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and wish of Yugoslav government for strengthening ties with Iraq in all fields.
Public Company Poslovni Prostor (Public Premises Rentals) Refused the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia’s Request to Extend the Lease, Secretary General of the Association Dragutin Rokvic Said
(Belgrade) The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) said yesterday that the Poslovni Prostor (Public Premises Rentals) public company of the Belgrade Stari Grad municipality had rejected its request to extend the lease on the offices that have been the Association’s seat for several years.
The IJAS secretary general, Dragutin Rokvic, told yesterday’s press conference in the Belgrade Media Center that the company had denied IJAS to further use the offices located in the Knez Mihailo Street No. 25 and charged the Association with moving out as the lease expired on December 31, 1998.
Rokvic explained that the IJAS asked for no privileges but was ready to pay “market prices” of the rent, assessing the refusal as based on “pure political motives.”
He added that international journalist associations would be notified about the case, so as to “expose the political parties that groundlessly assault journalists.”
Sacked RTS journalists’ fifth attempt to see justice done
(Belgrade) Thirty journalists, editors, cameramen and other staff of Radio Television Serbia (RTS) who have been engaged in litigation for six years now, will on March 1 for the fifth time try to prove in court that their dismissals were illegal. Only 16 of them demand to be restored to their jobs, while 14, in addition to damages, request that the truth on their persecution be established, according to what they said yesterday at a press conference in Media Center. The RTS namely claims that they were dismissed due to planned reduction of programs, while the sacked staff claim it was the banishing of dissenters, because the program has not been reduced, and new people have been brought in.
The first four verdicts in favor of the dismissed brought by the court in the first instance were annulled by the court of appeal…
“The events of 1993 when a thousand workers were sent packing from the RTS was a precursor of the subsequent mass persecution of journalists. Most were later one returned to their jobs, but the main intention was to deal with a group which opposed the xenophobic and war-mongering editorial policy of the RTS, forever. They removed the dissenters and brought other people who managed to do a large part of the work we are witnessing now”, said Isidora Sekulic one of the dismissed RTS journalists at the press conference. She pointed out that she expected the verdict to be political rather than judicial. Filip David, also dismissed from the RTS said the journalists were banished by deceit, their passes were taken away and the police barred them entry of the building. After six years these people are still prohibited from entering the building to collect their things, said David and added that “the man who did the dirty work for the regime was Milorad Vucelic, then director of the RTS”.
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. News Release
NEW YORK, February 10, 1999 -- ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: ICN) said today that it has filed suit in The United States District Court in Washington, D.C. against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Serbia and the State Health Fund of Serbia seeking in excess of $500 million as a result of the Milosevic government's armed takeover of ICN's Yugoslav subsidiary, ICN Yugoslavia, on February 6. ICN Yugoslavia, 75 percent owned by ICN, is the largest pharmaceutical company in Yugoslavia.
Arnold Burns, ICN's lead counsel, stated, ``It is no surprise that Slobodan Milosevic, the architect of ethnic cleansing, the man who took control of the universities and shut down independent newspapers, would use brute force in a commercial context to avoid paying the $176 million the Yugoslav government owes ICN and to usurp ICN's Yugoslavian pharmaceutical business for state profit.''
Mr. Burns added, ``It is no wonder why the Milosevic regime's actions in stealing ICN's property have been formally and strongly condemned by the United States Government.''
ICN's legal suit charges that in late 1998 the Yugoslav Government secretly engineered the illegal transfer of the majority of ICN's ownership interest to the State Health Fund of Serbia, an agency of the Yugoslav Government that currently owes ICN over $176 million and which has defaulted on its payment obligations. The legal suit details how the Milosevic regime completed the takeover of control of ICN Yugoslavia by having heavily armed police and paramilitary troops descend on ICN Yugoslavia's headquarters near Belgrade and forcibly remove ICN Yugoslavia's managers from their offices.
The complaint seeks damages for the financial loss of ICN's majority ownership of ICN Yugoslavia, the loss of future revenues ICN would have received from its 75% owned subsidiary, including the revenues that would have flowed to ICN from payment by the Yugoslav Government of the over $176 million owed by the Yugoslav Government (for which ICN took reserves last year) and other damages. The complaint also seeks a declaration that the Yugoslav Government's purported transfer of ownership interests in ICN Yugoslavia to the State Health Fund of Serbia are null and void.
Mr. Burns added, ``ICN and its chairman, Milan Panic, intend to pursue this litigation vigorously, and will pursue any and all other legal remedies available. The Milosevic government has to understand that it is not above international law and that it will be called on to account for its illegal actions.''
ICN manufactures and markets a broad range of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals and biotechnology research products in over 90 countries. The company employs some 17,000 people worldwide. ICN has operations in North and Latin America, Western, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Pacific Rim countries.
Additional information is also available on the corporate website.
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. News Release
NEW YORK, February 8, 1999 -- ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: ICN) reported further today on developments of its government seized facility in Belgrade. Serbian police forcibly seized the facility on Saturday and a new government management team was put in place to replace ICN's ousted senior managers.
During Saturday's seizure by armed police and paramilitary, employees were instructed to return to work today by the government appointed General Manager. Today, as employees met with their former managers in front of the factory gates for further direction, they decided to proceed to peacefully occupy the premises. They were initially met with resistance by armed security guards, but managed to congregate at the center of the compound where ICN's former managers addressed them again. In a show of support for their Chairman and the Company, 2000 workers signed pledges of solidarity, denouncing this major human rights violation by the Serbian government, and refused to return to work until the factory was returned to ICN.
Employees on the scene indicated that several workers were physically roughed-up, including 69 year-old former general manager Ljubisav Rakic, who sustained minor injuries after being pushed and choked. The Serbian police have entered and searched the homes of three ICN Vice Presidents including, Jovanka Babic, vice president and legal counsel of ICN Galenika. Ms. Babic, is currently being detained and questioned by the Serbian police.
In a statement, the Chairman of ICN, Milan Panic said, "I continue to be concerned, not only about the illegal occupation of ICN Yougslavia, but by the mistreatment of loyal ICN employees by the Serbian police. I am inspired by the stance taken by ICN's employees and I am proud that they are unyielding in their loyalty towards our company. Their support further demonstrates that the terrorist actions of the Serbian government are unwarranted and will not be tolerated. The illegal seizure of our company makes a mockery of the negotiations for peace which are currently being held in France."
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. manufactures and markets a broad range of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals and biotechnology research products in over 90 countries. In addition to Eastern Europe, ICN also has operations in North and Latin America, Western Europe, and Pacific Rim countries.
THE 'SAFE HARBOR' STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve the actions of the Yugoslav government and potential legal remedies, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Sunday, February 7, 1999
From Times Wire Reports
VIENNA--Armed Serbian police Saturday seized the Belgrade unit of U.S. drug firm ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., owned by a political foe of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, in a move company officials described as an attempt to disrupt peace talks on Kosovo.
Milan Panic, chairman and chief executive of Costa Mesa-based ICN, said the action was the latest in a series of measures by the Yugoslav authorities to stir up anti-Western sentiment as the big-power-sponsored talks got underway near Paris.
"The latest act . . . was the attempt to steal American property and confiscate ICN Pharmaceuticals," Panic, a naturalized American and former Yugoslav prime minister, told journalists in Vienna after meeting Austrian political and business leaders.
"This is not a coincidence. It is very typical of the negotiating technique of the Serbian government . . . to show they are capable of standing up to the international community."
Company officials said heavily armed police broke through the main gate of the complex on the northern outskirts of Belgrade early Saturday and within two hours had installed new managers. Serbia's deputy health minister, Marija Krstajic, took over as the new general manager, ICN sources said. About 20 ICN staff members were in the building at the time. Panic said nobody was injured. The Yugoslav Health Ministry, reportedly acting on a Serbian court decision, announced Friday that Panic no longer owned a majority of the company but was being given a 35.7% interest, with the state taking the rest.
The seizure appeared aimed at weakening Panic while setting the groundwork for declaring void a state debt equaling $180 million. The state health network ran up the debt to the company over the last decade. The move was similar to government actions taken against several media outlets in the past after they became overtly critical of Milosevic. Ownership of the organizations was effectively transferred to the state.
CNN
February 6, 1999
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuters) -- Serbian police armed with submachineguns moved on Saturday to occupy the Yugoslav unit of U.S.-based ICN Pharmaceuticals (ICN.N), company president Milan Panic told Reuters.
"This is an illegal act and my concern is that there be no bloodshed," Panic said, speaking by telephone from Vienna a day after the Serbian government moved to largely nationalize the pharmaceuticals company.
Panic, a former prime minister of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s who has since fallen out with President Slobodan Milosevic, said he believed the move on ICN was deliberately timed to disrupt Kosovo peace talks due to start near Paris this weekend.
"This is a flagrant attack on American property in Yugoslavia and I think it is politically motivated," Panic said.
"When they are trying to make peace in Kosovo, to attack American property in Belgrade risks possibly starting a conflagration," he said.
The independent Beta news agency quoted Djordje Orlandic, press spokesman for ICN, as saying a large contingent of police had broken into the building on the outskirts of Belgrade and were about to enter his office. He said a representative of the U.S. Embassy was present to monitor the situation.
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. News Release
NEW YORK, February 5, 1999 -- ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: ICN) said today that a Yugoslav Government agency issued a statement whereby it claims to have seized majority control of the Company's Yugoslav subsidiary (unilaterally and arbitrarily reducing ICN's 75% ownership to 35%), and to have appointed new directors and a managing director. ICN purchased 75% of the Yugoslavia subsidiary from the government through a privatization in 1991.
Milan Panic, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc., stated, "This government action is wholly illegal. It is nothing more than a transparent attempt to portray the nationalization of property owned by a U.S. corporation, since 1991, as a commercial dispute. There can be no doubt that this is a politically and economically motivated power play intended to foment anti-American sentiment on the eve of the peace talks in France. As previously reported, the health fund of Serbia, controlled by the government, owes ICN's subsidiary in Yugoslavia, over $176 million, of which $151 million was reserved for in the second quarter of 1998."
"The original agreement made with the government clearly provides for a mechanism for the resolution of disputes, a procedure which has not been followed by the government. That resolution does not rest in the courts of Yugoslavia, which are controlled by the government. This move on the part of the Yugoslav government is totally unwarranted and unjust," he said.
"ICN intends to pursue all its legal remedies in all appropriate jurisdictions," said Arnold I. Burns, the company's principal attorney.
Mr. Panic also said that ICN's strategy of globalization, with more focus on expanding its substantial North American and Western European markets, had reduced the impact of ICN Yugoslavia on the company's overall performance.
"Outside of Eastern Europe, our businesses are performing well. We are particularly pleased with the growth that we have seen in the U.S. market from our traditional products, product lines purchased from other pharmaceutical companies and royalties," added Mr. Panic.
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. manufactures and markets a broad range of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals and biotechnology research products in over 90 countries. In addition to Eastern Europe, ICN also has operations in North and Latin America, Western Europe, and Pacific Rim countries.
THE "SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve the actions of the Yugoslav government and potential legal remedies, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.