'WASHINGTON POST' OPPOSE ICTY SUBPOENAS FOR JOURNALISTS

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Hina) - A total of 34 editorial boards supported the request of the Washington Post daily to exempt its journalist Jonathan Randal from an obligation to testify against Bosnian Serb Radoslav Brdjanin before the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY), the Washington-based daily reported on Tuesday. #L# Forcing journalists to testify against their sources will make those sources less likely to answer journalists' questions, particularly in war areas, reads a note which will be discussed by a five-member ICTY trial chamber. In a proceeding before the court of first-instance, three judges decided that Rendal had no reason not to testify because he had previously revealed his source. Cable News Network (CNN), British BBC, the New York Times and Associated Press also supported the Washington Post. Rendal, whose interview with Brdjanin was published in the Washington Post several years ago, is the first journalist who refused to give information to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. (hina) it sb