SARAJEVO EDITORS ASK AUTHORITIES NOT TO INTERFERE IN THEIR WORK

SARAJEVO, June 22 (Hina) - Editors of dailies and newspapers in Sarajevo, have signed a joint statement warning about increasingly frequent cases when authorities exert pressure on the media in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The statement, quoted by the Sarajevo press on Thursday, read that editors-in-chief of "Oslobodjenje", "Dnevni Avaz", "Slobodna Bosna" and "Dani" call on authorities to act within law and their jurisdiction and to apply the same criteria in their treatment of the media in an absolutely transparent manner. The international community's representatives in Bosnia are called to use their power and sanction any case of the pressure exerted on the media and journalists, owing to their articles on corruption, embezzlement and abuse of office in the process of privatisation. What triggered such a move of Sarajevo journalists has been the check of business operations of the "Dnevni Avaz" daily, conducted by the Bosnian federal tax administration for two weeks. In this period the giro account of the daily has been blocked and these impedes the newspaper's normal work. The editors of the aforementioned papers insist on the immediate de-blocking of the accounts of "Dnevni Avaz" and urge international officials to engage themselves in the examination of the financial work of the daily in question. Bosnia-Herzegovina's Helsinki Committee has also condemned the operation of the tax administration. "Dnevni Avaz" has several times cited the name of the Premier of the Croat-Moslem Bosnian federal entity, Edhem Bicakcic, as a man who initiated the tax administration's action against the daily. Bicakcic is believed to be trying to revenge himself on this daily that has recently published articles and reports criticising him. (hina) jn ms