The "Media for a Democratic Europe" conference in Belgrade concentrated on the new Law on Public Information and other obstacles to media freedom in Yugoslavia, according to a report from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).

More than 200 people took part in the conference, organized by Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and Radio B92, on Dec. 4-5. Delegates also heard reports heard from members of ANEM, newspapers and others in the region about the difficulties they face as independent journalists.

The Council of Europe, a co-sponsor of the conference, has followed the media situation closely. In addition, the council has suspended discussions on Yugoslaviaнs request for membership, and drafted an opinion on the new law. ANEMнs legal service says it is using all means available to fight the law, CJFE reported.

The conference brought together representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, diplomats, members of the ANEM network of private broadcasters and local radio and television stations in Yugoslavia--currently 33 radio and 18 television stations across Serbia and Montenegro--and other independent media from the former Yugoslavia. The conference was scheduled for October but canceled at the last minute when authorities refused to issue visas to several participants. No delegate was refused a visa this time.

December marks two years since the Belgrade-based Radio B92 and Radio Index were prevented from broadcasting their programs during months of protests over government attempts to annul an opposition victory in local elections. Shortly after the jamming began, B92 started Internet broadcasts, which continue at http://www.b92.net.

The examples of B92 and ANEM were used in the conference as springboards for discussions on building alternative networks and using information technology to circumvent censorship, CJFE reported.