Give Radio B92 Back to Belgrade

Belgrade artists send open letter to the public

The Nato aggression against our country and our city has lost us many lives and caused massive destruction of property. These losses are horrifying and irreversible. We artists have dealt with this evil in the only way possible: we have maintained Belgrade's cultural life.

Therefore, in the aftermath of this terrible war, it is our view that we have both a moral right and an obligation to confront and oppose any other attack on Belgrade.

For this reason we demand that Radio B92 be given back to Belgrade, the cultural and artistic capital of our people.

Despite all the misfortunes and adversity which have befallen our city, Belgrade has been one of the most vibrant cultural capitals of Europe. Radio B92 has contributed immensely to the creation of such an image of Belgrade. It has done this not only through its radio program but through a plethora of diverse activities in the Cinema Rex cultural centre, on the Internet and in many other places throughout Belgrade, turning obscure cultural corners of the city into cultural venues where many artists who have since established a reputation made their first public appearances. B92 was the only radio station in the capital which followed all the international trends and persistently resisted kitsch and trash, which have unfortunately become the prevalent cultural models. Radio B92's publishing house presented the works of the best known international writers and thinkers to our public, as well as helping young authors to establish themselves. B92's Internet centre provided free Internet services to a large number of scientists, artists and cultural institutions, thus making it possible for them, simultaneously with their colleagues in more developed countries, to take advantage of the limitless possibilities offered by the Internet in developing international, cultural, artistic and scientific cooperation.

For these reasons, over the past ten years we have thought of Radio B92 as the symbol of a sophisticated, tolerant and spiritually rich Belgrade. We regarded Radio B92 as OUR OWN radio station.

However, on April 2, 1999, in the middle of the attack on our country, a group of politically powerful people took Radio B92 away from the people who had created it.

A new Radio B92, strange and alienated from us, began broadcasting on April 12, 1999. From that day on, on 92.5 MHz we have heard only sterile news, outdated music, primitivism and kitsch. The usurping new management is incapable of grasping the fact that B92 was not only a forum for alternative political ideas, but a name synonymous with a cultural and artistic content which enriched the lives of all Belgraders.

It is our duty to raise our voices against the destruction of our city which has been effected by illegal repression at the hands of people whose social life is reduced to political strife and clashes and who are attempting to put all social processes under their political control. It is our firm belief that the city, in spite of all the terrible things we have endured, has preserved the sprit, the strength and the cultural wealth of its citizens. We therefore demand that Radio B92 be immediately returned to those to whom it belongs. We demand that all the employees who have been unscrupulously dismissed be reinstated in their jobs. We demand that the people who ran Radio B92 before the usurpation be restored to their positions.

Belgrade and Belgraders have been deprived of many things. Let B92 remain OURS; let it remain Belgrade's own radio station.

WE DEMAND THAT RADIO B92 BE GIVEN BACK TO BELGRADE

1.Alisa Stojanovic, director
2.Vladislava Milosavljevic, actor
3.Nikola Jevtic, director
4.Fedja Stojanovic, actor
5.Dara Dzokic, actor
6.Ljiljana Dragutinovic, actor
7.Goran Markovic, director
8.Mladen Andrejevic, actor
9.Ivan Lalic, dramatic writer
10.Ljubomir Draskic, director
11.Dusan Petrovic, director
12.Erol Kadic, actor
13.Srdjan Stojanovic
14.Dragan Nikolic, actor
15.Dusan Prelevic, musician
16.Jelena Mijovic, dramatist
17.Darko Nedeljkovic, dramatist
18.Gordana Goncic, dramatist
19.Zoran Cvijanovic, actor
20.Tatjana Boskovic, actor
21.Branimir Brstina, actor
22.Zoran Milovanovic, producer
23.Svetlana Bojkovic, actor
24.Srdjan Miletic, actor
25.Gordan Kicic, actor
26.Branko Kicic, actor
27.Natasa Ninkovic, actor
28.Nela Mihajlovic, actor
29.Milan Mihajlovic, actor
30.Branka Selic, actor
31.Vukica Mikaca, photographer
32.Gorica Popovic, actor
33.Branislav Lecic, actor
34.Predrag Bajcetic, writer
35.Boba Blagojevic, writer
36.Branka Petric Fehmiu, actor
37.Bekim Fehmiu, actor
38.Darko Bajic, director
39.Bane Zeremski, actor
40.David Putnik, director
41.Nenad Ciric, actor
42.Svetozar Cvetkovic, actor
43.Vesna Pecanac, actor
44.Petar Kralj, actor
45.Marija Bozovic, musician
46.Ivan Dimitrijevic, musician
47.Nikola Krbanjevic, musician
48.Dragoljub Djuricic, musician
49.Lav Bratusa, musician
50.Milica Mihajlovic, actor
51.Tihomir Stanic, actor
52.Gorcin Stojanovic, director
53.Renata Ulmanski, actor
54.Jovan Cirilov, publicist
55.Branko Cvejic, actor
56.Goran Susljik, actor
57.Dragan Micanovic, actor
58.Danilo Bata Stojkovic, actor
59.Vida Ognjenovic, director
60.Bozo Koprivica, writer
61.Angelina Atlagic, costume designer
62.Miodrag Tabacki, scenographer
63.Dragana Djukic, actor
64.Milos Stojanovic, actor
65.Eva Ras, actor
66.Ljuba Tadic, actor
67.Biljana Dragovic, costume designer
68.Predrag Ejdus, actor
69.Jelisaveta Tatic, costume designer
70.Sonja Divac, choreographer

Source: B92

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