N1 rejects Vucic, Sovljanski to file complaints over tape

The dispute between the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the N1 television channel has moved on from who will present the electoral list on Wednesday, October 21, to who recorded a phone call, and why. The N1 newsroom refused to let Aleksandar Vucic, the head of the “United Serbia” list, be the one presenting it in the 8 p.m. slot. Today, Branislav Sovljanski, the director of N1’s news program, announced complaints against Vladanka Malovic, head of the SNS press office, and against the tabloids that published the recording.

Sources disagree on when the decision was communicated. One Danas article says N1 turned Vucic down last night, while another, along with Ekspres, says it was announced today. Sovljanski says he spoke with Malovic several times “yesterday,” which suggests the decision was made on October 19.

What did N1 say and how did the government respond?

N1 says it invited the SNS into the slot reserved for presenting electoral lists and was told by the party’s campaign headquarters that Vucic would present the list. Every list gets 24 minutes in the pre-election program. The newsroom declined and explained its decision in a statement:

“Given that Aleksandar Vucic has for years refused to come to N1 television, and has insulted us all these years, calling us scum, terrorists, foreign mercenaries and insulting us in every other way, choosing no words, even accusing us of causing violence and toppling the state, the N1 newsroom has refused to let him be the one to present the list,” N1 said in its statement.

The party was invited to send another representative. N1 said it is ready to talk to Vucic after the election: “We are always ready to talk to Aleksandar Vucic, but after the October 25 election, when we judge that the moment is right and that there is a reason for him to appear on our program,” the channel said.

Ana Brnabic, a candidate on the list, Speaker of the National Assembly and acting President of Serbia, responded at a press conference in front of the National Assembly. She said any of the list’s 250 candidates can appear on N1, but that “they fear Vucic so much that he is the only one who cannot get 24 minutes.” The party’s meeting will decide whether anyone from the list appears on N1, she said.

“If we do not want these Nazi methods from the N1 editors, then we do not have to present our list at all,” Brnabic said, adding that she personally does not see how she could appear on that channel.

Brnabic also said the ban on Vucic appearing is “the same as putting a yellow band on his arm and marking him as the only man in the whole country who is not allowed to get 20 minutes on that quasi-professional and objective television.” Vucic and Brnabic both called the decision fascist.

What did Vucic say in Cacak?

Vucic addressed the decision at a rally for the list in the Borac Basketball Club hall in Cacak, saying he is “the proudest man in the world that they banned him.” According to him, once the party confirmed that he would present the list, N1 replied that “anyone from that list can come, only Aleksandar Vucic cannot.”

“They think they will win with this, they think they will ban a different opinion this way. For ten years they have lied about me and my family, and all I wanted was 24 minutes to tell them how many lies they have told and how much I care about Serbia, how many new factories, hospitals and roads we will build. And they cannot stand 24 minutes against ten years of lies,” Vucic said.

The recording of the Malovic and Sovljanski call

The decisive moment in the clash was a recording of a phone call between Vladanka Malovic and Branislav Sovljanski, which the SNS published. It was played during Vucic’s appearance on the Cacak television station Lav. N1 claims the call was recorded without Sovljanski’s knowledge. On the recording, as reported by Vreme, Malovic can be heard saying that Vucic will present the list, and Sovljanski replies that this is not an option, that it is the newsroom’s position, and that an interview could be arranged after the election.

Sovljanski described to Danas what came before that call. According to him, Malovic first asked for the list presentation to be moved to 8:30 p.m. so that Vucic could arrive from the rally in Nis.

“First she asked us to move the list presentation to 8:30 p.m., so that ‘the boss could get to us from the rally in Nis.’ That was when I told her for the first time that moving it was not possible and that the newsroom’s position is that he cannot present the list, because he has turned down every invitation of ours in these 12 years, and that after all the insults he has directed at N1 journalists, he cannot choose by himself when he will come,” Sovljanski said.

The recorded call, he says, was the last one Malovic made to him, “with the clear intention of abusing the recording.” Sovljanski calls malicious the comments, spread by those who have been running a campaign against N1 for days, that the call was a pre-arranged, “staged performance” between him and Malovic.

He announced the complaints in a statement to Danas:

“My lawyers will file complaints against Vladanka Malovic and all the tabloids that published that recording without authorization,” Sovljanski said.

The complaints have not been filed yet, only announced. The sources available to us do not show whether the SNS has decided who from the list will come to the Wednesday 8 p.m. slot. The election is on Sunday, October 25.