Paris - Reporters without Borders (RsF) urged the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, yesterday to reopen the free radio station B-92, saying the country badly needed independent information as it undergoes NATO air strikes.
The Paris-based international press freedom watchdog said the NATO strikes could not justify the authorities' decision to force B-92 off the air.
An official from the telecommunications ministry, backed by police, had entered B-92's Belgrade studio before dawn yesterday and ordered the radio to cease broadcasting because the strength of its transmitter exceeded its licence, station personnel said.
Plainclothes Serbian police also shut down satellite transmissions by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) out of Belgrade yesterday, witnesses said.
They said the police entered Belgrade's Intercontinental Hotel and seized equipment essential for live satellite transmissions. The live hook-up had been used by international networks including CNN.