Serb Hard-Liners Launch Private Television Station

Bosnian Serb hard-liners loyal to war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic were back on the air Wednesday, launching a private TV station to replace the state-run channel silenced by the international community.

The S Channel debuted late Tuesday night to coincide with the Serbian Orthodox New Year’s Eve. Much of the initial programming revolved around New Year celebrations.

The station could help hard-liners regain a voice in the Bosnian Serb media. It will compete with state-run television in Banja Luka, the stronghold of Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic, a Karadzic rival.

In October, representatives of the international community charged with enforcing the Bosnian peace accords effectively pulled the plug on Karadzic loyalists, sending NATO-led troops to cordon off TV transmitters they were using.

The move was to stop what was perceived as anti-NATO and anti-Western broadcasts from studios in Pale, the town east of Sarajevo where Karadzic and his loyalists are based.

Karadzic, the wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs, is wanted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal. Though barred from holding formal office, he continues to wield power from behind the scenes.

The new signal is being broadcast over two transmitters near Pale and covers a region roughly 9 miles in diameter, reaching Sarajevo suburbs.

Former Pale TV workers hold a third of the shares in the new venture. The other two-thirds belong to wealthy Serbs in Bosnia and abroad.

“The world denied us our right to work, so we resorted to our own means and set up this private TV,” said employee Zdravko Savija, who also worked for the former Pale station.

His colleague, Mirko Cabrilo, said that S Channel had acquired all necessary papers to start broadcasting, including a permit from the office of Carlos Westendorp, the High Representative for Bosnia.

Spokesmen for senior international officials have said there was no reason to block the new station. They suggest, however, that it could be shut down should broadcasts prove to be biased and obstructive to peace.