Yugoslavia Raids Milosevic Foes’ Contract Printer

Authorities raided the premises of a leading independent publisher again Saturday, seizing equipment worth about $400,000 to collect fines levied after it printed leaflets for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s political opponents.

Police and court officials hauled off computers, desks and other equipment of the ABC company, which serves as a contract printer for about 100 publications in Serbia--the main Yugoslav republic--mostly those opposed to Milosevic.

The seizure in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and Yugoslavia, was the second in a week for ABC and stemmed from a highly controversial court case in which the company had been ordered to pay $270,000 for printing leaflets for Serbia’s leading opposition group, Alliance for Change.

ABC had refused to pay the fine, saying it was part of a campaign to suppress free speech.

After taking away equipment last weekend, which ABC executive Dragan Vlahovic said was “worth more than enough to collect the fine,” police and court officials returned Saturday to seize more assets.

“This is unheard of--this is outrageous . . . and has nothing to do with law,” Vlahovic said.

An ABC subsidiary, the popular Belgrade daily Glas, and other independent papers and television stations also have been fined repeatedly and heavily under Serbia’s Information Law, sometimes merely for carrying statements by Milosevic’s opponents. Struggling to pay the numerous fines, some of the media outlets say they might have to shut down.

Shortly after Saturday’s raid, the company received a new court order demanding $304,000 in further fines, Vlahovic said.

“They just want to wipe us out,” he said.

In a separate case, ABC’s chief executive, Slavoljub Kacarevic, has been fined $47,820 for allowing the publication of material deemed illegal. He has also refused pay and faces confiscation of personal property and possible imprisonment.