Editors of United Media outlets in Serbia are demanding an urgent investigation and accountability of United Group CEO Stan Miller, after the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) released an audio recording of his conversation with Telekom Serbia CEO Vladimir Lucic.

At today’s joint meeting of editors from N1, Nova, Danas and Radar, we reaffirmed our unity in defending editorial independence and made it clear that our newsrooms will not become bargaining chips in political deals between investment funds and authoritarian regimes.

Given that United Group itself has confirmed that this conversation between Miler and Lučić did in fact take place, we believe that what citizens heard – not only in Serbia but across Europe – cannot be left without consequences.

The Board of United Group and BC Partners, as the company’s majority owner, must launch an independent and thorough investigation into the plans Miler outlined – his intention to dismantle and minimize operations in Serbia, to fulfill his promise to remove United Media CEO Aleksandra Subotić, and other business arrangements mentioned in the conversation. Considering the serious concerns over potential violations of fair competition principles and possible trading in influence – which constitutes a criminal offense – we believe Stan Miller cannot remain at the helm of the company.

Nikos Stathopoulos, Chairman of BC Partners for Europe, must also publicly clarify the nature of his relationship with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, after the recording suggested he had promised rapid changes in the leadership of United Media. We remind the public that President Vučić himself has openly admitted that he personally knows and communicates with Mr. Stathopoulos.

The United Group statement refers to international consultants and suggests they will be working to ensure editorial independence. The only threat to our editorial independence is the actions of UG management. Until this point, all UM editors have been fully independent.

The TV channels that are licensed in Luxembourg are properly constituted as editorially independent and protected under Luxembourg’s laws.

Any consultants working for UG must respect the legal structures of indepdnece that are in place. Therefore, UM editors in Serbia will not provide information to consultants if they ignore the existing mechanisms which ensure editorial freedom.”

We prove and defend our editorial independence every single day. At the same time, United Group’s claims of supporting free media are untenable, as we continue to witness incidents such as when Stan Miller’s security forcefully prevented an N1 journalist from asking a legitimate question and threatened her for over an hour with police action and dismissal unless she deleted the footage.

Instead of shifting attention from these shameful political deals to questioning our editorial independence, United Group must publicly disclose and explain what has been agreed with Telekom Serbia and the Serbian authorities – and why.

As editors, we will not remain silent in the face of attempts to dismantle media freedom. We also call on our colleagues across all United Media newsrooms in the region to join us in this appeal, because what is at stake is a fundamental right – the public’s right to know the truth.

Nikos Stathopoulos, Chairman of BC Partners for Europe, must also publicly clarify the nature of his relationship with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, after the recording suggested he had promised rapid changes in the leadership of United Media. We remind the public that President Vucic himself has openly admitted that he personally knows and communicates with Mr. Stathopoulos.

In line with international standards for the protection of media freedom, we categorically reject any attempt to impose “consultants” as tools of control. What matters most is preventing any form of “disciplining” the media – which, according to the recordings published by OCCRP, was promised to political structures in Serbia.

We prove and defend our editorial independence every single day. At the same time, United Group’s claims of supporting free media are untenable, as we continue to witness incidents such as when Stan Miller’s security forcefully prevented an N1 journalist from asking a legitimate question and threatened her for over an hour with police action and dismissal unless she deleted the footage.

Instead of shifting attention from these shameful political deals to questioning our editorial independence, United Group must publicly disclose and explain what has been agreed with Telekom Srbija and the Serbian authorities – and why.

As editors, we will not remain silent in the face of attempts to dismantle media freedom. We also call on our colleagues across all United Media newsrooms in the region to join us in this appeal, because what is at stake is a fundamental right – the public’s right to know the truth.