Newspaper Polimlje from Prijepolje celebrates 80 years of existence on February 1!

A most noteworthy anniversary

At the time during which the number of literate individuals in then-Sandzak numbered in thousands, and immediately before an impending global cataclysm, a newspaper was launched in Prijepolje.

The newspaper Sandzak had a mission to "achieve cultural and economic advancement of Sandzak" and was established, edited and published by Milivoje Zugic, a renowned intellectual and journalist.

In the darkness of the Sandzacki Vilajet where, as the newspaper wrote at the time, "rocks were on the leash, while dogs roamed free", the appearance of the newspaper was much more than just another event!

The newspaper was banned many times because of its humanistic and social dimension that was quite unpopular with the regime. That was the reason behind the changes in its name. Each time it was banned by censors, the newspaper would shortly thereafter appear with a different name – from Sandzak to Novi Sandzak to Raska to Sandzak again...

Then the war broke out and it was not possible to publish such a newspaper. A promised "new age" was awaited for, during which – in 1952 – the journalistic tradition in Prijepolje was again continued. The newspaper began appearing on newsstands under the name Glas Polimlja. Later, during the nineties of the last century, its name was shortened to Polimlje, just as it was always called by its readers.

Since 1932, around 2500 issues of the newspaper have been published in intervals dictated by censors and semi-literate gendarmes, the war, and the continual lack of money. The owner of Sandzak, Milivoje Zugic, sold his father's estate to pay for the printing expenses.

At the time of its relaunch in 1952, the newspaper was appearing bi-weekly, while it later became a weekly magazine.

Again, it suffers from financial difficulties.

For eight decades, the newspaper serves as a reliable historian of tumultuous social, economic, cultural and other changes in the region. For some time, it was an intermunicipal media, but bureaucratic ambitions and the desire to use the newspaper for political purposes led to its division into three small newspapers, out of which only one has survived to this day – the one that was rooted in the tradition of Zugic's Sandzak from 1932. Despite all odds, the newspaper is now celebrating its anniversary.

In 1976, political authorities decided to move Polimlje from the Committee's building into premises located in the building of the Municipal Court. A hall that had been used for assembly sessions was modified with few added walls, while in the period 1978-1979 new radio equipment was installed in the ground floor. Since 1979, the integrated company has been located in business premises that formally cannot be considered someone's property, but was there anything that was someone's property during the seventies of the last century?

"Fresh blood" was infused in the news company Polimlje with creation of Radio. A team of professionals was formed that for three decades was successful in running a newspaper and radio station that were well-known in the media scene of Serbia at the time. However...

At first, the Council of the Republic Broadcasting Agency (RRA) REFUSED to give a radio frequency to the then Radio Polimlje, a station that used to receive highest professional awards for local radio stations in Serbia! The station was closed down due to the bureaucratic decision to appeal to political interests. Frequencies were given to hastily formed Radio 033 and Radio Milesevske Eparhije.

Previously, the management of Polimlje and the municipal authorities at the time did not pay much attention to registration of property, and the privatization of the Public Publishing Company "Polimlje" resulted in an absurd situation – in accordance with a verbal agreement with the president of the Municipal Court, the remaining part of the privatized company, i.e. the newspaper "Polimlje" was moved into the premises of the already closed-down radio station, with intention to remain in the new premises for as long as possible.

Why is this important? Simply because the Primary Court in Prijepolje now demands that the Publishing Company "Polimlje" be evicted from the remaining 48 square meters of the premises that used to belong to the radio station that does not exist anymore. The judicial process is ongoing before the same Court that is demanding that the premises be returned! If this turns out to be a process before a Cangaroo Court... the 80-year-old newspaper might become homeless at the time of its anniversary!

Muharem Mutabdzija

About the authors

MC Newsletter,
January 13, 2011