By laying wreaths and lighting candles early on Saturday, families, colleagues and friends commemorated their loved ones killed in the 1999 NATO bombing of Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS), on the night of April 22-23 when the RTS building was hit by two powerful missiles.

Family, friends and colleagues of 16 RTS employees lit candles and laid flowers at the monument in Belgrade's Aberdareva Street, which was erected in the memory of victims of RTS bombing.

RTS Director General Aleksandar Tijanic and President of the Serbian Association of Journalists Ljiljana Smajlovic laid flowers also at the memorial.

This week, victims' families pointed once more to the necessity for renewing and expanding the proceedings aimed at establishing the identity of those responsible for the crime. Back in 2002, the authorities sentenced the then RTS director

Dragoljub Milanovic to 10 years of imprisonment because he did not execute the orders he received during the bombing as regards transferring RTS staff and equipment to safety.

The Serbian Association of Journalists and the Serbian Union of Journalists called on the International Federation of Journalists to list April 23 as the day devoted to the memory of all victims employed in the media sector who were targeted by military actions.