Serbian police have raided the printing press of an independent Belgrade daily, Dnevni Telegraf, halting the publication of Monday's issue -- the first since the paper was closed down last month.

They seized equipment from the paper's editorial office and visited the home of its editor-in-chief, Slavko Curuvija.

The move comes two days after a Serbian court fined Mr Curuvija nearly a quarter-of-a-million dollars for allegedly breaking a new restrictive media law passed last week with an article in a sister magazine, Evropljanin.

Mr Curuvija has refused to pay the fine, and says he will go back to court to challenge the law.