Attacks on Journalists Getting More Frequent, Journalists’ Association of Serbia Warns

Police, evening protest Belgrade (BETAPHOTO/SVETLANA DOJCINOVIC)

On Nov. 2, on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the Association of Journalists of Serbia pointed to a drastic rise in physical attacks on media workers in Serbia this year, compared to the previous years.

“Threats, hate speech, attempts to discredit and pressure [journalists] come not only from the centers of power, but the colleagues as well. Such amount of accusations and insults exchanged between the journalists themselves has not been seen since the 1990s. The association therefore expects an effective initiation of legal actions, and the closing of ongoing trials for murders of and attacks on journalists – both of which would send out an unambiguous message that the numerous [misdeeds] will not go unpunished,” the association’s announcement said.

One of the gravest attacks the community has seen in a decade, the association added, was setting the home of Milan Jovanovic, an investigative journalist working for website Zig Info, on fire. A verdict in that trial, according to the announcement, will demonstrate just how the perpetrators and those who order the crimes against journalists are being punished.

Mentioning the rise in the number of attacks compared to the previous period, the association recalled that this year was also marked by brutal attacks on reporters and media workers during the July protests in Belgrade and added that it expects the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate each case.