16. 02. 2011

ANEM: PROTEST AGAINST ATTACK ON RTV B92

Belgrade, February 16, 2010 - The Association of Independent Electronic Media strongly condemns the attacks on one of its members, RTV B92, and the worsening of the hostile working environment for the media that is threatening their activities and their role in a democratic society.

On February 15, Lazarevac was again covered with posters aimed against RTV B92. The posters against this media, ANEM member, appeared for the first time in Lazarevac two weeks ago, at the same time when the "Insider" TV series was broadcast, dealing with the abuses committed in the Mining Basin "Kolubara", located in this town. This time, the city was also covered with death notices announcing the death of B92 and stating that the organizers of its funeral would be the B92 editor-in-chief and the authors of "Insider". The local police have not discovered persons responsible for these death certificates or those behind any other posters that have been appearing in the city for the third week in a row.

The atmosphere in which the entire cities are being covered with posters that incite to violence against investigative journalists and attacks against their media outlets - because of the series that investigates abuses committed in state companies - serve as an indicator of the increasingly difficult position of the journalists and the media who dare to critically report on the most serious issues in Serbia.

ANEM expresses its full solidarity with its journalist colleagues and the editorial team of RTV B92, and calls on the authorities to make necessary efforts to ensure and preserve the fundamental role of the media in the democratic society - to convey information and ideas in the public interest. The media have the right to collect and report on such information and ideas, while the public has the right to freely receive it.

ANEM President, Sasa Mirkovic