25. 07. 2008

IJAS LETTER TO THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS

MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Ivica Dačić, Interior Minister
 
Dear Mr. Dačić,
 
Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia strongly protests against frequent physical assaults on reporters, cameramen and photographers during demonstrations to support the Hague indictee Radovan Karadžić. A cameraman with the TV B92 and a photographer with the FoNet News Agency were injured yesterday, and organizers of these demonstrations have nonetheless publicly announced that riots in the streets would continue. We are deeply concerned by the escalation of violence and we demand that You take all the legally prescribed measures, according to Your official powers as the Interior Minister, in order to secure peace and security for citizens. We also expect that the assailants on reporters are identified and punished adequately.

Reporters have found themselves to be the target of hooligans that don't want to be filmed by the reporters who provide video recordings to document their violent behaviour. Some masked faces have been noticed among the demonstrators, too, which clearly point out to their dangerous intentions. This is why we expect resolute measures from Serbian Government, and especially from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in order to prevent even more serious consequences of violent behaviour.
 
We are astonished by the behaviour of top officials of the Serbian Radical Party, among which some MPs lead the way, and by the behaviour of the representatives of the “Obraz” nationalist organization, who publicly call on destruction of legal system and regime. Political dissatisfaction cannot be taken as justification for violence, and this is exactly why the exact responsibility of the organizers of demonstrations, who express their dissatisfaction in an illegal and undemocratic way, should be established. We are deeply convinced that if police officers had had adequate orders, they would have been able to prevent violence and protect reporters from violent demonstrators. 

We would like to remind You that some ten years ago, and because of similar threats to reporters, most of the media organizations decided to boycott Serbian Radical Party, and their decision had proven to be very effective. In case that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, led by You as its top official, choose not make an effort to protect reporters in Serbia, and especially so when they are trying to their jobs, reporters and journalists will be forced to organize another boycott, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will find itself among the top part of our list of organizations to be boycotted. Our Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia shall inform other professional associations about such a move internationally.   

Independent Journalists Association of Serbia
 
Nadežda Gaće, the President
 
In Belgrade, July 25, 2008