16. 02. 2011

B92 “death notices” in Serbian town

Belgrade, February 16, 2011 (B92) - Just like every Tuesday, after airing of a new Insajder episode, anti-B92 posters were put up in Lazarevac today.

The posters were first put up after B92 aired the first Insajder episode that looked into abuses in the Kolubara Coal Mine.

Local police do not know who is behind this call for violence and Municipal President Branko Borić told B92 that he did not know about the anti-B92 posters in Lazarevac and that Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) was not behind it.

B92 legal counsels say that they will file charges against an unknown person, adding that police only once discovered the perpetrator.

B92 legal counsel Slobodan Kremenjak believes that, aside from B92 journalists, targets could this time also be the witnesses who could speak about the abuse in the Kolubara Coal Mine.

Each Insajder series was always followed by various reactions and unsuccessful attempts to discredit and intimidate its authors.

NUNS calls for investigation

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) has called on the authorities to urgently find and punish the perpetrators who put up B92 death notices all over Lazarevac, stating the names of the B92 editor-in-chief and the Insajder authors and openly threatening them.

A fact that a large number of death notices and posters saying "NE B92" (NO B92) were put up next to the headquarters of the local police, who still have not investigated the threats made against the B92 journalists after two episodes of the Insajder program had been aired, is especially alarming, it is said in the announcement.

"There's no doubt that the death notices are a blunt threat to the journalists, but also a warning to potential witnesses about what could happen to them if they openly spoke about the abuses in the Kolubara mines," NUNS Deputy President Jelka Jovanović.