Announcements

During the recording of a public event in the village of Makovište, near Kosjerić, which was attended by the president of the ruling party SNS, Miloš Vučević, cameraman Marjan Vučetić from N1 was attacked from behind with multiple blows to the back and neck, along with being kicked, and then he was thrown out of the tent where the program was taking place, which was being covered by a reporting team from this television station in Kruševac. Following this cowardly attack, there was no response from the organizers to protect the cameraman in the performance of his duties.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) strongly condemns the detention of photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić. Andrić has been photographing student protests for the past several months. He was deprived of his freedom during the protests of citizens in front of the courthouse in Novi Sad. According to information available in the media, he was released by the police two hours after his detention.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the international organization Reporters Without Borders has published the latest Press Freedom Index for this year. The head of the EU-Balkans desk at Reporters Without Borders, Pavol Salaj, exclusively told the Association of Independent Electronic Media that Serbia's advancement by two places (96th out of 180 countries) is an illusion, as Serbia's score has actually fallen by 0.92 points (53.55 on a scale of 0 to 100). According to him, it is evident that media freedom in the country has further deteriorated. He explains that Serbia's progress can be attributed more to the decline of other countries, including Kosovo.

At the beginning of 2024, the Appellate Court issued an acquittal for four defendants accused of the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, following two first-instance convictions totaling 100 years in prison, after 15 years of investigation and nine years of trial.

The attack on journalist Stefan Miljuš from Insajder television while he was performing his journalistic duties at Nikola Pašić Square, in the area of an event organized by the Serbian Progressive Party, marks the fourteenth physical attack on journalists in the first four months of 2025, which represents a significant escalation and can be described as a sort of war against journalists.

The Coalition for Media Freedom and the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) express concern regarding a series of warnings before lawsuits that a legal team has issued to numerous editorial offices due to alleged violations of copyright and moral rights related to a video recording that is part of the coverage of events outside the RTS building on March 11, 2025.

According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, Kosovo has fallen by as much as 19 places to the 75th position, placing it in the third group of countries in terms of media freedom. Key threats include politicized regulation, SLAPP lawsuits, limited access to information, and an increase in physical attacks on journalists.

In just one day, a series of dangerous attacks on journalists and media occurred, which increasingly characterize the life of journalists in Serbia. In the daily repression in which we live and work, these are no longer isolated incidents but a rule that justifiably raises significant concern.

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), and the Business Association Local Press (PU "Lokal pres") express their concern and dissatisfaction with the operations of the Unified Information System (JIS) for the implementation and monitoring of co-financing projects in the field of public information (JIS).