Announcements

The President of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, Veran Matić, wrote to the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the OSCE, and the European Court of Human Rights regarding the statement made by the Minister of Information and Telecommunications of Serbia, Boris Bratina, that students "are not aware that the police have the right to beat and kill them."

When a birthday coincides with a situation where existence is threatened, as is the case with IN Media from Inđija, a formal greeting becomes a recognition of professionalism and perseverance in journalistic work for the benefit of the public interest of citizens.

Journalistic and media associations and unions are warning the domestic and international public about the dramatic escalation of pressures and attempts to completely take over independent media in Serbia.

Representatives of the journalistic part of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists (SRG) held a meeting in which they summarized their work and experiences from the field during the elections held in ten local self-governments on March 29.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has sent official letters requesting the local governments of Rekovac, Gornji Milanovac, and Doljevac to annul the decisions regarding the appointment of committees for evaluating projects within the competition for co-financing media content, considering that Biljana Ratković Njegovan, who holds a public office, has been selected in all three instances. The letter has also been addressed to the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, urging the temporary removal of this candidate's name from the Unified Information System (UIS) so that the authorities issuing the competitions cannot reappoint her.

Journalistic and media associations and unions from Serbia and the region strongly condemn the brutal and unacceptable behavior of police officers towards journalists, as well as the systematic obstruction of their work during reporting on events of public interest. The aggressive actions of the police represent an absolutely unacceptable violation of the law and fundamental democratic principles, as well as a continuation of the ongoing pressure and violence against media workers that has persisted for over a year.

The President of the Management Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, Veran Matić, has filed a complaint with the Press Council against six media portals that published identical articles titled "Censorship under the Patronage of Veran Matić Targets the Media and Promotes the Fake State of Kosovo."

On the day of the local elections in 10 cities and municipalities in Serbia, there were an increasing number of physical attacks on journalists and citizens. The most drastic case occurred in Šarbanovac near Bor, where the journalists from Revolt, Lazar Dinić and Ivan Bjelić, were brutally beaten, and journalist Zorica Popović received two blows to the stomach. Several students were also attacked during this incident.

The journalistic section of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists (SRG) demands that the Ministry of Internal Affairs identify and detain all individuals who have physically attacked journalists and citizens since this morning, on the day of the local elections held in 10 cities and municipalities in Serbia.