News

The editorial board of the weekly Vreme has assessed that the recent statements made by Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar endanger the safety of their editorial team, as well as their colleagues from N1, Nova S, and Danas, and that these statements "prove that he is unworthy of public office."

The Chairman of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Veran Matić, stated that journalists have become a serious target during protests and demonstrations.

Supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party in downtown Belgrade charged at the gathered journalists, chasing them down Birčaninova Street while shouting, "Now film this," reports a journalist from the Zoomer portal.

The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, has assessed that the reports of violence during the recent protests in Serbia are very concerning.

In the last few days in Serbia, we have witnessed a real epidemic of threats against editorial offices as well as attacks on journalists critical of the regime. Sources for Danas assess that the threats are largely planned and coordinated through paid bots and aggressors inspired by media outlets like Informer, and that these attacks are a consequence of the current situation in our society.

In the respect for human rights in Serbia during the past year, there have been no significant changes, but significant problems continue to be recorded regarding media freedom and expression, violence against journalists, the impunity for war crimes, and workers' rights, stated the State Department in its new annual report on human rights worldwide. Threats and attacks on journalists, non-transparent ownership of media, as well as excessive state involvement in the media sector have undermined the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the media and expression, as noted in the section of the report that pertains to Serbia.

The SafeJournalists network indicates that last night's incidents in Vrbas, Bački Petrovac, Novi Pazar, and Belgrade demonstrated that the police are unable to ensure the unhindered work of journalists during the coverage of protests and events of public significance.

The Commercial Court in Belgrade has rejected the lawsuit filed by the publisher of Kurir last year against KRIK, in which it claimed that we disseminated false information and undermined the reputation of this tabloid. The lawsuit followed after KRIK's portal Raskrikavanje, which verifies the accuracy of information published in the media, determined that tabloids published 1,150 manipulative news stories on their front pages during 2023 – of which Kurir accounted for 56. The ruling is not final, and the publisher of Kurir, Mondo Inc., can appeal it.