ANEM ALARM: Extended detention of the Radio Dir editor from Ruma during Vučić's visit.

On October 1st, before Vučić arrived in Ruma, Kerešić, visibly carrying a marked press credential, approached a plainclothes municipal police officer and reported a case of an unsafe electrical cabinet. Kerešić claims that he was not aware of the former president Vučić's arrival in Ruma, that he did not provoke anyone, and that his detention was based on what he describes as “the lies of municipal inspector Nikola Vladisavljević that Kerešić would insult and attack supporters of the SNS and Vučić himself during his stay in Ruma.”

ANEM calls on all relevant authorities to contribute to calming tensions and polarization in society. We remind you that the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) publicly requested an apology from the president of the municipality of Ruma, Dušan Ljubišić, for insulting the editor of Radio Dir while he was reporting on the welcome of students during a cycling promotional event, as well as the counter-gathering of SNS supporters. The president of the municipality of Ruma, Ljubišić, as noted by the Association, told Kerešić that he was a “self-proclaimed journalist” and that he had “forged the UNS press credential.” “Everyone has the right to be dissatisfied with the reporting of journalists and media, but insults are unacceptable,” stated the UNS.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The project “Improvement of the System Mechanism for Prevention and Response in Cases of Threats to the Safety and Lives of Journalists in Serbia” is being implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insider TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union.