ANEM ALARM: Informer as a pretext for intimidating local journalists - threats to Južne vesti and the portal Volim Zrenjanin.

We also condemn the threats, insults, and intimidating messages directed at the editorial team of the Volim Zrenjanin portal under the article "Informer on the verge of losing its license, Niš TV sent workers home – what will happen to Zrenjanin's Santos and the portals?", in which murder and sexual violence against children are mentioned. ANEM has reported both cases to the Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime (VTK), expecting a swift and effective response. We demand that the police and the relevant prosecutor's office urgently identify and prosecute those responsible for the death threats and sexual violence, as well as take all necessary measures to protect journalists and their families.

Particularly disturbing is a comment left around five o'clock in the morning on the Južne vesti portal, in which the sender first questions why the journalists are not present in the newsroom and whether they are still sleeping, and then threatens them with death. In one of the comments, the same sender uses the incursion into the premises of Informer TV as a pretext for threatening journalists who are professionally reporting on events of public interest. Although the citizens' anger is justified, ANEM does not consider that violence against the Informer newsroom is the right way to address the systematic violation of laws and professional standards that this propaganda center has been conducting for years.

Threats to Južne vesti arrived shortly after the elections and attacks on citizens, members of electoral boards, and Niš bikers, with some threatening comments left precisely under the article "There is no answer as to whether the attackers who were cruising the city have been found, Niš bikers asked the police why they were detained," along with insults directed at the editorial team and the message "You will get it!!".

Brutal insults directed at the Volim Zrenjanin portal beneath the article about the initiative to revoke the broadcasting license from Informer TV, where journalists are called "street thugs and terrorists," along with disturbing mentions of their children and accusations that they want to imprison others in camps, further highlight the dangerous atmosphere in which events related to one media outlet are used as a pretext to intimidate other editorial teams.

The work of local journalists is further complicated by the fact that they live and work in small communities, where they may encounter individuals who threaten them, insult them, or physically attack them on a daily basis, making the risk to their safety particularly pronounced. ANEM once again demands that the police and the relevant prosecutor's office urgently respond to every reported threat, identify those responsible, and take concrete measures to protect journalists, warning that the lack of institutional response further encourages perpetrators and deepens the atmosphere of impunity.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The project "Enhancing the System of Prevention and Response Mechanisms in Cases of Threats to the Safety and Lives of Journalists in Serbia" is being implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insajder TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union.