ANEM alert: Equipment taken from the Blockade Info editorial office has not yet been returned by the Rectorate in Novi Sad.
The student editorial team "Blokada Info" has still not received all the equipment that was confiscated from them on September 5 of this year at the Rectorate in Novi Sad, when the police, along with the rector, entered the premises and held students and citizens confined for several hours.
Let us remind you that during the police raid on the Rectorate building and the identification of citizens, the student editorial team of Blokada Info was isolated from the rest of the students and citizens due to filming. Their equipment was seized for inspection, after which several of them were taken to the police station.
So far, they report that one encoder with two modems, three phones, and a tablet have been returned to them. The student editorial team has published a list of equipment that is still missing, which they claim is valued at 1,880 euros (Smallrig camera lighting, microphone triangle, USB 4G modem, blue Boban Hero Pro backpack, 3D printed battery holders, Xiaomi phone, Razer headphones...).
The editorial team has also announced on their website that citizens can send monetary donations online through the portal podrzistudente.org, noting that the donations are intended for the Blokada INFO editorial team, as well as a list of equipment that they need for their work.
The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) once again condemns the confiscation of equipment from journalistic teams and calls on the authorities to publicly disclose why the equipment has not yet been returned to the Blokada Info editorial team.
We remind you that journalists during coverage of protests do not have to comply if the police request to inspect or wish to confiscate their equipment. The Criminal Procedure Code protects against unreasonable searches or seizures. If there is no ongoing arrest, inspection or confiscation of equipment cannot be carried out without a court order.
“We call on citizens to show solidarity with the Blokada Info editorial team by donating for the purchase of the missing equipment they need to report on student activities, events at the university, and protests in the best possible way. Such student editorial teams have proven to be very important for the student movement and represent the future of journalism and media in Serbia,” stated Veran Matić, President of the Board of ANEM.
Instructions for donations can be found on the website https://www.blokada.info/donacije.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
The project "System for Preventing Violence and Protecting Journalists" is implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insajder TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union and the Balkan Democracy Fund.
