ANEM ALARM: Unacceptable relativization of the threats against Brankica Stanković and the targeting conducted by Milan Veruović on KTV.
The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) warns that no threat directed at female journalists, male journalists, and media workers should be minimized or relativized, but rather processed as quickly as possible. The hostility from fans – from the Alkatraz group in 2009 to the Anti Romi group this week – towards Brankica Stanković, the Insajder program, and subsequently Insajder television, indirectly affects numerous female and male journalists, representing a continuous form of violence. The consequence of constant threats without sanctioning those responsible has also been the seven-year police protection of Brankica Stanković and the seventeen years of this journalist's life and work in constant fear for her safety and that of her family.
Hooligan fans are not the only source of threats; they are merely the most extreme form. Various actors pose a constant threat – from leading tycoons over the past 30 years to convicted criminals and murderers. Any relativization of threats represents a new threat – a new justification for violence whose consequences are predictable. Those who do this become accomplices to the perpetrators of violence.
The latest offensive and threatening songs directed at Brankica Stanković have sparked significant solidarity among journalists. At the same time, familiar actors from the attacks on Brankica Stanković, the Insider show, and B92 have resurfaced from the period when that television station had an independent editorial policy.
During an appearance on KTV, Milan Veruović, who worked in the security detail of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić and was injured during the assassination attempt on him, accused Brankica Stanković of obstructing the trial for the murder of the Prime Minister through her Insider shows. His accusations also targeted the then B92, where Insider was broadcast and which dedicated a significant part of its programming to illuminating the circumstances surrounding Đinđić's assassination. The claims that the Insider show is a project of Popović, who was just one of many interlocutors in the series "Manuscripts Don't Burn," were made without any evidence and serve only one purpose – to create and justify an atmosphere of violence against Brankica Stanković.
“In 28 episodes of Insider that dealt with the causes and consequences of the Prime Minister's assassination, it was revealed, among other things, that criminal charges against Milan Veruović were erased in the Ministry of Interior after the democratic changes in 2000. It was also pointed out that Veruović had the same testimony in court as the accused Milorad Ulemek Legija – both claimed that a third bullet existed, thereby disputing both the indictment and the evidence. The aim of the claim that there was a third bullet was to absolve Zvezdan Jovanović and other accused from the Special Operations Unit (JSO) and the Zemun clan of responsibility for the murder, as someone else was allegedly the shooter who killed the Prime Minister of Serbia,” stated Brankica Stanković.
ANEM warns of the trend of attacks on Stanković, from the stadium to the TV screen. Hundreds of "strong men" – hooligans and their supporters – have targeted one journalist, one woman, and this has been ongoing for nearly two decades. The fan groups are merely the executors of a front that constitutes a macho culture, present in all areas of life. We call for reasoned and dignified communication from all female and male journalists, and their associations and organizations. We demand that institutions quickly prosecute those responsible for jeopardizing the safety of citizens through activities in extremist organizations.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
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