ANEM ALARM: New incidents reported by journalists in front of the National Assembly of Serbia.

On Sunday, November 2, in the evening, a report was made regarding a threat to safety, disruption of work, and violent behavior towards Insajder journalist Nataša Mijušković in the so-called Ćacilend, in front of the Serbian Assembly. Upon entering the camp, she showed her press credentials to the police, and when she entered and took a few photographs, she was surrounded by a group of men in civilian clothing who refused to identify themselves. Some of them grabbed her arm and demanded to see the photographs she had taken and delete them from her phone - "so that they wouldn't break all her bones."

When she insisted that they identify themselves just as she had done, they told her that it didn't matter who they were and asked her "how it feels to be a traitor to the Serbian people working for Insajder TV." The men, who did not identify themselves, followed her to the police cordon, where one of the officers told her in a friendly manner that she should not enter the camp again. When she asked, "Is this occupied territory?" and noted that his colleague had told her she could enter, she was advised to report the incident to 192.

Additionally, another incident was recorded last night in the same area. Photographers from Radio DIR in Ruma, who entered the space in front of the Serbian Assembly last night, were surrounded by ununiformed individuals who demanded that they delete their recordings and struck them on the head, prompting one colleague to seek medical assistance. During this incident, a lens was taken from the female photographer, and her male colleague had his press card ripped from around his neck. They managed to recover the lens, but not the press credentials.

The responsible person from that media outlet, Jovan Kerešić, reported the case to the police, emphasizing that the photographers were shaken after the incident and would not have reported it themselves out of fear that their press credentials would be misused by third parties. In the report, Kerešić stated that the police had been present the entire time and did not react. Kerešić told ANEM that young colleagues were scared, which is why they do not want their names mentioned publicly.

ANEM reminds that this is the 15th and 16th case of interference in the work, assault, and intimidation of female and male journalists attempting to report from the area in front of the Serbian Assembly, nearly every time in the presence of the police, who did not protect them or allow them to work freely.

It is unacceptable that this public space has become a prohibited zone for a certain group of media, and we once again appeal to the relevant authorities to protect and enable the work of all female and male journalists, regardless of which media they report for. We also call on the police to identify and appropriately sanction individuals who threaten, intimidate, and assault media representatives while they are performing their jobs.

On the other hand, instead of protecting journalists and legitimizing the aggressors, last night a case was recorded where commander JZO Marko Kričak legitimized Danasa journalist Vojin Radovanović on Resavska Street. Even though Radovanović was wearing a yellow press vest (with a press label) and mentioned he was a journalist, he was told: "You filmed the police's actions, so let's see."

Police officers, including Kričak, requested that he show them items from his backpack, as reported by Danas. Kričak also photographed the Danas journalist's ID while it was in his hands. When asked by the journalist if it was standard practice for journalists to be legitimized, he replied that it was not.

ANEM evaluates this behavior of the police towards journalists as yet another form of intimidation and pressure on media work, while, on the other hand, they do not respond to unacceptable assaults on female and male journalists.

The impunity of attacks on journalists sends a clear message to the authorities that threats, pressure, and physical assaults on media representatives can continue without any consequences, which is unacceptable in a democratic society, and directly endangers the safety of journalists and, thereby, threatens media freedoms, which have been at a disturbingly low level in Serbia over the past year.

We call on representatives of the authorities and the international community to strongly condemn such cases and to protect the safety of journalists and freedom of speech and media in Serbia.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists" 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 and the Balkan Democracy Fund and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia.

The OSCE Mission in Serbia has supported ANEM's project "24/7 SOS Telephone Line for Assistance to Journalists and Other Vulnerable Media Workers," as part of the project financed by the European Union "Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia."