ANEM alarm: New level of violence against journalists – the assault by SNS thugs, police once again fail to respond.

As reported by the media outlets Vreme and Zoomer, after a confrontation occurred on Nemanjina Street between demonstrators and supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party, who were in front of their party's offices, a group of thugs launched an attack on a large number of gathered journalists who had visible "press" markings and chased them down Birčaninova Street, shouting, "Come on, film now, film now."

"I will kill you, I f*ck your mother," the group shouted at female journalists as they chased after them.

Although there were many uniformed police officers and plainclothes officers on the streets of Belgrade, no one reacted or attempted to prevent the assault on the media workers who were performing their job in the field.

The only recorded response from the police last night was an attempt to prevent journalists from reporting, as they were not allowed to film the arrest of a citizen in Belgrade, as reported by the student portal Puls generacije.

"Do not interfere with police proceedings," can be heard in the recording as a man in civilian clothes with a police badge around his neck says.

We have witnessed that the police have not reacted for several consecutive nights to the violence coming from supporters of the SNS armed with pyrotechnic devices, batons, and sticks on the streets of cities across Serbia; instead, they escort them to certain locations, attack, and arrest demonstrators who respond to these groups.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) strongly condemns such incidents and once again appeals to all citizens not to interfere with journalists while they report from public events.

We call on the relevant authorities to urgently identify and sanction the attackers on media representatives in downtown Belgrade, as well as to protect all media workers in public places and enable them to perform their jobs professionally.

We also appeal to police representatives to act without discrimination during public order and peace disturbances at protest gatherings.

We urge colleagues to stay in groups during violent events and to assist each other.

Veran Matić, member of the Permanent Working Group for Journalist Safety and President of the Board of the 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 support from the European Union and the Balkan Fund for Democracy.