ANEM ALARM: Pushing, cursing, and the interrogation of a reporter at the SNS meeting in Novi Sad.

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) particularly emphasizes its concern that the majority of independent journalists reporting from the ruling party's pre-election rally yesterday in Novi Sad refused to wear journalist identification and prominently displayed accreditations. The fact that journalists do not feel safe at SNS gatherings highlights the atmosphere of fear perpetuated by Aleksandar Vučić's regime, alongside the disregard for the constitutionally guaranteed right of the public to be informed. Pre-election rallies of the ruling party have become synonymous with danger for independent journalists, who continuously suffer attacks, physical and verbal harassment, damage to equipment, insults, and as of yesterday, the search of their bags. 

“While I was following the SNS rally, men in civilian clothes approached me. One of them showed me a badge and then told me to come with them. They took me to a side street, and I immediately called the editorial office. They asked for my ID, which I provided, and they took a picture of it from both sides. Then they asked me to put my backpack on the ground so they could search it,” recounted a collaborator from Pazovački to ANEM. 

The editor of Razglas Njuza, Žarko Bogosavljević, stated that an unknown man approached him while he was reporting on the organized arrival of buses in Novi Sad. “I was not in the crowd; I was standing aside when an unknown man approached me several times, cursing and asking why I was filming. Then he struck my phone. When I headed towards the police officers from the intervention unit to report the attack, this SNS supporter moved away,” Bogosavljević told ANEM. 

The security personnel of the former president roughly pushed journalist Mašina while she was asking Aleksandar Vučić whether it was true that he pardoned those accused of the roof collapse. She asked him this twice, and instead of an answer from the former president, she received a shove from men presumed to be part of his security, who also appeared to be defending him from uncomfortable questions posed by independent journalists.

“The SNS pre-election rally in Novi Sad is part of a strategy to intimidate citizens, thereby discouraging them from participating in the elections and voting. Part of this strategy also includes violence against independent and professional journalists and media, preventing them from reporting and asking questions. We call on the ODIHR observation mission to pay special attention to the daily attacks on female and male journalists, which creates an atmosphere of fear rather than a fair campaign for democratic and honest elections,” stated Veran Matić, president of ANEM and member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists. 

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The project “Enhancing the System of Prevention and Response Mechanisms in Cases of Threats to the Safety and Life of Female and Male Journalists in Serbia” 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.