ANEM ALARM: Police against journalist - Bečej Mosaic prevented from reporting on Vučić's visit

ANEM warns that it is unacceptable to discriminate against journalists reporting from public gatherings during the electoral campaign, particularly the misuse of police to prevent media workers from performing their professional duties. 

“We wonder who will protect female and male journalists from the police? Members of the Ministry of Interior not only prevented a journalist from doing her job, but also hindered citizens from receiving the information they are interested in, rather than just the information served to them through pro-government media. We call on female and male journalists, all professional media, to show solidarity and share recordings and reports, especially in situations where some media are unable to cover a particular event, as well as to ask the questions for which they are being discriminated against. When we see the questions that journalist Demeter Filipčev prepared, it becomes clearer why Vučić is trying to avoid facing female and male journalists while misusing the police in the process,” stated ANEM President Veran Matić.

The questions prepared by Bečejski mozaik for former President Vučić mainly concerned the promises he made while in office that were not fulfilled. “For this reason, we were unable to ask him, even though he appears as an ordinary citizen – whether he is aware of the construction of the ring road around Temerina and Bački Jarak, which he promised a few years ago. Additionally, we were denied an answer to the question regarding the segment of the SNS's electoral program concerning the prevention of violence against women, as well as his stance on the incident from October 3, when an SNS activist and employee of JP Komunalac, Stanislav Nešić, seized the phone of Bečejski mozaik's journalist while she was reporting on the organized departure of supporters of the ruling party to Belgrade and then threatened her in the presence of police officers. Once again, our editorial team was not informed about Aleksandar Vučić's visit, which, as has become traditional, resulted in discrimination,” it is stated in a statement from this media outlet. 

This is yet another incident against the Bečejski mozaik editorial team just two days after the attack on journalist Demeter Filipčev, regarding which ANEM filed a report with the competent Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Bečej. ANEM warns that the repetition of incidents against the same editorial team within just two days requires an urgent and effective response from the relevant authorities and the establishment of accountability for all individuals who prevented the journalist from performing her job. ANEM documents incidents, attacks, threats, insults, and intimidation of journalists on a daily basis. 

During the local elections in about ten cities and municipalities in March of this year, local journalists were prevented from reporting on SNS gatherings attended by then-President Vučić. Some of them even suffered physical attacks. Clearly, such practices continue during the electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections, where we are recording various incidents almost daily.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The project “Enhancing the Prevention and Response Mechanism in Cases of Threats to the Safety and Lives 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.