ANEM ALARM: The police are covering up their responsibility for inaction during the attack on the N1 team in front of the assembly.

At least 12 police officers from the Intervention Unit from Užice and Prijepolje, the Savski Venac Police Station, and the Stari Grad Police Station gave synchronized statements fully dismissing the complaint regarding inaction in the case of the attack on Vladan Sretenović from "Ćacilend." It should be noted that Sretenović was convicted of murder, for which he served a 15-year prison sentence, and later for severe violent behavior, for which he was sentenced to more than a year in prison, from where he practically came directly to carry out the attack on journalists and citizens from the illegal “tent settlement” in and around Pionirski Park.

By their inaction, all present police officers allowed the perpetrator to flee the scene.

The absence of a professional response and the arrest of the perpetrator is justified in testimonies by the distance of 30 to 40 meters from the scene of the attack. They were closer, but even if it were that far, it does not excuse the lack of an attempt to chase after the perpetrator and inform other police officers in the area so that the attacker, who was moving towards the Stari Grad Police Station on Majke Jevrosime Street, could be intercepted and apprehended.

Although all police officers present saw that there were cameras that recorded both the incident and the distance, and heard Maja Nikolić calling for police officers, the report states that the recordings were not saved because 30 days had passed, which is the retention period. The recordings certainly exist, as the Ministry of Interior was requested by the competent prosecutor to obtain evidence, and footage from nearby cameras is among the most important evidence, which is easiest to obtain.

Formally citing the expiration of the retention period for recordings represents yet another level of concealing the police's inaction.

The synchronized statements of the present police officers in this report, as well as the repetition of entire sentences, remind one of the coordinated and matching testimonies of members of the State Security Service who accompanied Slavko Ćuruvija when he was murdered.

Maja Nikolić expressed disagreement with the minutes and statements of the police officers, stating that “it creates the impression that they were instructed on what to say, and that the overall behavior of the police is shameful… that all police officers could have described the event in detail and heard her calling, but that no one could run to help them…”

Attorney Mila Tomanović believes that “the factual situation has not been completely and correctly established, that no interviews were conducted with individuals who were participants in the event… that there is a CD with footage from the Ministry of Interior and that access to it can be granted.”

“The impunity for attacks on journalists, which has been nearly a hundred percent in the past two years, is largely related to the police's inaction, as can be very clearly seen in this case. Since 2020, all complaints submitted by journalists' associations, editorial offices, and other bodies to the Internal Control Service of the Ministry of Interior regarding attacks by police officers on journalists or inaction in response to attacks by others have ended without establishing accountability.

The 'conspiracy of silence' aims to protect the perpetrators, as well as those whose duty it is to prevent violence and apprehend the perpetrators, which they have failed to do.

As someone who arrived about ten minutes after the attack and stayed there until the end of the investigation, I can testify that for nearly an hour there was almost no activity from more than 20 police officers present at the scene and in the immediate vicinity, from several police units, nor was there adequate securing of the scene. We were informed that there would not even be an investigation. As if someone was preventing them from being police officers, protectors of public order and peace,” stated Veran Matić, President of the Board of ANEM, member of the Permanent Working Group for the Security of Journalists, and coordinator of the SOS hotline for reporting threats and attacks on journalists at 0800 100 115.

In anticipation of the start of the trial for the perpetrator Vladan Sretenović, Maja Nikolić and Ivan Pavlović will appeal this outcome to the Commission for the Resolution of Complaints.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The project “Improving the System Mechanism for Prevention and Response 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 the support of the European Union.

The OSCE Mission in Serbia supported ANEM's project “24/7 SOS Telephone Line for Assistance to Journalists and Other Threatened Media Workers,” within the project funded by the European Union “Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia.”