ANEM ALARM: Repeated threats to the Volim Zrenjanin portal with allegations of sexual violence against children.

“I believe this is an urgent case, as the person who made threats about ten days ago, which we reported, has repeated brutal threats and disturbing messages that can be classified as a criminal offense of endangering safety under Article 138 of the Criminal Code of Serbia. I request urgent identification of the perpetrator and prompt sanctions, in order to act preventively to avoid an attack on the members of the editorial board of Volim Zrenjanin,” states the report by Veran Matić, President of the Managing Board of ANEM and on-call at the SOS line for journalist safety.

The report to the Prosecutor's Office for High Technology Crime includes details about the IP address, the email address of the user, as well as previous threats made by the same individual to the portal. Editor Aleksandar Blanuša reported the threats to the local police, as he has done each time his editorial team has been threatened and intimidated by various threats, insults, and comments. Given that the threats contain chilling references to violence and sexual violence against children, the editorial team members are extremely frightened and concerned for their safety and that of their families. ANEM therefore demands an urgent response from the police and the prosecution, as we believe they have sufficient information to identify and prosecute the individual behind the threats. 

We remind you that the editorial board of Volim Zrenjanin has faced serious threats several times, both in comments on published articles and through phone calls. This media outlet has received threats such as “there is no cure for you but a bullet,” while family members of editors and journalists have been threatened on several occasions. The threats issued today are particularly disturbing due to the content describing violence and sexual abuse against children.

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 Women and Men 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.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia has supported ANEM's project “24/7 SOS Hotline for Assistance to Journalists and Other Threatened Media Workers,” as part of the EU-funded project “Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia.”