ANEM ALARM: Misdemeanor charges against journalist Miljko Stojanović for allegedly organizing protests.

According to reports, a journalist allegedly organized unregistered gatherings on July 1 and July 9, 2025, in front of the Police Administration building in Zaječar, which is a location where gatherings are not permitted by law. It is also noted that he called people to attend these gatherings via his Facebook profile.

It should be reminded that in October of last year, a journalist from Glas Zaječara received three misdemeanor charges for allegedly calling for protest gatherings that he was also reportedly organizing.

“One of the charges states that on July 1, I organized an unregistered protest gathering, and that prior to the gathering, I invited citizens to assemble. The gathering was not registered. I attended all these gatherings as a journalist, reporting and covering the protests. This is what we do when all gatherings are organized, whether they are political or cultural events. I believe that this is pressure on the few independent media outlets, as well as on me, to stop reporting on protests,” said Miljko Stojanović in a statement to the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM).

ANEM reminds that Miljko Stojanović and Glas Zaječara have been frequent targets of threats, pressure, attacks, interference in their work, targeting on social media, and surveillance in recent years.

“Journalist Miljko Stojanović, a victim of numerous attacks, is becoming a target of further attacks. The prosecution dismisses the complaints made by the journalist against the police officers who assaulted him. But because he publishes news about protests, he is labeled as an organizer. Instead of protection, he faces new sanctions and monetary fines. The police, instead of addressing cases of threats to the safety of professional journalists, initiate complaints against journalists with accusations that they organized protests from which they reported for the media they work for. I remind you that only last year, four cases related to attacks on Miljko Stojanović were opened in the prosecution. In three of the four cases, the prosecution assessed that there were no criminal acts for official prosecution, and only one case remains open,” stated Veran Matić, president of the ANEM Board of Directors and member of the Permanent Working Group for Journalist Safety.

ANEM calls on citizens and organizations to show solidarity with the editorial team of Glas Zaječara. In addition to moral support, financial support is also necessary.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The project "Improvement of the Mechanism for Prevention and Response to 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 Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union.