ANEM ALARM: Attacks on female and male journalists, violent disruptions to their work, telephone threats to journalists mentioning violence against their families.
A group of journalists, clearly marked by their press vests, was reporting from the plaza in front of the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad when they were violently attacked by a group of assailants who had been organized and brought to the theater by the SNS.
A group of journalists, visibly marked by their press vests, reported from the plaza in front of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad when they were violently attacked by a group of assailants organized by the SNS in front of the theatre. Žarko Bogosavljević, a journalist from the Razglas News portal and one of the most attacked journalists in the past year, having faced over 30 physical assaults, was prevented from filming and moving freely, and was ultimately cornered against a wall and struck in the back. One of the assailants attempted to steal his phone, knocking it out of his hand with a blow while multiple individuals trampled him as he lay on the ground.
During this incident, Brankica Matić from the Storyteller portal and Milica Stevanović, a collaborator from the University Department, were also roughly pushed aside, and the N1 television crew was obstructed in their work, causing visible distress among all present, which constituted a criminal act of violent behavior at a sports event or public gathering. The attack followed the journalists' recording of a brutal, violent, and unprovoked assault by the same group on students, who were injured during the incident.
The attack on Žarko Bogosavljević has been reported to the competent prosecutor's office, and the faces of the attackers are clearly visible in the recordings, some of whom have already been identified. We expect the swift arrest and prosecution of the assailants.
Journalists and other media workers in Novi Sad are special targets for assailants, as they are regularly physically attacked and harassed during nearly every protest, regardless of how peaceful it is, including incidents involving police officers. Therefore, it is extremely important for the prosecutor's office to be much more efficient in prosecuting these cases.
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After threats, work obstructions, insults, and sexist and misogynistic remarks directed at journalist Dejana Cvetković during the coverage of protests in Surdulica, the editor of the InfoVranjske portal, Mihajlo Stojković (who reported on the threats), received a call from an unknown phone number, during which he was insulted, and an unknown voice said that he and Dejana Cvetković “need to be f***ed” and that he “needs to have his child killed to see how it feels.”
This brutal threat has been reported to contact points in the prosecutor's office and the police, with a request to determine who issued the threats and to prosecute that individual.
“We demand that these physical assaults, threats, and work obstructions against journalists be prosecuted as soon as possible, that the perpetrators be convicted, and that the rhetoric of hate speech and incitement leading to the endangerment of journalists’ safety be stopped. In all these dramatic situations, journalists have reported with exceptional professionalism and shown strong mutual solidarity,” stated Veran Matić, coordinator of the Safe Line for reporting threats and attacks on journalists at ANEM and a member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists.
Attached is a recording of the attack, authored by Žarko Bogosavljević, which may be used.
The project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists" is 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 has supported ANEM's project "24/7 SOS Hotline for Assistance to Journalists and Other Vulnerable Media Workers," under the project funded by the European Union "Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia."
