ANEM alarm: Interference and pushing away of Danas journalist Uglješa Bokić
The unacceptable practice of obstructing journalists in the performance of their duties continues on the part of police representatives. The latest incident occurred on the night of June 8th to 9th, when Uglješa Bokić, a journalist for the daily newspaper Danas, was prevented from doing his job in front of the SNS premises in Novi Sad.
As he explained to ANEM, Bokić went in his capacity as a journalist to take a few photographs and recordings and to send a brief report to the editorial office about the gathering of citizens.
“At one point, I noticed the head of the Novi Sad Police Department, Nevenko Marić, leaning against a car in the parking lot. Since he was recently appointed to this position and there are not many photographs of him, I decided to take a few pictures for the archive and send them to the editorial office to show that the head of the Police Department was present on the ground. When I approached him from a few meters away and lifted my phone to photograph him, he addressed me with the words ‘Comrade, don’t film,’ and one of the two men with him approached me within just a few centimeters, blocked my shot, and told me to stop filming. From that moment on, the recording that I published on social media begins,” explained the Danas journalist.
While filming, he says, another man told him to move, which he refused. Bokić states that the same man then shoved him with his shoulder and struck him with his knee on the thigh, but “not forcefully, more as a warning.”
“The head of the department asked me to identify myself, which I did, but the two individuals who were obstructing me did not want to show their official IDs, even though I insisted several times, so it is unclear whether they were civilians or police officers. I addressed the head of the department and asked him to tell them to identify themselves, but he said there was no need. At the end of the recording, he turned to me and said, ‘Come on, get out of here,’” emphasized Bokić, adding that he will file a complaint against them with the Ministry of Internal Affairs' internal control sector.
ANEM once again appeals to the authorities in the Ministry of Internal Affairs not to obstruct journalists while they are performing their journalistic duties and that they must identify themselves during any intervention involving journalists.
Veran Matić, President of the ANEM Board
The project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists" is being implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insider TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with support from the European Union and the Balkan Democracy Fund.
