Darko Gligorijević: It was terrifying; they were given the green light to beat people in order to preserve the seats of power.

During the elections on March 29 in 10 local self-governments in Serbia, several journalists were attacked by pro-regime activists. One of the most horrifying scenes of that day, alongside the brutalization and beating of activists and journalists Lazar Dinić, Ivan Bjelić, and Zorica Popović, was the attack on Zoomer journalist Darko Gligorijević, which went viral on social media.

Gligorijević told Cenzolovka that his impressions from Sunday are "terrifying," but that he cannot be intimidated.

As he explains to Cenzolovka, while reporting in Bajina Bašta, he and several colleagues learned from locals that hooded men were present in the parking lot of a hospitality establishment, who, as the residents said, were guarding the call center of the Serbian Progressive Party.

The guys in black got the green light to beat, punch, and open heads…

Darko went with his colleagues to verify these claims. When he arrived at the parking lot, he says they saw dozens of men in black.

“One local man who went to the parking lot to film them was approached by one of those hooded men, who snatched the phone from his hand. When I saw that, I approached the parking lot to follow where the hooded man who took the phone was going. At that moment, a stocky guy in black approached me and tried to take my phone from my hand. When I refused to give him my phone, he dragged me into the street and, as I resisted, hit me dozens of times with his fist and open hand in the head. Finally, as an additional measure, he sprayed my face and eyes with pepper spray, which left me unable to see for the next few minutes. After that, he simply returned to the parking lot where he had been before,” Gligorijević recounted.

His impressions of reporting from these local elections are "terrifying," and he says that "we definitely were not prepared for the events during the elections on Sunday, nor could anyone have anticipated such attacks and irregularities" on the 'holiday of democracy,' as Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić calls election day.

“When I look back, it seems to me that the guys in black got the 'green light' to do whatever it takes to preserve the chairs of the powerful – to beat, punch, open heads, pull out telescopes, attack with axes, and so on,” says the Zoomer journalist.

DETAINED AFTER FILMING MILOŠ PAVLOVIĆ - FOR SHOUTING Darko Gligorijević is one of the few young journalists in Serbia who has been detained for his work. As we reported last summer, the police detained Darko Gligorijević, a young journalist from the Zoomer portal, who filmed the moment when student Miloš Pavlović, known for his loyalty to the authorities in their fight against protesting students, was attacked. Gligorijević filmed the moment when Pavlović was leaving a café in the Student City with friends, in front of which a group of students had gathered to protest. His footage went viral as it best captured what happened at the Student Center. This incident raised alarms in the upper echelons of the state and among all media under their control, with accusations of "Nazi hordes" being launched, while Pavlović was treated at the Emergency Center with the assistance of Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar. Quickly overshadowed was the brutal beating of student Petar Živković, the son of recently retired General Bogoljub Živković, who expressed disappointment at the police's indifferent response. The police, as Zoomer reported, detained Gligorijević while he was in the newsroom, asking him to give a statement as a witness, or "in the capacity of a citizen," regarding the incident he recorded. However, after giving his statement, the journalist was retained by the police, suspected of violating Article 7 of the Law on Public Order and Peace. The police stated that six young men aged 20 to 26 had been arrested for the same incident. This was a unique case where a journalist reporting on an event was arrested on charges of shouting and causing a disturbance, for which, as Zoomer reported, Gligorijević will be brought before a judge of the Misdemeanor Court.

Unlike them, I sleep peacefully

With this in mind, he told Cenzolovka that he felt no comfort when going to the police to report this latest attack on him in Bajina Bašta, even though he was going there as a victim.

“Even today, I get anxious when I see a police vehicle on the street or police officers in plain clothes at protests, even though more than nine months have passed. But the message to the regime remains the same – you will not intimidate me. I continue to do my job honorably and fairly. Unlike them, I sleep peacefully every night,” Gligorijević is clear.

When reporting the attack in Bajina Bašta, he was pleasantly surprised by the reaction and professionalism of both the police and the prosecutor's office.

He says that the police were "quite decent" towards him this time, and that the officer who took his statement accurately recorded every word he said, checking multiple times if that was all and if he wanted to add anything else.

He also notes that the on-duty public prosecutor from Užice was immediately informed, who determined that it was a criminal act of violent behavior committed against him by unknown persons, and that a criminal complaint had been filed against the unknown individuals.

“Initially, I didn't believe that the prosecutor's office would react, but I was pleasantly surprised. Looking at previous cases of attacks on journalists where perpetrators were not found, I am not optimistic about my case either,” concludes Zoomer journalist Darko Gligorijević for Cenzolovka.

He says that, while going through all this, the support he receives from journalistic associations and all his colleagues, but primarily from those in his newsroom, is important to him.

He emphasizes that several times in the field, citizens have asked him how many journalists Zoomer has, and they are all shocked every time he tells them there are only four of them in the newsroom.

He says that for these local elections, they divided the coverage so that they would cover Kula, Bor, and Bajina Bašta, locations they rightly believed would be marked by the highest intensity of irregularities on election day.

He particularly praised his colleagues, Marina, Milica, and Teodora, who also reported during the election day and emphasized that, despite the unfavorable position of all journalists in Serbia, female journalists continue to face significantly greater challenges.

“As much as journalists are endangered, it is more difficult for female journalists to perform their work on multiple levels,” concludes Gligorijević.

This text has been transferred from the portal Cenzolovka.

Author: Božidar Milovac