"I am not sure what to expect when I go out on the street": Journalist Isidora Kovačević after the court acquitted the man who was posting wanted notices with her image.

In 2021, among the wanted notices that flooded Šabac were journalist Isidora Kovačević, then editor of the Podrinske portal, lawyer Aleksandar Mijailović, and then minor Veljko Anđelić. Milan Filipović was sentenced to two years in prison for this case, but the decision was overturned and returned for retrial, which resulted in an acquittal for the mentioned man.

Journalist Isidora Kovačević tells Nova that she did not expect such an outcome in the case of the wanted notices.

"I hoped for justice, a judicial outcome that we all deserved and that would prevent further targeting. I believed that there were good and fair people in institutions who would simply do their jobs. Therefore, thanks to this ruling, I have neither hope nor faith in institutions, especially in the police. The police are actually the most responsible for this case ending without suspects for distributing, printing posters, without suspects of coordinators and the conceptual creators of the entire action," says Isidora.

She emphasizes that the ruling made by the Higher Court in Šabac is proof, "black on white," that there is no one to protect journalists.

"That anyone who dislikes what we do, write, or say has the right to threaten us, attack us, and put a price on our heads in the most brutal way. A way that fundamentally changes the lives of us and everyone around us. Also, this is an example of how institutions protect a certain group because if this had happened to anyone in power or from the Serbian Progressive Party, the case would have been resolved at lightning speed and the penalties would have been severe," our interlocutor explains.

According to her, the day the ruling was made was again December 17, 2021, when the entire Šabac was plastered with wanted notices.

"That is a day of indescribable fear. Just today, four years later, with an official document that states that anyone can harass us, draw a target on our foreheads, attack us without consequences and that the authorities will cover it all up. The decision of the court panel is alarming, and I am not sure what to expect when I go out onto the street, especially when I go to my hometown and take a walk. Even during the court proceedings, the thugs from the bridge in Šabac knew how to block my path just to let me know that they were watching everything and that they were there,” says the journalist.

She emphasizes that the court proceedings and the ruling of the Basic Court somewhat protected her.

"From this last and final document, I feel like a free target, and the police have given a green light to that group for further harassment and endangering my freedom and life. Since yesterday, we are completely unprotected thanks to the Higher Court, which considers wanted notices equivalent to verbal, passive threats in the infinitive," Isidora Kovačević from Šabac emphasizes for Nova.

**Source: [Nova.rs](https://nova.rs/vesti/hronika/nisam-sigurna-sta-da-ocekujem-kada-izadjem-na-ulicu-novinarka-isidora-kovacevic-za-nova-rs-nakon-sto-je-sud-oslobodio-muskarca-koji-je-lepio-poternice-sa-njenim-likom/)**