Since the beginning of the year, there have been 125 attacks and pressures on journalists.

She stated that journalists have been subjected to various types of pressures and attacks for a considerable number of years, primarily verbal threats, but that in the past two years, there has been a noticeable trend of increasing physical attacks on journalists.

At a meeting dedicated to the safety of media workers, she emphasized that this has been particularly evident since the onset of student protests.

She noted that there has been a significant number of physical attacks, as well as various types of pressures and interference while reporting, which often occurred during the protests.

“We have different types of targeting, including from representatives of high-ranking state officials who indirectly jeopardize the safety of journalists and media workers,” Babić highlighted.

According to her, in recent months, there has been a problem with police inaction regarding certain attacks on journalists, with such a case recently occurring in Niš.

Babić expressed her belief that the increasing number of attacks and pressures on journalists is due to the state of society and, as she stated, how people generally treat journalists, particularly representatives of institutions and the highest state offices.

“Their behavior spills over to ordinary citizens. This is why we have a large number of threats that are directed through social media, as people still believe they can write anything on social media without facing consequences, which is, of course, not true,” she said.

She mentioned that there would be progress regarding the safety of journalists when the atmosphere in society changes and the importance of the journalistic profession is recognized, along with, as she added, an increase in awareness not only among executive function holders but also within the judiciary, police, and prosecutors’ offices.

A member of the permanent working group for the safety of journalists and president of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Veran Matić, stated that in the past year, there has only been one conviction out of 62 registered attacks on journalists.

According to him, this is minimal compared to 13 convictions in the previous year.

“What is very concerning for us is that the police are increasingly failing to protect journalists, which we could also see at the gathering on Saturday, May 17, in Niš. They are removing journalists from the scene but not processing or detaining the attackers who are recorded right beside them,” Matić stated.

He noted that in the last 20 physical attacks on journalists over the past six months, the assailants were most often from the security of the ruling party's events.

They are the ones, he added, who command and manage the events and thus the police.

Matić pointed out that the impunity of the attackers only encourages other attackers.

“We need to talk with prosecutors and representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to try to find ways to be more effective, and for us to have better cooperation with them, meaning it should be mutual, creating a system of prevention and protection,” Matić emphasized.

According to him, today’s gathering is an opportunity to discuss the safety of journalists and to show solidarity with those who have been attacked while performing their duties, as well as with the Radio Television of Serbia’s correspondent office that was directly targeted by the President of Serbia.

He stated that in the case of the RTS correspondent office, local journalists and the media community in general showed great solidarity.

“Unfortunately, there are also situations where there is no solidarity. This weekend, we had an example where a colleague on social media expressed completely inappropriate views about the journalist who was attacked,” Matić said.

The gathering dedicated to the safety of journalists was organized by ANEM and the OSCE Mission in Serbia, together with representatives of associations that are members of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists.

Representatives from the prosecutors' offices in Niš and the Police Administration in Niš also attended the meeting.

Source: Beta