Response of ANEM to the statements of Ana Brnabić regarding the events in Užice.

“ANEM is to be registered in the political parties register, since they have long withdrawn from associations that protect and represent journalists and the media,” alluding to the fact that we did not react or condemn the incident where an RTS cameraman was hit at the gathering in Užice.

Based on her reaction, it is evident that the ANEM statement was not read in full, as the same text condemns the attack on the journalist from Mašina, the incident involving the RTS cameraman, and the campaign being waged against the journalists from RecMedia in Užice.

We will debate only the facts with the President of the National Assembly of Serbia, as that is the only way to expose the falsehoods in her statements regarding the events in Užice:

The Ministry of Interior (MUP) states that “the police will file a criminal complaint against R.B. from Belgrade on suspicion of physically attacking and lightly injuring the crane operator of TV PINK with a hammer.”

The President of the Assembly clearly does not like the MUP's statement, so the hammer becomes a mace and the crane operator turns into the entire PINK crew.

The MUP statement mentions that “the RTS cameraman was injured when he was hit in the chest by a stone thrown by an as-yet unidentified person,” which the prosecutor's office classified as “violent behavior at a sports event or public gathering.”

For Ana Brnabić, a stone is a stone block, and the blow to the chest from the police statement, in her formulation, becomes “almost killed on the spot.”

The MUP statement makes no mention of the recorded attack by representatives of the intervention unit on colleague Marko Miletić from Mašina.

This is also omitted by the President of Parliament, who is displeased that the Mašina portal reported yesterday in Užice like a true public service, which Serbia lacks, partly due to the President of Parliament’s failure to fulfill her obligations under the Law on Public Media Services, which requires her to organize the process of electing new members of the RTS Program Council.

We wish a speedy recovery to the crane operator from TV PINK, as well as to the RTS cameraman, whom we ask to address his superiors and inquire why former director Dragan Bujošević and current director Manja Grčić have repeatedly declined invitations for free ANEM training on the safety of journalists and media workers at high-risk gatherings.

If he had attended the training, the cameraman would never have stood in such a risky position and been targeted, both as a victim of his irresponsible bosses and the individuals who sent and placed him there.

Ana Brnabić, like other leading politicians, deliberately makes inversions in an attempt to discredit ANEM precisely because the association is highly engaged in the protection of journalists and the media, and because of this, it is a constant target of attacks and threats from the authorities. This is why the chair of the ANEM board, Veran Matić, has been attacked almost daily, especially over the past year.

Authorities clearly want Serbia without professional female and male journalists and independent media, which they are intensively working on by daily purchasing media, eliminating all possible revenue sources, threatening and harassing, targeting... which is why Serbia is rated by international organizations as the most dangerous place to work in Europe today, with historically the worst results regarding media freedom – ranked 104th in the Media Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. The fall from 54th place in 2014 is the best illustration of the results of the hybrid war being waged against professional journalism in our country for over a decade.

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)