Police Increasingly Brutal Towards Media Representatives: A Discussion on Journalist Safety Held in Novi Sad

Veran Matić, the President of the ANEM Board and a member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, emphasized that by the end of this year, we will have record figures regarding threats to safety, while remaining stagnant in terms of police inefficiency and the high number of dismissals.

He noted that in the first nine months of this year, according to data from the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, there were even 320 reports of various forms of threats, pressure, and violence, compared to 168 for the entire previous year. Additionally, during the same period from January to the end of September, the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office registered 94 cases, as opposed to a total of 62 throughout the whole of last year, with over 20 attacks by police officers on media workers this year.

“Journalists have become open targets, not only for perpetrators and paramilitary forces but also for the police. Attacks on journalists are clearly a political decision aimed at intimidating and removing as many journalists from the scene as possible. The situation is alarming, and I urge you to protect yourselves and report all incidents,” stated Matić, who is also one of the operators of the Safe Line for Journalists at 0800 100 115.

N1 journalist Lea Apro provided examples of when she was pinned against a tree by the police and had her phone knocked from her hand, despite wearing a press vest and identifying herself as a journalist.

“The last time counter-protests were held in Novi Sad, I was outside the crowd, with my ID around my neck and a vest on, and I said I was a journalist, but a police officer kicked my bicycle wheel as hard as he could. Also, when I approached the gendarmes to report that a man was following me and to ask for protection, they looked right through me. They let that man twist my arm and snatch my phone before they finally reacted,” said Apro.

Dalibor Stupar, a journalist from Autonomija, added that since the counter-demonstrations began, police representatives have been “particularly aggressive” and have adopted a different practice.

“The police no longer accept that journalists wear only press vests; they now demand to see identification,” Stupar noted.

Jovan Kerešić from Radio Dir mentioned that there have been cases where the police ask journalists for work orders and even volunteer contracts for volunteers. According to him, the police should protect and allow journalists free movement.

Additionally, Žarko Bogosavljević, a journalist from the Razglas News portal, who has been attacked multiple times in the field, emphasized that “some police units behave like the army of the SNS and protectors of the regime.”

Lawyer Veljko Milić stated that all cases should be reported and that journalists should not be discouraged. He cited the example of the attack on Mirko Todorović in Novi Sad on November 5, which, according to him, represents a case that reveals the atmosphere in which the media operates and what we can expect from state authorities regarding the prosecution of the perpetrator.

“This was the day when Vučić came to Novi Sad in front of the SNS premises on Bulevar Oslobođenja, where a scuffle broke out, and Todorović, who was filming the event, was tackled to the ground. That person has been identified and recorded, proceedings have been initiated, and during the proceedings, at a session for electing the new mayor of Novi Sad, he sat next to the new mayor in the Novi Sad City Assembly. When asked why that man was sitting next to him, the response was that no proceedings were being conducted against him, and soon after, the prosecutor's office dismissed the criminal complaint because “the public was not significantly disturbed.” This is a legally concluded case; he is not guilty, even though the camera recorded him assaulting a journalist,” recalled Milić.

Representatives of the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina, as well as members of the editorial teams from Mašina, N1, Autonomija, Razglas News, In Medije, and Radio Dir, participated in the discussion in Novi Sad.

The project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists" is implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insider TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union, the Balkan Democracy Fund, and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications of Serbia.

The OSCE Mission in Serbia has supported ANEM's project “24/7 SOS Hotline for Assistance to Journalists and Other Threatened Media Workers,” as part of the project funded by the European Union “Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia.”