SĆF: In November, there were 154 attacks on the media by 36 government officials.

As stated in the monthly monitoring by the SĆF, the sessions dedicated to the election of members of the REM Council have contributed to an increase in verbal attacks on journalists from the parliamentary podium, with as many as 55 attacks recorded in November by members of the ruling majority. Those who, by the nature of their position, like the President of the Parliament, should prevent such actions, also participated in the pressures, intimidation, and verbal assaults on the media, journalists, and journalistic associations in the National Assembly.

Overall, the most active representatives of the ruling majority in verbal attacks on the media and media workers during November were:

•     National Assembly member from the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Nebojša Bakarec – 44 attacks
•     President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić – 18 attacks
•     National Assembly member from SNS Vladimir Đukanović – 17 attacks
•     President of the National Assembly Ana Brnabić – 10 attacks 
•     National Assembly member from SNS Nataša Jovanović – 8 attacks
•     Minister of Information and Telecommunications Boris Bratina – 5 attacks
•     Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarović – 5 attacks
•     President of SNS and advisor to the President of Serbia Miloš Vučević – 4 attacks
•     National Assembly member from SNS Milenko Jovanov – 4 attacks
•     National Assembly member from SNS Marijan Rističević – 3 attacks

Also involved in the attacks were the Chair of the Assembly's Committee for Culture and Information Nevena Đurić; Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans, and Social Affairs Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski; Deputy Prime Minister of Vojvodina Sandra Božić, National Assembly member from the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Elvira Kovač; National Assembly members from SNS Aleksandra Tomić, Biljana Pantić Pilja, Dubravka Filipovski, Milica Nikolić, Sanja Milošević, Snežana Jovanović, Staša Stojanović, Aleksandar Mirković, Dragan Nikolić, Dušan Marić, Marko Atlagić, Miroslav Petrašinović, Nikola Radosavljević, Radoslav Milojičić, and Zdravko Mladenović; National Assembly members from the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Dubravka Kralj and Dunja Simonović Bratić; National Assembly members from the Socialist Movement (PS) Bojan Torbica and Đorđe Komlenski; National Assembly member from the United Pensioners Party of Serbia (PUPS) Risto Kostov; National Assembly member from the Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) Željko Veselinović; and National Assembly member from United Serbia (JS) Života Starčević.

Members of Parliament and high state officials have sought to discredit critical media, journalists, and journalistic associations in their public appearances, referring to them as "so-called independent journalist associations" and "so-called free independent media," accusing them of deliberately spreading fake news and reporting subjectively, or selectively providing protection to journalists. Thus, the President of the Parliament stated: "Unfortunately, while we only had the Journalists' Association of Serbia, the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), or whatever they are called, these were no longer professional associations; they only spoke up when someone said 'boo' to a journalist, but when someone slapped, spat, threw something, or in any other way physically harmed or prevented journalists from other media houses from doing their job, they did not speak up."

It is precisely the journalists and media who are most often dehumanized, referred to as “wretched, miserable, and unprofessional lunatics,” and labeled as “branches of foreign agencies,” who are accused of “constantly targeting and dehumanizing the President of Serbia, his family, and members of the ruling coalition” and of “using their airtime to attack their own country.” Throughout November, the media were called “branches of foreign agencies,” “engines of hate,” “tycoon media and newspapers,” “blockade media,” “media bulletins of the colored revolution,” “media machinery of Šolak's media,” “juke boxes of lies,” “media poisoning factories,” “poisoning factories for citizens,” “factories of evil,” “anti-Serbian, Islamist, and Albanian media,” “pirate media,” and “media of criminal Šolak.” Their reporting was referred to as “media poisoning,” “inciting violence,” “deceiving citizens,” and “propagating hatred, violence, stereotypes, and prejudices against two million members, voters, and supporters of the SNS.” November was also marked by the term “monster editor,” used to designate the editor of RTS.

Media that report critically on the government were, throughout November, labeled as criminals and/or accused of “tax evasion, siphoning money out of Serbia,” “leading a colored revolution,” being “headquarters for terrorist organizations,” “headquarters for blockaders,” and of “wanting more blood and instigating civil war,” as well as being “a classic means of undermining the state and promoting blockaders.” “Propaganda-terrorist garbage” and “media of criminal Šolak” have become terms whose use has been normalized in attempts to silence and intimidate critical media. Disappointingly, the Minister of Information and Telecommunications also joined discussions on how “cross-border,” “Luxembourg,” and “pirate” television stations could be shut down. Minister Boris Bratina stated that “cross-border cooperation” “should not exist in our air,” that N1 and Nova television operate as “branches of foreign agencies,” and that the media Radio Free Europe “should be removed,” while also announcing a systemic reckoning with these media through the enactment of new laws that would enable their closure. The month concluded with the assertion that the public service should have been personally dismantled long ago.

Following the attack on the N1 team in the tent settlement in front of the Serbian Assembly on November 20, when the camera of this television station was broken in the presence of police who did not react, by the end of November, we recorded only one unequivocal condemnation of the incident from public officials. This condemnation was publicly issued by Minister Tatjana Macura. The competent minister Bratina stated that he expects the attacker to be arrested, but questioned the fact that the attacker emerged from the so-called “Ćacilend.” Aleksandar Vučić used the attack to accuse N1 of organizing attacks on tabloid journalists.

When a knife attack occurred in the so-called “Ćacilend” on the night between November 29 and 30, as well as a shooting in October, which continues to serve as a pretext for verbal attacks on journalists, accusations emerged that the injuries were due to the narrative that “blockaders and blockader media are pushing in public about them” (Ana Brnabić), or “the opposition and tycoon media” (Miloš Vučević).

Disappointingly, the election for members of the REM Council served as a pretext for the highest number of attacks on critical journalists and media in Parliament and for claims that there is too much media freedom in Serbia.

Source: Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation