SRG in Bajina Bašta: Media and Citizens Under Pressure Ahead of Local Elections on March 29
Members of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists (SRG) held a meeting in Bajina Bašta with media representatives and prosecutors from this and neighboring cities who report on the pre-election campaign and will monitor the elections in that city, Lučani, and Sevojno. This is the fourth meeting in municipalities and cities where elections will be held on March 29, aimed at agreeing on mechanisms for quick responses to potential attacks on journalists, which have been recorded in numerous locations where local elections have taken place.
.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
The President of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and member of the Permanent Working Group for Journalist Safety, Veran Matić, stated at a meeting that members of the SRG will be present in all locations where local elections are held on Sunday, March 29, as a form of support and assistance in cases of interference with the work and threats to the safety of journalists.
"We have decided to prevent violence against journalists, considering that the prosecution rate in cases of attacks on media workers has been minimal over the past two years. Out of nearly 140 cases opened in prosecutors' offices last year, we have only three convictions. We have never had so many cases initiated. There is a significant problem with police obstruction, as in over 50% of cases, they have not responded to requests from prosecutors. Just in the first two months of this year, 25 new cases have been opened due to threats and attacks on journalists," emphasized Matić at the meeting organized by ANEM in cooperation with the OSCE Mission in Serbia.
Representatives of the media from Bajina Bašta and Užice attended the meeting and informed SRG members that both citizens and media are facing numerous problems and pressures during the pre-election period, particularly directed at entrepreneurs from those regions.
SRG representatives briefed meeting participants on the mechanisms for protecting journalists established since the inception of this body, particularly the system of contact points set up in all prosecutors' offices across the country.
In addition to SRG members and media representatives, prosecutors from Užice and Čačak also participated in the discussion in Bajina Bašta.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
The project "Enhancing the System of Mechanisms for Prevention and Response in Cases of Threats to the Safety and Life of Journalists in Serbia" is being implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insajder TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with support from the European Union.
