Veran Matić: Why are you silent?
I am addressing the European Commission, the OSCE, and the governments of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, and Norway… You are accused not only of financing a "colored revolution" in Serbia but also of having your intelligence services actively working against the authorities in Serbia and the Center for Social Stability, which in its video pamphlets identifies itself with the state and national interests.
Author: Veran Matić
In the production of this (para)state project, targets are drawn on well-known journalists, the most awarded investigative newsrooms, and successful non-governmental organizations representing top teams and individuals in their fields.
The involved newsrooms are BIRN (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network), KRIK (Network for Investigating Crime and Corruption), and the organization CRTA (Center for Research, Transparency, and Accountability).
They are symbols of investigative journalism and social activism, and often the only barrier to the complete abolition of public interest and the controlling role of the public, which resists autocracy and systemic corruption.
The media landscape is shrinking daily, and journalists are physically attacked every day. The police ignore or even assist the assailants. Prosecutors are stripped of power due to the actively destructive actions of parts of the profession, as well as pressure from the executive branch and the president himself. The judiciary increasingly fails to protect human rights and freedom of speech and openly sides with opponents of achieved freedoms and guaranteed rights.
A symbol of such disruption is the lawsuit by Appellate Court Judge Dušanka Đorđević and her husband, lawyer Aleksandar, over published truthful data about their property, which they do not contest, and which was gathered from publicly available sources. This couple is seeking a prison sentence of 10 months for the editor and journalist, along with several years of work bans in the profession, all because of the truthful facts presented in the database "Prosudi ko sudi" on this media's website, which consists of data collected from publicly available sources and from the judges themselves. This drastic penalty, unprecedented in Europe, is sought under the accusation that the truthful data was placed in a context characterized by the description of this organization, namely the Network for Investigating Corruption and Crime.
I believe that such a lawsuit is inexplicable to both the judge presiding over this case and the public, but it is not to us in the media: the influential judge, who was part of the Appellate Panel that acquitted those accused of murdering journalist Slavko Ćuruvija and, after two first-instance convictions totaling 100 years in prison for four accused, sends a message that journalists who question, investigate, have different opinions, and publish accurate facts, targeted by the government or deemed traitors, should not exist. If they do exist, she will use her influence in the existing system to ensure they no longer do. Prison sentences for the editor and journalist of KRIK and a ban on journalistic work for several years will destroy this newsroom. That is the goal, and the truth is collateral damage.
This unprecedented lawsuit, or rather its essence, is complemented by a propaganda pamphlet from the authorities against KRIK, BIRN, and CRTA. Ištvan Kaić, in this pamphlet, like Judge Đorđević, claims that the problem is not the facts published by these media, which are accurate and indisputable, but "the problem is how those facts are used. And that is a space for manipulation… So, it’s not that they will say a lie, but how they will use the true facts… Their rule is not to state untruths in their investigations. But it is not forbidden to skip some truths… And to form what you want, with a conclusion that you, in fact, desire."
It may sound somnambulistic, but it is not quite so. Times are changing. The former, very dangerous cliché from the authorities went: "If the facts do not suit us, so much the worse for the facts." Today, the focus is on those who bring relevant facts through investigative journalism. It is said that true facts are not the problem, but those who bring them to us are evil. Kill the messenger! This is not just the film "Kill the Messenger," and I have already written about it in the text Don't Kill the Messenger!
This is also the mantra on which the government’s strategy is based daily, and this "work" only defines that KRIK, BIRN, and CRTA will be targets until they disappear.
As banal as it sounds, Kaić's story about a conspiracy between BIRN and Vreme, which allegedly only published investigative texts because one of the BIRN directors is the daughter of the late Dragoljub Žarković, is deeply offensive in many ways, and that is the point. Not the facts, but to hurt and strike at someone who cannot defend themselves. Or to strike at a woman, a journalist. This is a failed attempt to delegitimize the success of this investigative newsroom, which has been cited in the most prestigious world media, with numerous domestic and international accolades, by promoting the narrative that their texts are conveyed through connections.
BIRN journalist Aleksa Tešić, who has educated himself on the issues journalists face regarding high-tech crime and who has exposed the illegal activities of the repressive apparatus concerning the installation of spyware, wiretapping, and surveillance, is being "discredited" with the story that he was educated to expose abuses of institutions like the BIA, which, through State Security, has a grim legacy of crimes against journalists.
It is clear that they are also greatly troubled by the investigation into Russian and Chinese malign influence, which has become more dominant in our reality than the European influence we aspire to.
In the absurdity of the chapter on KRIK, dramatic announcements are packaged that someone met with someone with the intent of gathering data for a database on the property of politicians. Immediately a hit on Wednesday. This bothers us. This hurts us. So much so that institutions are misused to conceal the illegal actions of politicians in power, to make criminal charges and judicial proceedings secret. With an attempt to embed a ban on journalistic investigations into corruption and illegal actions of those in power in the Law on Public Information and Media, under the auspices of the European Commission.
This was an attempt to react to prohibit data from Sky applications that are increasingly leading to the top of the government. Thus, in the program itself, the government and the intelligence services of France, the Netherlands, and Belgium are accused. Representatives of the Media Department of the OSCE Mission in Serbia are also mentioned, who are true friends of professional and independent journalism. The media department of the OSCE Mission represents the most competent team that has greatly contributed to the improvement of the legislative framework through support to the relevant ministry and the government, as well as the functioning of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists. Without the support of this department, the situation would be even worse. And it seems someone wants it to be even worse. Much worse. This mention is certainly also a message not to try too hard, as professional journalism about Serbia is unwelcome. Just like independent institutions and regulatory bodies.
Therefore, I return to the question at the beginning of this text, to all those mentioned with serious accusations: Why are you silent?
Silence is always understood as approval, which means that the repression against KRIK, BIRN, CRTA, and other media and non-governmental organizations that are daily accused and attacked will only continue until their destruction.
I believe that the European Union does not want its policy towards Serbia and its perspective on freedom to be called cynical and unfree.
Source: bezbedninovinari.rs
