The Life of Journalists in Zaječar, Negotin, and Bor: Assaults, Threats, and Insults

Rare professional media dedicated to defending freedom of speech and information in Eastern Serbia operate under extremely difficult economic conditions and are on the brink of existence. This is compounded by physical attacks on journalists and media workers, the most recent of which were recorded about ten days ago, when six physical assaults occurred in Negotin within just four minutes.

The noticeable escalation of violence during elections in these cities, generated by representatives of formal authorities and informal centers of power, is a logical continuation of intimidation, humiliation, and insults. The pressure they are under is so great that media workers in Eastern Serbia acknowledge they avoid going out in the evening or moving around alone due to a real sense of physical danger that creates feelings of insecurity.

Veran Matić, the president of the ANEM Board of Directors and a member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, emphasizes that "journalists are endangered even when there is no apparent provocation, such as in the case from Negotin where election day ended with six reports of assaults and destruction of journalists' property."

During discussions, it was noted that the situation in Zaječar is no better—just look at the example of the Glas Zaječara portal, which has been in existence for eight years and has a long history of pressures, threats, and physical assaults on journalist Miljko Stojanović, which culminated during the elections in Zaječar.

During reporting, Stojanović was surrounded by 10-15 people who demanded he leave; someone pushed him, hit him, and in the process, took his phone. Only after insisting with the police was his phone returned to him.

"The police asked us to leave Jelašnica. We filed a report through ANEM, but it was rejected as the police stated they saw nothing, do not know who attacked me, nor that anyone took my phone, even though the footage shows one of them handing my phone back while standing next to us the entire time," explained the Zaječar journalist.

Stojanović again found himself targeted on October 11, in front of the Zaječar theater, when he was struck during the chaos of pushing between demonstrators and police, resulting in an injury to his arm and the loss of his phone. His appeals to the chief of the Zaječar police at the scene ended with the police, equipped with shields, pushing Stojanović, causing him rib pain which led him to seek medical examination.

The prosecutor of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Zaječar, Nemanja Dimitijević, pointed out that there were two cases this year, both involving Miljko Stojanović as the victim. The first occurred on May 30 this year in Jelašnica, where a decision was made in September that the criminal charges were dismissed, while the case from October 11 is still an active matter, currently in the pre-investigative phase.

Katarina Golubović, a journalist with Nova S, shared her experience of being pushed and verbally assaulted while preparing for a live broadcast for her media house's news program near the SNS offices in Negotin on November 30.

Suzana Mihajlović Jovanović, a journalist from the NG portal in Negotin, was physically struck while covering the election day alongside her colleague Milena Ilić from Newsmax Balkans on the streets of the city.

These examples, shared during a recent discussion in Zaječar dedicated to the safety of journalists in Eastern Serbia, deepen concerns as they confirm a trend of escalating incidents, attacks, and threats against journalists, accompanied by a lack of appropriate responses from representatives of responsible institutions.

Lawyer Rade Đurić from NUNS stated that there is an absolute record of incidents since they began documenting all events, attacks, threats, and various forms of pressure. "NUNS, together with colleagues from other associations, reported these cases to internal control, and it is very important that they are processed," Đurić noted.

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 and the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia supported ANEM's project "24/7 SOS Hotline for Assistance to Journalists and Other Vulnerable Media Workers," as part of the EU-funded project "Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in Serbia."