News

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) strongly condemns the brutal threats directed at journalists and employees of television N1 following their reporting on incidents in Novi Pazar. N1 has received four new messages calling for their murder, execution, and extermination of their families. These messages contain open and extremely violent threats that far exceed hate speech and directly endanger the safety of journalists.

Updated data from the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the actions of this body in cases of attacks on journalists.

The President of the country accuses independent and non-compliant media of terrorism, treason, and foreign mercenarism, thereby creating a basis for a "legitimate" reckoning with them. The authorities hope to achieve complete control over the media space in which they already have dominance. The obscuring of the informational horizon is becoming increasingly certain.

The response from the Board for Culture and Information to the Independent Association of Journalists (UNS) stating that the list of candidates for members of the REM Council has been determined and that a reconsideration would not be legally grounded or purposeful is concerningly incorrect. UNS stated in its response to the Board and urged it to rectify the irregularities and act in accordance with the law, rather than knowingly violating it.

The International Press Institute (IPI) has condemned the recent statement made by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, against the President of ANEM and member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, Veran Matić, describing it as an alarming attack. IPI has urged the highest authorities in Serbia to "refrain from undemocratic attacks on the media community."

The image of my house burning best shatters their narrative; this is what their visits to dissenters look like, says Milan Jovanović, a journalist for Žig Infa, when asked how he feels upon hearing government representatives claim that their supporters have never gone to the homes of political dissenters.

The process of selecting the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media has been ongoing since November of last year. On July 9, the Association of Journalists of Serbia submitted comments to the parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information regarding the proposed members of the Council, stating that six candidates do not meet the requirements. The parliamentary committee responded that the list has already been established and that there is no point in reconsideration. Saša Mirković from the Association of Independent Electronic Media stated that at the committee meeting, an agreement was reached on seven categories, but that there are irreconcilable differences concerning the remaining two.

Leskovac's Jugpress and Nova Naša Reč are illustrative examples of how local media and journalists, whose primary interest is the public good, are trying to survive with limited resources, facing various pressures and threats along the way.

“There's no place for intimidation in democracy,” emphasized the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a message of solidarity, responding to the attacks and threats to the safety of Veran Matić, the president of the Association of Independent Media (ANEM), which came from the office of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.