The SafeJournalists network is concerned about the pressures and attacks that have been happening for the past few days and are aimed at the media and journalists in Serbia.

A man attacked journalists in Inđija today, while they were reporting on a protest march organized by high school students and students in that city. A man knocked the mobile phone out of the hand of Verica Marinčić, the editor of the IN Media portal, and then called her and her colleague Miodrag Blečić “ustashas”. The policeman who happened to be on the scene fortunately stopped the man and the further escalation of violence towards the IN Media portal team. Verica Mariničić told the SafeJournalists network: “He first insulted the children in the column for being Ustasha, then treated me with the same and then attacked me for filming. I dropped my phone, the police responded, but he continued to threaten us and attack us through the police,” emphasized Verica.

Yesterday, during the day, armed police raided the premises of non-governmental organizations, including CRTA (Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability) civil society organisation, which is the founder of the Istinomer media, without a proper court order, contrary to the Constitution and the law.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade announced yesterday that the reason for the police raid on four civil society organizations were “suspicions raised against USAID in the previous period by the highest state officials of the USA in connection with the misuse of funds, possible money laundering and the unintended spending of American taxpayers’ funds in Serbia”.

Chief Public Prosecutor of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, said at a press conference that the US Department of Justice had been asked for help in obtaining documentation “that can be used as evidence in criminal proceedings in the Republic of Serbia before the competent court” against non-governmental organizations.

It is clear that the aforementioned investigation by the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has nothing to do with USAID and the use of donations by civil society organizations, but the government in Serbia is using USAID in this way as an excuse for pressure and financial control of organizations that for years have been pointing out and proving abuses related to public tenders in Serbia, violations of the law and the electoral rights of citizens, and against which it otherwise conducts a continuous negative campaign in various ways.

In addition to yesterday’s event, two days ago, journalists were searched and locked in the city assembly in Novi Sad. The persons who secured the session of the Assembly of the City of Novi Sad on Monday did not allow journalists to bring private bags into the building, if there were signs of protest in the form of a bloody hand, so they searched them thoroughly at the entrance. In addition, freedom of movement for journalists was restricted inside the building. After the journalists entered the press hall where the president of the Assembly of Novi Sad, Dina Vučinić, held a conference, the door was locked, and the journalists were told that they could not leave the hall until the conference was over.

Last week, the premises ofthe Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (Nezavisno društvo novinara Vojvodine -NDNV)  in Novi Sad were raided. Unknown persons broke into the premises of NDNV around 11:00 p.m. The police, following a report from the security of the center where the premises are located, came to the scene and conducted an investigation, and it was determined that the break-in was carried out through the storage area, as evidenced by the traces found.

The president of NDNV, Ana Lalić, did not rule out the possibility that this is a continuation of the regime’s persecution of members of that association. “NDNV does not want to prejudge what is the motive for this burglary. However, given that we have been targeted for months and that our members are exposed to brutal hate campaigns, we cannot rule out the possibility that it has something to do with it,” said Ana Lalić.

The raid on the premises of NDNV takes place in an atmosphere of constant verbal attacks, hate speech and pressure on the journalists of this association, by the ruling regime whose supporters threaten them daily, and there is a possibility that this is another in a series of intimidation. Journalist and professor Dinko Gruhonjić and NDNV president Ana Hegediš Lalić were threatened with murder, burning and expulsion in an organized campaign on the social network Facebook, and the threats were reported to the competent public prosecutor’s office.

The SafeJournalists network call on the competent institutions to stop the violent campaigns and targeting of journalists and the media and provide protection to every journalist in Serbia. We would like to point out that cases of threats to journalists in Serbia, unfortunately, are generally not solved by punishing the perpetrators, that a large number of cases are in the stages of unknown perpetrators, and that attacks are often approved and encouraged, which sends the message that attacks on independent journalists are permitted and even desirable. We ask public office holders to stop targeting journalists and inciting hatred, because we fear that this kind of atmosphere will lead to much more serious consequences for independent journalists.

 

The SafeJournalists network will inform relevant national and international stakeholders.

Every attack on journalists is an attack on the public interest, democracy, and the rights of all citizens.

 

Pristina – Skopje – Sarajevo – Zagreb – Belgrade – Podgorica, Feb 26, 2025

 

Association of Journalists of Kosovo

Association of Journalists of Macedonia

Association BH Journalists

Croatian Journalists’ Association

Independent Journalists Association of Serbia

Trade Union of Media of Montenegro