19. 10. 2011

Pressure on journalists in Serbia condemned

Vienna, October 19, 2011. (SEEMO, B92) - The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) condemned renewed threats and pressures against journalists in Serbia. 

On October 14, Anel Grbović, a journalist with the local Television Novi Pazar (southwest Serbia), received death threats, apparently because he failed to cover a voluntary blood donation event. The organizer allegedly called the journalist and threatened to beat him, SEEMO said in a statement.

On October 6, a local politician allegedly threatened Vojkan Ristić, an editor of the Web portal Vranjepres, in Vranje (southern Serbia), because he published a story linking the political party with which the politician was affiliated to a major corruption scandal allegedly involving the mine complex Kulubara.

On October 5, Hanibal Kovač, a reporter with the local paper Podrinske, in Šabac, south of Belgrade, was hit by an unknown individual who claimed to represent a local businessman.

In a separate development, the public prosecutor in Novi Sad, a town 80 kilometers north of Belgrade, filed charges against Milorad Bojović, the editor of Nacionalni Građanski List, and Jelena Spasić, a journalist working for the publication, because they published an article about the Serbian army. The prosecutor claimed that the article was based on a confidential document of the Ministry of Justice and described the information as dangerous for national security.

"I am concerned at all these press freedom violation cases," said Oliver Vujović, SEEMO Secretary General. "I urge the authorities to find the perpetrators of all the attacks against journalists and take appropriate legal action. In the case of legal action against journalists, it is not acceptable that the prosecutor presses charges against journalists who publish information of public interest. Silencing journalists is a violation of press freedom and the right of the public to know.

"During the South East Europe Media Forum, which will take place in Belgrade on 2 and 3 November 2011, we will be discussing all the cases of press freedom violations. With the presence of Serbia's prime minister, Mirko Cvetkovicć who will inaugurate the conference, it will be an occasion to analyze the overall media situation in Serbia and south east Europe."