03. 10. 2012

SEEMO urges Serbian police to investigate latest attacks against journalists

Vienna, October 3, 2012 (SEEMO) - The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), urges Serbian police to investigate the latest attacks against journalists, find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

On  29 September 2012, Mladen Mijatovic, a reporter specialised in covering crime for the Belgrade-based TV broadcaster TV Pink found all four of his car tires slashed. Mijatovic had previously received verbal threats and had been physically assaulted. The latest assault occurred in August 2011. 

On 22 September 2012, a wedding in Vranje, southern Serbia, degenerated into a massive fist fight.  Tanja Jankovic, a journalist with the Belgrade-based broadcaster TV B92, and her family were among the guests. Jankovic was hit in the head while other members of her family suffered concussions and other injuries. It is not clear if the brawl - a police inspector was among the guests - was related to Jankovic's work as an investigative journalist or was motivated by other reasons. According to Jankovic, only her phone call to Ivica Dacic, Serbia's prime minister and minister of the interior, prevented a bloodbath.

"In the case of Mijatovic, I call on the police to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice," said SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. "In the case of Jankovic, it is important to establish the facts, analyse what happened and bring all those responsible to justice."