14. 09. 2005

IJAS: PROTECT JOURNALISTS

LOZNICA, September 14, 2005 – Independent Association of Serbian Journalists (IJAS) urges the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Secretariat of Internal Affairs to find the person who attacked journalist of Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti. On 12 September, Vladimir Mitric, Loznica correspondent for the Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti, was attacked and seriously injured by an unknown assailant at the entrance of the building where he lives. “IJAS demands from the authorities and police in Loznica to provide adequate protection for Mitric since this incident, according to the information of the police, was a serious threat to his life”, said in the statement of the association. IJAS is alarmed with the increased number of attacks on journalists who perform their job professionally. President of the Loznica Municipality Vidoje Petrovic condemned the attack on Mitric and demanded from the authorities to find the perpetrator as soon as possible. “Beating up people of public word is unacceptable in a democratic society. Differences in opinion is one of the values of the democratic communities”, said Petrovic. Stosic denies threats to Radio OK President of the Vranje Municipal Council Nenad Stosic denied all claims of having threatened journalists of local Radio OK and accused the station of sensationalism. “This media house, if it could be called like that at all, continues to release information tendentiously and without previous verification, thus confirming that sensationalism is their primary objective instead of unbiased and timely informing of the public”, said Stosic. Association of Serbian Journalists protested over Stosic’s threats to the owner of Radio OK and demanded from the local authorities, police and judiciary to protect journalists.