16. 04. 2007

JOURNALIST ASSOCIATIONS CONDEMN ATTACK

BELGRADE, 16 April 2007 (B92) - In a letter addressed to president Boris Tadić and prime minister Vojislav Koštunica, Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), expressed its alarm at the recent assassination attempt on Dejan Anastasijević.
 
“The assault may have been connected to his investigative reporting. In the last ten years, Anastasijević has reported about criminal activities in Serbia, as well as war crimes in the former Yugoslavia,” the letter said.

“SEEMO strongly condemns this bomb attack, clearly an attempt to kill the journalist and his family.”

“We urge Your Excellencies to do everything in your power to investigate this case and to prevent such cases from occurring in the future, as well as to secure safe working conditions for journalists. Journalists must be able to work freely, without their lives being threatened due to their reporting,” the letter addressed to Tadić and Koštunica said.

SEEMO also called on the Serbian authorities to bring to justice the killers of journalist Milan Pantić, shot dead on June 11, 2001 in Jagodina, as well as to carry out full and proper investigations into the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija, shot dead on April 11, 1999, and the unexplained April 8, 1994, death of journalist Dada Vujasinović.

Meanwhile, Serbia's Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) strenuously condemned the bomb attack at journalist Dejan Anastasijević's apartment.

In a statement issued Monday, ANEM reminds that Anastasijevć previously came under attack for his investigative reporting on crimes in former Yugoslavia and organized crime in Serbia.

Saturday’s attack followed Anastasijević's criticism sentences handed to former Scorpions paramilitaries, expressed in a B92 program, the statement said.

“ANEM demands a full, energetic and efficient investigation by the authorities to find and penalize perpetrators, demonstrating the government’s readiness protect Anastasijević and his family and freedom of expression in general.”

“ANEM urges media and professional associations, as well as the democratic public to clearly express their solidarity with Dejan Anastasijević and thus protect their right to critical reporting on issues still deemed a taboo in the Serbian public,” the statement concludes.