Serbian journalists decry impunity after latest assault

An unidentified man attacked the TV N1 crew while they were filming near the Serbian Parliament and the tent settlement that has for months been known to the public as “Ćaciland.”

He approached the N1 team and demanded that they stop filming, then forcibly took their camera, threw it to the ground and destroyed it, CE Report quotes MIA.

“The police, who were nearby, did not react to the incident and came only after they were called by the N1 journalist,” the media outlet reported.

“The SafeJournalists Network joins NUNS in strongly condemning yet another in a series of attacks on media workers in Serbia. The network calls on the competent institutions to conduct an investigation and punish the perpetrators,” the statement said.

The SafeJournalists Network stated that it would inform relevant national and international stakeholders.

“Every attack on journalists is an attack on democracy, the public interest, and fundamental human rights,” the network said.

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) reported that the police officers who were nearby did not react to the incident but said that another team would come, to whom the case should be reported.

When the second police team arrived, they told the N1 crew that they had received information from the prosecutor’s office that no investigation would be launched and that the N1 team should leave and report the incident to the competent police department.

Only later was an investigation initiated, and the prosecutor’s office was informed. The attacker fled the scene.

The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia points out that since the beginning of the year a record number of physical attacks on journalists has been recorded and reiterates that Serbia lacks consistent prevention or systematic protection for media workers. “Attacks remain unpunished, investigations last for years, and the message being sent is that violence against journalists is tolerated.”

“The fact that police officers are often present at the scene and do not react is an additional cause for concern. The absence of sanctions only deepens the problem of impunity and the unsafe conditions in which journalists work.”

NUNS believes that such an attitude toward journalists is the result of them being targeted by politicians, primarily from the ruling coalition. A few days ago, Serbia’s Minister of Information and Telecommunications, Boris Bratina, accused journalists from N1 and Nova S of being “responsible for many things” and said that they “should not exist in the country’s broadcast space.”