Jelena Zoric, an award-winning investigative reporter who contributes to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and the weekly Vreme, has received threats against her family. The president, vice president and other representatives attend those meetings. The Ministry of Culture and Information told VOA that it is dedicated to the integrity of journalism, and it cited platforms and services set up to assist those under attack.Īs part of its “dedicated, transparent work on improving the environment,” the government established a working group focused on media safety and protection, which meets monthly, the ministry said. The protest marked a year since assailants set fire to the house outside Belgrade.Ī database by the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia has recorded 60 cases of attacks, threats or intimidation since the start of the year.Īnd while Serbia improved its ranking in the 2022 Press Freedom Index and is noted for its award-winning investigative journalism, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders cited challenges including political pressure and impunity in attacks on media. In nearly all cases, he said, authorities are not able to identify the suspects “so the investigation goes blunt.”įILE - Members of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia hold a poster showing journalist Milan Jovanovic in his burned house that reads: "What are we waiting for?" during a protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Dec. He has experienced three similar incidents. Threats are a regular challenge for local journalists in Serbia, Marinkovic said. But so far, he said, there have been no updates. That resulted in the police and a local prosecutor’s office investigating. Marinkovic was able to retrieve his phone, and he later wrote an editorial about the encounter. “He came back after several minutes, continued with threats, so we left," Marinkovic said. “I telephoned the local politician to ask why a man was bothering us.”Īt that point, Marinkovic said, the assailant grabbed the journalist’s phone and left the restaurant. He started threatening and mentioning an influential local politician,” Marinkovic said, declining to name the politician. “We tried to talk to person who approached. In Marinkovic’s case from March, the journalist says the man verbally assaulted him and made death threats.Īt first, Marinkovic tried to reason with the stranger. The Council of Europe (COE) platform to promote the protection of journalism has cited Marinkovic’s case and those of two other Serbian journalists threatened in recent months.ĭragojlo Blagojević, the editor of the magazine DrvoTehnika, received death threats in an anonymous call in July after reporting on the logging industry and hooligans threatened Brankica Stankovic, of Insajder TV, during a basketball game in May.įree expression and media rights groups have also separately pointed to a deteriorating climate for journalism in the country.
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"Anyone can come to you on a street, or wherever, slap you a couple of times, and get away with it while you are accompanied with friends or family,” said Marinkovic. Threats are not uncommon for journalists in Serbia. The reason, Marinkovic told VOA’s Serbian Service: a story Resetka had published about the death of a bodyguard who was assigned to a city official. Then a stranger approached and started to threaten Marinkovic, who is executive editor of the Serbian news website Resetka. Seated at a table with his wife and a colleague in the small town of Leskovac, Dragan Marinkovic was looking forward to a meal at his favorite restaurant.