International press groups: Serbia's spiral of violence against journalists intensifies with impunity

International journalistic organizations have voiced serious concern over a worsening spiral of violence targeting journalists in Serbia, with threats and attacks becoming increasingly frequent and often going unpunished. Since a mission to Belgrade in March, these organizations have observed a rise in online death threats and threats of sexual violence directed at professionals in independent media and their families.

The organizations are urgently calling on Serbian authorities to break the cycle of impunity. They demand the prosecution of individuals who attack media professionals, a halt to dangerous rhetoric, and public condemnation of any efforts to silence reporting that serves the public interest. While acknowledging that Serbian authorities have responded more actively to media freedom violations documented on the Council of Europe's Platform for the Protection of Journalists, the organizations state these responses have not adequately reflected the scale of the problem or led to concrete results.

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Gratulacje, to akurat się nowej ekipie udało.

"Given the latest response, which again failed to condemn the threatening rhetoric of state officials, the undersigned organizations call on the authorities to approach the warnings with the seriousness they deserve, to sanction violations of media freedom, and to ensure the protection of journalists who have been subjected to dehumanization for too long," stated a joint release from the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Index on Censorship, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The platform Mapping Media Freedom has documented 31 online death threats against 44 media professionals since the beginning of the year. Prominent figures, including Veran Matić, president of the Association of Electronic Media (ANEM), columnists Marko Vidojković and Nenad Kulačin, and journalists Dinko Gruhonjić and Predrag Simonović, face near-daily harassment. These threats often extend to their families and children. For instance, Matić, who was recently attacked on the street and labeled a "state enemy" on primetime television, received online threats suggesting he should be left to die and have his head cut off. Vidojković and Kulačin have faced at least six death threats each, with their mothers receiving threats of sexual violence, and Kulačin's daughter also targeted last year. A particularly brutal comment directed at Branislav Šovljanski, the newly appointed news director of N1, threatened to harm his children and family slowly.

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Nie chcemy nic z Avonu.