24 Oct Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: October 11 – October 24, 2024

Belgrade, October 24, 2024

Violations of basic freedoms in Serbia

October 11 – October 24, 2024

Institutional pressures on activists and journalists have continued over the past two weeks.

The President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, accused independent media of inciting civil war. Such accusations are particularly dangerous as they come at a time when amendments to the Criminal Code are being considered, which, if passed, could potentially criminalize any form of criticism deemed by government representatives as incitement to commit a criminal act.

Smaller and local media have been particularly targeted. The President of the Niš City Assembly published personal information, including ID numbers, of a journalist from the Media and Reform Center on social media, directly endangering the targeted individuals. The editor of the YouTube portal Slavija Info was taken in for questioning by members of the Security and Information Agency, with threats of imprisonment for criticizing President Vučić. There has also been a continuation of practices involving the detention of citizens who oppose lithium mining on social media, and the police announced that they would film and photograph participants in ecological protests in Loznica.

Another case was recorded in which a Russian citizen living and working in Serbia was labeled a “security threat” to the country, suspected to be due to his opposition to Putin’s regime. It is unclear to the public under whose orders the persecution of Russian anti-war activists in Serbia is being conducted.

For more on these and other cases documented in the recent period, see the full report below:

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