21 Apr Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: 7 – 20 April, 2023
Belgrade, 21 April 2023
Violations of basic freedoms in Serbia
7 – 20 April, 2023
The most threatened freedom in the reporting period was the freedom of expression, because in the public space, threats to independent media journalists do not stop. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called the journalists of Nova and Danas newspapers liars, referring to a previous campaign of targeting done by the Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, who targeted the independent media, stating that they are “obsessed” with the President of Serbia.
The owner and editor-in-chief of Pink television, Željko Mitrović, threatened journalists with a video he published on his Twitter account. The mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, targeted journalists because of questions about the recording of a conversation on which his chief of staff can be heard offering to set up a public procurement for a private company that manages the ticket collection system in Belgrade’s public transport.
This time threats to journalists came also from the singer Vlado Georgiev, because of questions about the operations of his private company for river transport. A cartoon was again the reason for some public officials to get angry with the newspaper Danas. This time it was the Director of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund of the Republic of Serbia and a member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, Relja Ognjenović, who threatened the newspaper Danas with a lawsuit.
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* The dynamics of publishing the report will depend on the current situation.