18 Apr Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: April 5 – April 18, 2024

Posted at 12:05h in News, Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass by

Belgrade, April 18, 2024

Violations of basic freedoms in Serbia

April 5 – April 18, 2024

 

In the past period, the violation of freedom of expression was dominant.

Journalist and professor Dinko Gruhonjić was verbally attacked on the street, when an unknown man insulted him and threatened him with physical violence. This attack is an alarming sign of the consequences that public targeting can lead to and indicates an increased risk for the safety of Dinko Gruhonjić, as well as other critics of the ruling regime.

The practice of preventing journalists from reporting on topics of public interest continued. At the press conference of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the technical mandate, Ivica Dačić, and the Chairman of the OSCE, Jan Borg, journalists were forbidden to ask questions. Journalist of Bujanovačke, Nikola Stevanović, was removed from the meeting of the Headquarters for Emergency Situations in that city, with the explanation that the meeting was closed to the public, even though a topic of public importance was discussed. The director of the Palilula Hospital, Aleksandar Stojanović, refused to answer the questions of the Nova.rs journalist, saying that as one of the founders of the Serbian Progressive Party, he will not make statements for this media.

A drop in the rating of media independence was cited as one of the reasons for the “historic decline of democracy” in Serbia, stated Freedom House in their latest report “Nations in Transit”.

You can find more details about these cases in the full report below.