Belgrade, April 18, 2024<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the past period, the violation of freedom of expression was dominant.<\/p>\n
Journalist and professor Dinko Gruhonji\u0107 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 Gruhonji\u0107, as well as other critics of the ruling regime.<\/p>\n
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 Da\u010di\u0107, and the Chairman of the OSCE, Jan Borg, journalists were forbidden to ask questions. Journalist of Bujanova\u010dke, Nikola Stevanovi\u0107, 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 Stojanovi\u0107, 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.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n