Stating that 74 journalist associations operate in Serbia and there are 2.000 registered media, Ristić said that it is important to identify difficulties so that they can be eliminated and to foster dialogue. However, despite the statistics and assurances of the relevant minister, insults, intimidation, threats and even physical attacks on journalists in Serbia continue and do not stop.
Minister of Information and Telecommunications Dejan Ristic he stated that there were 40 percent fewer cases of harassment since the beginning of the year journalists than last year, which allows for slight optimism and hope that such a trend will continue.
"Everyone who works as a journalist as a professional must have all the rights to unhindered work," said Ristić for RTS, adding that rights also entail responsibility.
Stating that 74 journalist associations operate in Serbia and there are 2.000 registered media, Ristić said that it is important to identify difficulties so that they can be eliminated and to foster dialogue.
When it comes to the IT sector, Ristić stated that the highest growth rate in Serbia in the past decade is recorded year after year by services in information and communication technology and that this year exports in the IT sector are expected to reach four billion euros.
"We absolutely have the capacity for it, and the results show that. In the first five months of this year, exports increased by 20 percent compared to the same period last year. "The Ministry is constantly working to improve the environment for the IT sector and we continue a constant dialogue with our partner," said Ristić.
The situation on the ground denies the minister
However, despite the statistics and assurances of the relevant minister, insults, intimidation, threats, and even physical attacks on journalists in Serbia continue and do not stop. They are the target of attacks because of reporting, expressing opinions and attitudes, but sometimes also just because they are journalists.
The latest report of the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia shows that the security index further decreased in 2023, and in 2024, 50 new attacks have already been recorded.
"Since the beginning of the year, we have recorded 17 threats and if this pace continues, in two months we will exceed the number of 20-30 serious threats that we usually record on an annual basis," said NUNS lawyer and researcher Rade Đurić.
Apart from the stats, the attack model is also changing. The cases of TV N1 journalists Vanja Đurić and Ksenija Pavkov, as well as the latest attacks on journalists and representatives of the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina, Ana Lalić and Dinko Gruhonjić, show that individual attacks are much more intense and organized.
Thus, for example, the edited recording of the speech of Ana Lalić and Dinko Gruhonjić first triggered comments on social networks, then it was broadcast on television with a national frequency, and representatives of the ruling party joined in the attacks, so that the situation culminated in the demands of student representatives that Gruhonjić be expelled from the faculty where he is employed by writing graffiti on the entrance to the building where he lives.
Impunity encourages attacks
The President of the European Federation of Journalists, Maja Sever, believes that political authorities are responsible for such a situation, who, instead of calming down the situation, further fuel the fire, so that online harassment, instead of the usual two to three days, now lasts much longer and it is not known where it will end. .
"Is it normal to live in such a way that someone writes to you that they will rape or slaughter you?" Is it normal to live without knowing what awaits you when you leave your apartment in the morning? Not one journalist is in exile from Serbia. "Several people are either in exile, or are going into exile, or have recently been in exile, because of threats that have crossed the border and become truly threatening to the lives of those people and their families," Sever said.
Source: RTS / DW
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