European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) President Maja Sever told N1 that the accusations that United Media journalists were planning an assassination of the Serbian President are very dangerous.
Those accusations by Serbian public officials that United Media journalists are preparing the assassination of Aleksandar vucic could be the spark that is very dangerous to the lives, safety and work of staff working in media outlets owned by Dragan Solak, she said.
Serbian state officials and regime-controlled media have accused United Media journalists of wishing harm on President Vucic.
“This sounds very dangerous to me. I am a journalists, union activist and President of the EFJ and I want to say that this is extremely dangerous for those of you in journalism, those of you in the studio and those of you in the field… These attacks by Aleksandar Vucic and (Parliament Speaker) Ana Brnabic against the owner of a media outlet, in this case your media outlet, could unfortunately be very dangerous and reflect badly on the safety of journalists,” Sever said.
She added that Solak is being targeted as the person who came up with the assassination idea.
“All of you are in danger at this moment. You on the N1 screen, you signing stories in newspapers or media outlets owned by Solak. I would call your politicians to ease off, think about what they’re doing and how they’re endangering people who are honestly doing their jobs as journalists,” Sever said.
Commenting Brnabic’s attacks on her for remarks about events in Serbia, Sever said that they look like the attacks that journalist Tamara Skrozza was exposed to this summer. “I watched Brnabic’s Twitter video which features mainly N1 guests. That video like the situation with Skrozza is all manipulation. We in EFJ monitored and reacted over what happened to Skrozza,” she said adding that a Croatian singer was stopped at a border crossing with Serbia and questioned. “This is all intimidation,” Sever said and added that she isn’t scared by Brnabic or Vucic.
“The way they target people, how they make hell out of people’s lives is unbelievable,” she said.
According to her, the EFJ had to offer some people shelter because they were exposed to death threats, not just insults by tabloids paid for with state funds. She recalled being told by an official of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS) that there were six serious death threats against journalists. “I’m afraid to ask when those threats will cause someone to try to realize those threats,” she said.
Sever said the mass protests against the mining of lithium in Serbia made the situation deteriorate. “After those lithium-related events, the behavior of both your politicians and others in Europe made things more intense,” she said quoted Politico’s claims that Vucic is evidently losing ground in Serbia and the situation is become more intense. “I repeat, you and your colleagues in the media … are in danger,” she added.
“I can’t imagine how things are for you… All that radicalization, the stronger polarization reflects on your everyday lives… when you go to the shops where anyone can meet you… The messages sent by Brnabic … I hope that does not end badly. I am expressing support and concern… It’s impermissible how he targets the owner of your media outlet but that can be reflected in the everyday lives of some of your colleagues. That is terrible because you are professionally opening the media scene to people who hold different opinions,” she said.
Source: N1
