The mayor of Belgrade and an official of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, Aleksandar Šapić, called a press conference yesterday, where he once again targeted the journalists of the N1 television.
This time Šapić dedicated the press conference to N1 journalist Miodrag Sovilj. He criticized the journalist that in the report that was broadcast on N1 television, after one of the previous conferences, there was no place for his integral address, but only some parts were used.
The mayor of Belgrade analyzed the journalist’s work, trying to prove that his answers were taken out of context.
“It’s only important to me that the public knows what kind of swindlers you are,” said Šapić, to which N1 reporter Mladen Savatović reacted, and tried to explain to the mayor how a television report is made.
“Well, you see – now I’m going to show exactly how the media works”, Šapić continued and explained what bothers him in the journalistic job, continuing to target journalists who report critically on his work.
Some journalists who did not want to listen to Šapić’s insults left the conference.
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia strongly condemns the manner in which the mayor of Belgrade communicates with journalists.
Aleksandar Šapić has been using public space for a long time to deal with independent journalists. He insults journalists and addresses them in vulgar and street language, unworthy of the position he holds.
Instead of answering journalist’s questions at press conferences and when addressing the public, he insults and targets, which is extremely dangerous and can thus endanger the safety of journalists working on N1 television.
We also witnessed that the capital city was written with “graffiti” of hatred towards N1 television, and the culprits could certainly find inspiration in one of Šapić’s speeches.
That is why we call on Aleksandar Šapić to take actions within his competence with the aim of removing these inscriptions from Belgrade buildings, and after that to resign from the position of mayor of Belgrade, since he abuses the position from which he addresses the citizens, does not know how to communicate with the media and cannot control himself during public performances.
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia
Belgrade, October 25, 2024
