The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) calls on the police to immediately stop the violence against journalists, to take all necessary measures to ensure that those who report objectively and truthfully on events in Serbia are protected, and to take responsibility for the violence and failures committed by members of the police force.
During the protest gatherings on the evening of August 14, supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) launched a charge toward the assembled journalists reporting from the protest in front of the General Staff building on Kneza Miloša Street. The journalists were positioned between the two opposing groups. As there was no police cordon separating the journalists from the SNS supporters—only a few scattered officers—the SNS supporters, acting in an organized manner and with the intent to attack and intimidate, rushed toward the journalists while shouting, “Now film this, you journalist *****.” The journalists had to flee down Birčaninova Street, as captured in a live video by Teodora Šulj, a reporter for the “Zoomer” portal.
In addition, there were other incidents of obstruction of journalists during the protests. Plainclothes police officers in Novi Sad prevented Zoomer journalist Marina Nenadović from filming the arrest and mistreatment of a citizen by the police. In New Belgrade, a photojournalist was harassed by members of the police brigade while photographing the police. A plainclothes officer pulled Zoomer’s journalist by the arm in an attempt to seize her phone, after which his colleagues checked her ID and told her she was not allowed to film police officers in the line of duty.
After covering the protest in Novi Sad, Sanja Ignjatović Eker, a correspondent for TV Nova, received multiple vile threats. Threats were made on social media after TV Informer launched a smear campaign in response to her reporting. One of the messages even included a threat to murder her child.
Journalists from N1, Žaklina Tatalović and Mladen Savatović, also received threats.
Žaklina Tatalović received a direct message on Facebook Messenger stating that they would “see her in front of N1” and that she and her colleagues would be “locked up and burned.”
N1 journalist Mladen Savatović also received threats on social media yesterday. One message warned that “five or six of them” would be at the protests, that Mladen should stay away, and that he would “get a bottle up the ****.”
IJAS has reported all threats made against the mentioned journalists from N1 and Nova S to the competent public prosecutor’s office.
IJAS also demands the immediate cessation of orchestrated campaigns and public targeting of journalists by high-ranking government officials, whose violent rhetoric incites attacks and threats against media professionals. We call for the identification and prosecution of all individuals who send threats or attack journalists, as well as the resolution of all previously reported cases. In our statement yesterday, we noted that the red line has been crossed and asked—what comes next? The police and state institutions must take responsibility for the violence committed by their members, their operational failures, and inaction, and must begin resolving these cases.
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS)
Belgrade, August 15, 2025
