UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan told N1 that she is deeply concerned over the authorities’ reaction to peaceful demonstrations.
She said the authorities failed to listen to protesters with a very rought police reaction and added that she received a large number of complaints about assaults, especially on women and journalists. She said there were cases of individuals being targeted.
According to her, Serbia has the legislative framework but that there is a huge gap between what the government says about aligning laws with European standards and events on the ground. She believes the protests show that the government is not meeting its human rights obligations and that there are doubts about its commitment to international human rights obligations. This is a very dangerous, potentially explosive situation, she said.
Khan said the verbal assaults on journalists by ruling party and state officials as well as the assaults on them by the police are attacks on media freedom. She recalled her warning of 2 years ago of toxic political statements by ranking officials against journalists, human rights defenders and minorities adding that the situation is even worse now.
She said she can’t understand how Serbia expects to meet European standards if it continues to destroy its legal framework and continues attacks on independent journalists and if it continues making it dangerous for journalists to report what they see. I think it is going backwards in a very dangerous way, she added.
Commenting President Aleksandar Vucic’s statement that N1 and Nova would be shut down by the end of the year, she said that is a sign of interference in the independence of the media in violation of the laws of Serbia and international standards. She expressed hope that the independent media would survive, adding that the international community should monitor the situation in Serbia.
She warned that slanderous statements by politicians, including the president, actually gives permission for law enforcement to treat journalists badly.
Source: N1
