The European Democratic Party said, in response to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s accusations directed at N1 TV journalist Mladen Savatovic, that “when a journalist is targeted for asking critical questions, democracy itself is under pressure.”
The party wrote in a post on X that Savatovic “is suing President Vucic not over physical violence, but for the public humiliation, mockery, and verbal aggression he faced simply for doing his job.”
“His message is clear: journalism is not a threat. It is a pillar of democratic accountability,” they said in the post.
The Democrats added that no press conference should be a “platform for intimidation,” and that, “in a country already known for hostility towards critical media, this lawsuit raises a crucial question: Can a democracy thrive where journalists are treated as enemies?”
“At EDP, we stand with all those who defend pluralism, free press and the right to question power,” the Democrats said.
Vucic reacted on Tuesday to the questions posed by Savatovic regarding the “General Staff” case and the indictment proposal against Serbian Culture Minsiter Nikola Selakovic by accusing the N1 reporter of being a “liar,” “ill-mannered,” and threatened to “re-educate” him “since his parents did not.”
“Everything you said was a lie, you lied, and I was silent the whole time – that says a lot about manners. You lied about everything! You’ll never learn manners – that’s something you bring from home, along with love for the truth, since you’re a proven liar and always will be,” Vucic had said.
Vucic’s statements were condemned by several journalism organizations, including the Journalists’ Association of Serbia, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, and the Association of Independent Electronic Media, all of which also called on the president to publicly apologize.
Source: N1
