The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) strongly condemns the threats directed at Veran Matić, President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (AIEM), by the Centre for Social Stability, and demands an urgent and decisive response from the competent prosecutor’s office.
A social media post by the Centre for Social Stability, a non-governmental organisation close to the authorities, stating: “If any of you happen to see Veran Matić in the next month or two, tell him he is not the only (pseudo) journalist who grew a beard and that he should be a little more patient, the sequel is coming soon…”, constitutes an extremely disturbing threat that cannot be interpreted as anything other than an open incitement to violence.
It is especially alarming that this message clearly echoes the infamous 2003 statement by Tomislav Nikolić, made shortly before the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić. At the same time, the reference to a beard also invokes a chilling allusion to murdered journalist Slavko Ćuruvija. When such messages are deliberately placed into the public sphere, they are not “criticism” but dangerous targeting and the normalisation of violence against journalists.
We remind the public that the Centre for Social Stability is already behind the propaganda content through which Veran Matić was publicly targeted, followed by a campaign of discreditation against him in online media. Particularly disturbing is this organisation’s announcement that it will publish similar material about 45 more journalists and associates of media and journalists’ associations.
IJAS warns that such messages create an atmosphere of fear, incite violence, and directly endanger the safety of journalists. We therefore demand that the prosecutor’s office react without delay and prosecute those responsible.
The institutions’ failure to respond to the dangerous campaign and threats against Matić, which have continued uninterrupted for a month, further emboldens the perpetrators and seriously endangers his safety. The competent institutions are obliged to act urgently, conduct a thorough investigation, and provide adequate protection; otherwise, the problem of impunity will deepen and further aggravate the overall situation.
Any silence from the institutions in cases like this sends the message that targeting journalists is permitted. That must never be allowed.
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia
Belgrade, 19 March 2026
