A group of hooligans, who last night, in Njegoseva Street threatened the gathered citizens and shouted fascist and racist slogans, twice prevented the live reporting of journalist Filip Lukic to the TV N1 program. The incident was apparent to dozens of uniformed and undercover police officers. Shortly before that, one of those hooligans made open threats to the gathered citizens without the police reacting even the slightest, and after colleague Lukic stopped filming, he was told: “What are you afraid of, I won’t beat you in front of the police.”
These were members of the so-called “People’s Patrol”, extremists who recently, during the protest against vaccination, also disturbed and insulted N1 journalists.
We would like to remind that journalists have been exposed to increasing pressure and attacks in recent years, and that it has become a practice for thugs and provocateurs to interfere with their work, insult and attack them on the street and on the Internet, and that most of these crimes and misdemeanors go unpunished. We also remind that the biggest generators of hatred towards professional and independent journalists are politicians in power and their propagandists, and that unpleasant events like last night are only a logical consequence of insults and targeting coming from parliamentary benches and other official places.
IJAS will also enter this case in the Database on attacks and pressures on journalists and inform international institutions and organizations.
IJAS, November 10, 2021.
