The Council of Europe (CoE) Platform for Safety of Journalists listed the attack on an N1 TV crew in Belgrade as a non-state threat.
It said that the assault on the N1 TV crew whose camera was broken while they were reporting falls into the category of attacks on the physical safety and integrity of journalists. It listed the assault as a Level 2 which includes all serious threats to media freedom.
The CoE said that it expects a swift and thorough investigation into the attack. According to the CoE Platform the perpetrator should be identified, prosecuted and sentenced.
The N1 crew was assaulted by a man who came out of the Caciland enclosure between the Serbian presidency building and parliament. He confronted the crew, ordering them not to record the inside of the enclosure and then grabbed the camera and broke it. Police officers deployed as security for the enclosure refused to intervene, telling the crew that they had to call for police assistance. Police initially told the crew that a duty prosecutor decided not to investigate.
Source: N1
