The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) condemns the ongoing pressure and targeting of journalist Miljko Stojanović by individuals behind the Facebook page ‘Glas iz Bora’ and calls on citizens in municipalities where voting will take place tomorrow not to obstruct journalists reporting on the local elections. At the same time, we expect the police to ensure unhindered and safe working conditions for media workers who will be in the field tomorrow.
On the Facebook page ‘Glas iz Bora,’ on several occasions ahead of the local elections, content was published in which journalist Miljko Stojanović was labeled as an ‘opposition journalist’ who allegedly ‘seeks to challenge the electoral will of citizens,’ as well as claims that he is ‘funded by an Albanian company from southern Serbia.’ Earlier, the same page also published a video which, according to the caption, shows Stojanović walking past a Serbian Progressive Party stand in Bor, accompanied by insinuations that he is in fact a ‘supporter of SNS.’ Both posts were followed by a large number of insulting comments from the page’s followers.
Such posts constitute unfounded and unsubstantiated claims made without any evidence, which can seriously endanger the safety of journalists and serve to intimidate them. Targeting journalists through political labeling, attributing hidden motives, and inciting hostility toward them creates an environment in which media workers are exposed to additional pressure, insults, and potential attacks, especially in sensitive social and political circumstances such as election day.
We remind that the role of journalists is to communicate with all political actors, to ask questions of public interest, and to report on the activities of political parties and other participants in the electoral process. Such communication and reporting must not be used as grounds for discrediting, exerting pressure on, or targeting journalists. On the contrary, the free and unhindered work of journalists is one of the fundamental conditions for informing the public and monitoring the integrity of the electoral process.
Bearing in mind that local elections will be held tomorrow in 10 municipalities in Serbia, we call on all participants in the electoral process – citizens, political actors, their supporters and sympathizers – not to obstruct journalists working in the field. We urge police officers to ensure conditions for their safe and unhindered work and to respond promptly in the event of any pressure, threats, or attacks. We also call on the competent prosecutor’s offices to act urgently, in accordance with binding instructions, and to efficiently prosecute those responsible, in order to clearly demonstrate that attacks on journalists are unacceptable and punishable.
IJAS will continue to monitor the situation and provide support to journalists reporting from the field, emphasizing that the safety of journalists and the freedom of reporting are matters of public interest and a prerequisite for a democratic and fair electoral process.
We also note that representatives of journalists’ and media associations from the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists (SRG) will be present tomorrow in almost all locations where local elections are being held, serving as contact points and a form of support for media representatives reporting from polling stations in ten local self-government units.
Media professionals reporting from the field will also have access to emergency phone lines: the ANEM Safe Line at 0800 100 115, the emergency phone of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS/IJAS) at +381 60 688 22 31, while journalists will be able to contact the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS/JAS) at +381 62 530 337 and +381 64 941 04 89.
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia
Belgrade, March 28, 2026.
