The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) condemns the Serbian Progressive Party’s (SNS) continued discrimination against journalists and media outlets through its regular practice of selectively granting access to the events it organizes. Most recently, Bečejski mozaik and Webinfo journalists were prevented yesterday from reporting freely from an SNS rally held in Bačko Gradište.
While filming the gathering, Vojvodina Provincial Secretary for Sports and Youth Dane Basta approached the journalists and asked to leave the area near the tent where SNS members and supporters had gathered.
In a video published by Bečejski mozaik, Dane Basta can be heard saying: “May I ask you something? This is a political party event, and you are part of the opposition.” The Bečejski mozaik journalist Kristina Demeter Filipčev corrected him, explaining that she was not part of the opposition but a journalist, and asked whether journalists were allowed to enter the event to report on it. Basta replied that they were not.
As Kristina Demeter Filipčev told IJAS, Dane Basta did not approach her personally at first but instead sent one of his associates to tell her to leave the street in front of the venue.
Only selected journalists with accreditation were allowed to photograph and report from the fenced-off area. However, independent media outlets were not even given the opportunity to obtain accreditation. Such selective treatment constitutes discrimination against the media and directly violates the principle of equal access to information of public interest.
IJAS reminds the public that political parties have the right to organize their own events, but public officials do not have the right to arbitrarily decide which journalists may report and which may not. It is particularly unacceptable to label journalists as supporters of political parties simply because they critically report on the work of public officials.
Unfortunately, this is not the first case of discrimination against the newsrooms of Bečejski mozaik and Webinfo. Journalists from this independent local media outlet from Bečej and Novi Bečej have for years faced obstacles in carrying out their work through selective invitations to events, the ignoring of official media inquiries, and the continuous denial of public funding through municipal media co-financing competitions in the Municipality of Bečej. In addition to these institutional pressures, journalist Kristina Demeter Filipčev has repeatedly been the target of threats and insults on social media.
Discrimination against journalists and media outlets is a dangerous and unlawful practice that undermines media freedom, the public’s right to information, and democratic processes. When journalists are denied access to events of public interest or certain media outlets are privileged based on their editorial policy, citizens are deprived of the opportunity to receive complete and objective information.
IJAS calls on public officials to end the practice of discriminating against the media and to respect the right of all journalists to report professionally and on equal terms from events of public interest. We also expect organizers of political events to ensure equal working conditions for all media outlets and to establish clear and transparent accreditation procedures, free from selective access and political assessments of who is considered “acceptable” and who is not.
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS)
Belgrade, 20 July 2026
Translation: IJAS, with AI assistance
