The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS) strongly condemns the conduct of the police toward student-reporter Luka Pešić, who yesterday was filming police officers during a protest and was then taken into custody despite clearly showing his press ID. After being detained he was denied the opportunity to contact a lawyer, and his equipment was unlawfully seized with certain video recordings deleted.
According to his statement to IJAS, after the protest ended, near the Youth Center (Dom omladine) toward Makedonska Street, he and his colleagues were attacked by a group of men in civilian clothes, after which uniformed police officers also began to run. Pešić was knocked to the ground and an attempt was made to take his phone, which he managed to pass to colleagues. He was then detained even though he had displayed his press ID. The stated reason for the detention was that he started running. However, Pešić believes the real reason was most likely one of the recordings he made of police activity. At the station, his camera was seized, the memory card was removed and examined outside the room where the journalist was held, and one recording was deleted without his consent, after which the camera was returned. At the same time, police officers told him that during the first four hours after detention he did not have the right to call his defense counsel. He states that at no point was he told what offense he was suspected of or the grounds for the detention, and the police unsuccessfully sought a prosecutor’s order to seize his equipment. In the end, he was released because the prosecutor assessed that there were no elements of a criminal offense.
IJAS recalls that filming police conduct in public places is a legitimate part of journalistic work and is of exceptional importance to the public interest. Obstructing and intimidating journalists, as well as deleting journalistic material, is unacceptable and directly undermines freedom of information.
IJAS calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the competent institutions to immediately launch an internal investigation to fully and impartially establish the facts and determine whether powers were exceeded, including identifying all uniformed and civilian persons who acted toward Luka Pešić.
We also request that any potential criminal liability of officials be determined for abuse of office, exceeding authority, and negligent conduct in their actions toward Pešić.
Several additional incidents of obstruction and prevention of journalistic work by the police were recorded yesterday. First, the police did not allow journalists to attend the “Rally Against Blockades.” The police prevented Puls generacije reporter Jovana Trošić from doing her job, refusing to let her pass the police cordon and enter the area designated for the press. In the evening, outside the police station on Majke Jevrosime Street, photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić was asked for his ID and subjected to an ID check without specific grounds while reporting from a solidarity gathering for the arrested students.
BIRN journalist Radmilo Marković received threats from Informer editor Dragan Vučićević. Commenting under Marković’s posts on the social network X, the Informer editor stated, among other things, that he “felt like finding him somewhere and strangling him like a kitten, and doing the time with pleasure.” Vučićević issued these threats along with multiple instances of hate speech and insults, as part of an evident Informer TV campaign against Radmilo Marković over the past week. A few days earlier, the editorial team of this television outlet had already targeted Marković over his comments about the actions of Red Star Belgrade fans.
We call on the competent authorities to take all measures within their remit and conduct proceedings regarding the threats made against Marković, and to adequately sanction the perpetrator.
IJAS reminds all that freedom of expression and the public’s right to be informed are protected by the Constitution and international standards, and that internal affairs bodies are obliged to enable journalists’ professional work, not to obstruct it. It is particularly concerning if unidentified persons in civilian clothes appeared in the chain of actions while presenting themselves as police officers — this must be investigated as a priority. It is also evident that police officers, in the course of their duties, are seriously overstepping their authority and violating the basic rights of detained persons, including the unlawful seizure of equipment, deletion of recordings without permission, and the prolonged denial of access to legal counsel.
IJAS will provide legal and professional support to Luka Pešić and to all colleagues who yesterday performed their work in the public interest. We call on all journalists and media workers who have experienced similar pressure to report such cases immediately to IJAS and to the competent institutions.
Belgrade, 29 September 2025
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS)
