People gathered in front of the N1 building in Belgrade on Thursday in a show of support for the station and its staff following reports of a change at the head of the United Group RS Beograd company.
The crowd turned out at the call of local community assemblies to express concern over rumors that both N1 and Nova could be shut down.
A spokesman for one of the local community assemblies said they were there to thank N1 for everything its staff have been doing over the previous 9 months (since the Novi Sad Railway Station tragedy). We are here to support N1 in everything it does, the spokesman said.
The crowd brought Serbian national flags and banners, one of which said N1 Is Not Alone as well as the Red Hand which was a symbol of the anti-government protests since last November.
N1 News Director Igor Bozic came out to meet the crowd and said that N1 will do its work to the very end. “We will fight and survive,” he said.
“We are here for the public and we will be with the public as long as we do this job because we want to do it professionally to the end. That is the only way to do it. I can guarantee that N1 staff will not bow down to the pressure that is being prepared for us and we will not agree to it,” he said.
The CEO of United Group RS Beograd (a United Group subordinate company) Bojana Mijailovic was replaced with forewarning on Wednesday by Vladica Tintor, a former head of the government’s RATEL agency which administers telecommunications and postal services. The move is being seen by some as a step towards shutting down N1 and Nova TV. Economic analysts have explained that United Media (owner of N1 and Nova) is not directly connected to UG RS Beograd even though they have the same parent company. The SBB cable services provider is part of UG RS Beograd. The cable provider was sold several months ago to e& PPT Telecom.
Source: N1
