ANEM Alarm: Prosecute everyone who spreads false news that the journalists of N1 and Nova S are terrorists

Journalists and editors in the media group United Media are exposed to inadmissible accusations and targeting that leads to constant attacks and threats. According to all statistics, journalists and newsrooms of this media group are most often attacked, with the most threats and disturbing messages.

When the president of the state and the most radical media tabloid house explosively, on the same day, accuse journalists who work professionally and in the public interest of terrorism, it represents the state’s systemic terror towards freedom of speech and the media.

Instead of such gestures being clearly and unequivocally publicly condemned, the opposite happens – they are silenced and supported for inexplicable reasons, even by governments and institutions that inherit the values of professional and responsible journalism, the rule of law and the protection of public interest in Europe and the world.

That is why we call on the governments of countries that are models for the kind of society we strive for, characterized by solidarity, empathy, social responsibility, humanity and care for every citizen, to help us in times that are crucial for the future we will choose.

We invite the media and international associations to pay much more attention to the events in Serbia, which are increasingly abounding in government violence directed at the existential demands and universal values of society.

In a heated social atmosphere in which tension has been rising for days in the pro-regime media, followed by the constant branding of traitors and foreign mercenaries by the highest power holders who are aware of the consequences of their words, the media community in a time of social unrest can only understand such targeting as an open call to lynch United Media, its media workers, and members of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists.

There are fewer and fewer professional media and journalists in Serbia, and this is registered by all relevant associations, as well as the institutions of the European Commission. At the same time, there are no activities that would at least stop this negative trend. Not to mention the support that would enable the revitalization of European aspirations, the defense of the public interest and freedom of speech, which are fundamentally threatened. That is why we warn the international community again that there are enough indicators for these claims and that an urgent reaction is necessary. Time is running out – if it isn’t too late already.

Veran Matić, President of the UO ANEM