Actual attacks on journalists, Ivana Markovic and Dejan Markovic, Nis, 17.5.2025.

IJAS •︎ Posted on

Actual attacks on journalists, Ivana Markovic and Dejan Markovic, Nis, 17.5.2025.

Translations: Beograd 

  • Case info

  • Personal info

  • Regional center
    Belgrade
  • Who was attacked?
    Group
  • Group members' names and surnames
    Ivana Markovic and Dejan Markovic

  • Media outlet

  • Name of the media outlet
    TV Nova
  • Type of media platform
    Television
  • Source of information about the incident
    TV Nova, Jelena Markovic, Dejan Markovic

  • Incident Data

  • Date of incident
    17.05.2025
  • City
    Niš
  • Were authorities informed?
    Case was reported to the Prosecutor’s Office
  • Perpetrator(s)
    Not known
  • Attacked by
    Organized groups
  • Means of incidents and attacks
    In person
  • Type of incident
    Actual attacks on journalists
  • Type of attack
    Physical attack without physical injury

  • Action by the authorities

  • Police action
    During the attack journalist try to signal the police by waving her hands, and eventually officers arrived and removed the journalist and cameraman from the scene, but no action was taken against the attackers.
  • Legal status of the case
    The procedure is in the phase of gathering information about all the circumstances of the case

  • Action taken by the journalists' association

  • Was journalist's association informed by the journalists directly?
    Unknown
  • What was the reaction of the journalists' association?
    The association informed international organizations and institutions
    The association provided legal support

While reporting from the rally organized by the Serbian Progressive Party in Nis on May 17, members of the TV Nova crew — journalist Ivana Markovic and cameraman Dejan Markovic — were attacked by unidentified men.

The attack took place outside the metal fence that enclosed King Milan Square, the area reserved for attendees of the central event of the Serbian Progressive Party’s rally.

The incident began when a man standing in front of the journalist addressed her, saying, “Get out of here.” Bystanders claimed the journalist and cameraman were blocking the path — even though this was not true — and they moved aside to film a few more shots.

After that, a man began shouting through a megaphone and physically confronting the journalist and cameraman. He said: “… shame on you, stupid Ustase…” and repeated it twice. He also demanded that the cameraman move, even though he was filming from a public space, and told them, “Goodbye, this is not Croatia.”

They continued to pressure them to leave. The man with the megaphone and others once again physically confronted the journalist and cameraman, pushing them and shouting “out, out,” while one of them repeated “Ustase.”

At that moment, the journalist tried to call the police, but the crowd was yelling “out, out,” and two men shouted the same thing through a megaphone near her, making it impossible for her to hear whether anyone picked up the call.

The man with the megaphone kept pushing the journalist while the surrounding crowd encircled them. She tried to signal the police by waving her hands, and eventually officers arrived and removed the journalist and cameraman from the scene, but no action was taken against the attackers.

As the police were escorting the journalist and cameraman away, the crowd continued yelling through the megaphone, “out, out.” During this time, the journalist explained to the police that she had been pushed and hit from behind, but the officers did not respond to that either.