On April 18th, N1 newsroom in Belgrade received an e-mail with threatening message: “You shitty mercenary American should be slaughtered like a rat as much as you lie.” This is just one in a series of threats and verbal attacks suffered by employees of this independent media outlet.
The director of Television N1 Serbia, Igor Bozic, confirmed that this is another one in a series of threats that this television received, and said: “We can say that this is just a continuation of the threats we receive and that members of the newsroom feel in danger when they receive such brutal threats”.
The president of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, Zeljko Bodrozic, condemned the new threats to N1 journalists.
“This threat is also the result of a long reckless campaign of the regime against N1 Television and journalists of that media outlet, and similar comments and messages have flooded most of our public space – from the Assembly, through pro-regime media to social networks. For years, there has been a chase against our colleagues from N1 and other independent and professional media, thus turning them into legitimate targets for many violent people. I hope that the authorities will find the perpetrator who made this dangerous threat”, Bodrozic said on this occasion.
SafeJournalists Network, representing more than 8,200 media professionals in the Western Balkans, joins its member IJAS in condemnation of the threats against N1 journalists. We call upon relevant institutions in Serbia to act and secure the safety of journalists and hope that they will conduct the entire procedure swiftly and punish the perpetrator.
SafeJournalists Network will inform relevant national and international stakeholders about this case.
Each attack on journalists is an attack on public interest, democracy and rights of all citizens.
Pristina – Skopje – Sarajevo – Zagreb – Belgrade – Podgorica, April, 19th 2022
Association of Journalists of Kosovo
Association of Journalists of Macedonia
BH Journalists Association
Croatian Journalists’ Association
Independent Journalists Association of Serbia
Trade Union of Media of Montenegro