NOVI SAD, 12.12.2016. – The Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (IJAV) demands from the police and prosecution to urgently identify and arrest persons behind the attack on our colleague, the photo-reporter Dragan Gojic while he was doing his job.
Unknown young person first insulted Gojic and then physically attacked him from the back. At the time of the attack, Gojic was taking photos of the cityscapes.
The attack happened on Saturday, 10 December 2016 at the centre of Novi Sad. The case was reported to the police that came half an hour later to examine the scene and produced a on official report.
IJAV reminds the public that the Criminal Code guarantees journalists and other media professionals a special protection in cases of attacks and prescribes a sentence for the crime of endangering the safety of journalists from six months to five years in prison.
IJAV reminds that on few occasions the state expressed declarative commitment to protection of journalists and other media professionals’ security. Despite endangering the safety of journalists is an important, unresolved issue in the negotiation process with the EU, the majority of attacks remained unsanctioned.
