Threats against the lives and limbs of journalists, Editorial Board of Danas newspaper and portal, Belgrade, November 6, 2022.

Translations: Beograd 

• Case info

• Personal info

• Regional center

  RS
• Who was attacked?

  Group
• Group members' names and surnames

  Redakcija Danas

• Media outlet

• Name of the media outlet

  Danas
• Type of media platform

  Printed Media
  Online Media
  
• Source of information about the incident

  Danas

• Incident Data

• Date of incident

  06.11.2022
• City

  Beograd
• Perpetrator(s)

  Not known
• Attacked by

  (ordinary) citizens
  
• Type of incident

  life_threat

• Action by the authorities

• Action taken by the journalists' association

• Was journalist's association informed by the journalists directly?

  Yes

On the morning of November 6, an email was sent to the official email address of the editor-in-chief of Danas, Dragoljub Petrović, threatening journalists, editors and columnists of this newspaper. The tone of the threatening email is frightening and disturbing and indicates that it is not a single impulsive action, but an extremely dangerous premeditated activity.

The email mentions some journalists and columnists of this newspaper by name, and the email threatens that they will suffer the same fate as the editorial office of the French satirical newspaper “Charlie Ebdo”, whose journalists and employees, as well as two policemen, were killed in an attack on the editorial office in 2015 by Islamic fundamentalists. In the email, the person or persons behind the email state: “…I feel the need to inform you that you and your journalists and columnists are in mortal danger from certain far-right-oriented structures that live in the shadows…”. Danas’ reporting on topics related to Kosovo, Republika Srpska and Montenegro is mentioned. It is stated that “the way you report to the public under the guise of ‘objective and impartial information’, you have clearly and openly sided with the Albanian separatists…”. It is also stated that “insulting the Serbian population from Republika Srpska, which you call a ‘genocide nation’, and the Republika Srpska itself a genocidal creation”, and “you call the Serbs in Montenegro toothless Chetniks, and the Serbs of the Orthodox faith who organized rallies before the so-called “Europride” are called the ‘Orthodox Taliban’ by you…” Also, it is stated: “By taking the side of the enemy of the Serbian people, you (Danas editorial board) have labeled yourself domestic traitors, which the majority of Serbs will not look at with enthusiasm. And no, this is not Seselj’s radical rhetoric, their time has long passed. From the shadows lives a new generation of Serbian nationalists who are incorruptible, uncorrupted and above all honorable. A good part of the unnamed right-wing communities are not connected to any right-wing organization from Serbia and Europe, which makes them invisible to law enforcement and intelligence services, because they are decentralized by nature.”

At the end, it stands out: “Only when you go to work one morning heading to your editorial office, and while you are making your morning coffee, and while you are casually chatting with your colleagues about your families, sports, the weather, or some gossip, and when suddenly a volley of bullets starts breaking the windows and ricocheting over your heads…”, with the statement that the potential perpetrators will never face justice, “because they too will not survive by judging themselves or perishing in the exchange of fire with the law enforcement agencies”.