BELGRADE, 26.11.2020. – The SafeJournalists network with over 8,200 media professionals all over the Balkans, joined its member, the Independent Association of Serbia’s Journalists (NUNS) in condemning the insults on Dinko Gruhonjic, a journalist from northern Serbia, adding he and his family needed protection, while CPJ said independent journalism in Serbia became a dangerous job.
The messages and the language used in insulting graffiti were not only the hate speech but carried symbols of hate which did not belong to a democratic society, the network statement said.
It welcomed the authorities’ fast reaction and asked for the protection of Grunonjic and his family.
We ask Serbia’s authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the incident and punish those responsible,” Gulnoza Said, coordinator of the New York-based NGO Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ). “Serbia becomes more dangerous for independent journalists,” she added.
It also hailed the support Gruhonjic received from his friends and the people of the northern city of Novi Sad, who removed the graffiti from the building the journalist lived in.
The network said it would inform all local and international players about the case because an attack on journalists was an attack on public interest, democracy and the rights of all people.
