After a year and a half since the intrusion into the exhibition of the comic group “Boys”, there is still no progress. Only the police officer on duty was punished by a salary reduction of 20 percent due to inadequate reaction, while the authorities believe that the authors of the torn works were not damaged. The ministry is silent, and most of the attackers and threats have not been prosecuted.

Let us remind you that on the evening of October 13, 2020, a group of about ten young men broke into the “Old Captaincy”, destroyed the works of the comic group “Boys” and threw tear gas into the gallery, after which the authors of the exhibition filed several criminal charges.

The comic group, with the help of the IJAS legal service, in October 2020 asked the following questions:

–  Why did most of the attackers stay out of the law, even though there is a description for some of them?

– What about the most death threats addressed to the authors and organizers of the exhibition over the Internet, since for some of them the competent authorities have been provided with data on profiles and IP addresses? After a year and a half, and more than 100 threats, the prosecution formed a single-digit number of cases, a total of 9, while some of the victims were heard in only 4 cases.

– Why wasn’t there a procedure to throw tear gas?

We also add new questions:

– Why don’t the authorities think that the authors of the exhibition are damaged?

– Why does someone have to write more urgencies for any legal action for a year and a half and complain to the Protector of Citizens, without which we would not get excerpts from court records or punish to the police officer on duty?

PODGORICA, 04.06.2022. – Of the 27 recorded cases of incidents and attacks on journalists in 2021, only 10 cases received the court epilogue.

Years dedicated to the journalistic profession, as in every profession, leave scars that the followers of the public word try to overcome, aware that time will not erase them. Journalist of Daily “Vijesti” Jelena Jovanovic still remembers the first threats, although, as she recalls, more than 11 years have passed since then. From then until today, the list of received threats is getting longer.

– Still, I can’t answer how many there were, because I’m really trying to forget all the ugly things. The court epilogue was given to almost all cases and all of them have been finalized – says Jovanovic.

One of the attacks on Jelena was recorded in 2021, during which 27 attacks/incidents to the detriment of journalists and media in Montenegro were registered. At the same time, the trend of threats received by journalists through social networks has been maintained. It is worrying that during 2021, there was an increase in physical incidents, which together took on rather gloomy outlines.

The target of the attack in 11 cases were women journalists or teams of which women journalists were a part.

Jelena is one of the few journalists who lives and performs her work duties under police protection. The changed way of life and functioning raises the question of whether it makes it impossible for her to engage in investigative journalism.

-Life accompanied by the police means that they are simply a part of my life – together we go to work, to the field, to hiking, to congratulations, funerals, in a cafe, cinema, birthdays, protests, conferences, we walk together … with that difference if I am not in a public place (coffee bar, beach, mountains …), when I get to the location where I will stay, they are waiting in front of the room. I am forbidden to use my car, which means that at no time, when I am out of a “safe” location, I can be alone, even if it means going to the cigarette shop alone or to the hairdresser. That significantly complicates life and work, because some sources from the security services do not want to see me as long as I have security, but I somehow manage to overcome this problem as well – Jelena explains.

She is under the protection of the police precisely because of the work she does and the fact that her signature as an author is under numerous articles that deal not only with high-level corruption research, but also with the activities of criminal groups. One of those articles endangered her safety.

– Due to the topics that are in my focus, and that is the dominant research of organized crime, threats have been constant for years. Maybe that’s why I don’t take them seriously sometimes, at least not as much as I should, which is wrong. July and August 2020, however, were a little different. Honestly, a little more stressful – very dangerous information started coming to me. I have not heard in any version that I will survive what is in store for me, which is why I shared them with the members of the Sector for the Fight against Organized Crime. On the same day, I was assigned police security. At the beginning of September last year, if I remember correctly, instead of the employees of the Security Center Podgorica, who had been guarding me until then, I was assigned twenty-four-hour security, that is, members of the Sector for securing persons and facilities, with which I have been living almost since then – explains Jovanović.

And what actually happened to Jelena?

On July 28, 2021, the journalist, through a lawyer, received a letter signed by detainee Mario Milosevic, in the form of a reaction to the published article. The lawyer sent an e-mail to the official e-mail address of the journalist and the editorial office, which she called a demant, in which the suspect in the two murders, among other things, states the address where the journalist lives, insinuating that Jovanovic is paying off the apartment by writing articles about him. The journalist, who is also a witness to the murder for which the prosecution suspects Milosevic, interpreted the allegations as serious threats and an attempt to intimidate and discredit her, bearing in mind the fact that information about her address is not public. That is why Jelena filed charges against Milosevic and his lawyer for endangering security.

However, that was not enough for the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica.

– After analysing the entire case file, it was assessed that there is no reasonable suspicion that Milosevic and Karadzic committed any crime for which they are prosecuted ex officio – it is stated in the answer of the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica to our questions.

As a victim, Jovanovic used her legal right and filed a complaint with the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica, requesting a review of the decision to reject the criminal report. This, however, did not change the decision. The Podgorica Higher State Prosecutor’s Office determined that the decision of the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica was made in accordance with the law.

– I hope that we all do our job the best we know how, including prosecutors, although practice shows otherwise. I will not comment on their decision, but they took responsibility for my life with it – Jovanovic commented on this decision of the Prosecutor’s Office.

She believes that the competent institutions are not doing enough to recognize and sanction attacks on journalists.

– In the previous assembly of the Government, we even had a minister who did not make enough efforts to protect journalists and photo reporters, which is inadmissible. In addition, it seems to me that prosecutors have qualified attacks on journalists as minor forms of crime or minor crimes. In that way, instead of preventing attacks, it is as if they are giving the wind in the back to the attackers – Jovanovic thinks.

That is why she believes that a lot needs to be changed, primarily public awareness of the importance of journalistic work, because journalists are increasingly exposed to threats, persecution, attacks…

– What is not talked about are attempts to discredit. However, I am glad that despite all that, I notice that it does not significantly affect our freedom – says Jovanovic.

The hope that the institutional response to attacks on journalists will change is aroused by the fact that Acting Supreme State Prosecutor Maja Jovanovic in the first days of her term paid special attention to cases related to attacks on journalists and media property. Jovanovic sent a letter to the heads of all state prosecutor’s offices, obliging them to urgently intensify their work in cases of attacks on journalists and to submit monthly reports on their actions to the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office.

Despite threats and attacks, Jelena is determined to continue her work in journalism and criminal investigation. It has a clear message for colleagues who recognize any kind of threat.

“They must not ignore even the most innocuous threat, nor accept them lightly, because that can have far-reaching consequences. So, we always have to report everything. It also happened that I did not report threats. That is a mistake I made in the beginning and I consider it wrong now. We have to report everything, because that is the only way we will end the attacks on us”, says Jovanovic to his colleagues.

Of the 27 recorded cases of incidents and attacks on journalists in 2021, 20 were reported to the police or the police acted ex officio, and 10 received a court epilogue.

Convictions have been handed down in four cases. Sentences range from a suspended sentence of 4 months to 2 years in prison with a probation period of 2 years to 3 months or 10 months in prison, as well as a restraining order and compulsory treatment in a psychiatric institution.

Svetlana Đokić

Ivona Đokić

This article is part of the project “Stop Violence Against Journalists”, which is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of the NGO “Interaction” and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

The project “Stop Violence Against Journalists” was supported within the support program “Safejournalists.net”.

Civil society organizations gathered around the “Three Freedoms” platform are demanding that the prosecution launch an investigation and prosecute hooligans who threatened Brankica Stankovic, editor-in-chief of Insider TV, at sports matches in the previous seven days. Bearing in mind that due to explicit threats made to her 13 years ago, Brankica Stankovic lived under police security, we believe that it is frightening that the prosecution did not initiate proceedings against members of hooligan groups that openly endanger the safety of anyone who points out the danger of their actions. 

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that the threats against Brankica Stankovic were absolutely inadmissible, and Veran Matic informed the public that he had filed a complaint with the First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists against unidentified persons for endangering the safety of journalist Stankovic. Despite that, the obligation of the holders of executive, legislative and judicial power is to prove by concrete actions, and not by declarative statements and announcements, that the state is stronger than hooligans. The institutions must not underestimate these threats, especially having in mind that the murders of Slavko Curuvija, Milan Pantić and Dada Vujasinovic have not yet received a final court epilogue.

Signatories: 

Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) 

Civil Initiatives 

Belgrade Centre for Human Rights

New Optimism 

Slavko Curuvija Foundation

Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS)

A 11 – Initiative for Economic and Social Rights

Autonomous Women’s Centre

Transparency Serbia

The Lawyers’ Committee For Human Rights (YUCOM)

CRTA

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)

 CZKD | Center for Cultural Decontamination

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

Although they make up half of the population, women as subjects and sources of news are in only a quarter of the world’s media content, according to the latest results of the Global Media Monitoring Project. The situation in Serbian media is below the world average, because women appear as interlocutors in a fifth of the content. Serbia has been participating in this research since 1995, and current results show no major progress since then.

Whether the statistics reflect the situation on the ground, how are women reflected in the media, in which areas we witness positive progress and what are the solutions for improving the image of women in the media in Serbia, was discussed on Thursday, April 14th, in Belgrade at the conference ‘Who asked her for her opinion – women in the media in Serbia’.

The changes do exist, but that they are very slow,  concluded Ivana Jovanović (Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans), Danka Ninković-Slavnić, (Fakultet političkih nauka/Faculty of Political Science,  University of Belgrade) i Ivana Kahrmann, consultant for media development and civil society, who shared their experiences at the first panel.  The speakers agreed that women are mostly interlocutors on the topics of everyday experiences, they rarely speak form an expert position, they are more visible in the field of culture, entertainment, fashion, health, rather than, for example, politics, economic and security.

The feminisation of the profession has led to more female journalists working in the media than male journalists, but, paradoxically, they are not found in large numbers within editorial and decision-making positions, except at the local level.

Where there is less money, there are more women, because men leave those positions – Ivana Kahrmann explained this phenomenon and presented data from Association Local Press  research  on the position of the media in the local context. Of the 56 media workers from 28 cities in Serbia, 21 are media owners or directors, and some of them are also editors, not because they necessarily want to be, but because they do not have enough resources. They usually establish their own media, because they will not tolerate pressure or mobbing. The research of Local Press also showed that the most endangered category of all media workers and journalists are female journalists, who face the greatest pressure – from not being invited to events, through both verbal acts and violence in the digital space, as well as sexism.

On the other hand, when it comes to media content, of all the discriminatory topics, misogyny and sexism are the most common, and this is common across all countries in the region, according to the results of media monitoring conducted by the conference organiser – Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans – revealed. All the countries in the region are rooted in deep patriarchy, and that is reflected in the media, adds Ivana Jovanović, who conducts media monitoring in Serbia within the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0.

The media do not approach the topic of violence against women as a social problem, but stick to sensationalist reporting – said Jovanović and added that reporting on femicide is deeply problematic, because within the content on this topic you can read everything from secondary victimisation to conspiracy theories.

On a more positive note, the analysis of the group of Journalists Against Violence Against Women (Novinarke protiv nasilja prema ženama) showed that reporting on violence against women is better than it used to be.

In the past three years, 36,000 media publications have been reviewed, and according to all indicators, reporting on violence against women has improved, but the problem is still big – said Jovana Gligorijević (Journalists Against Violence Against Women) and added that she has hope for the young generation because they are young and more willing to be sensitive, as they are living in that which the older generation report on.

Minja Bogavac, agreed with her when presenting an example of good practice – the youth portal ZOOMER.

At the conference Who asked her for her opinion – women in the media in Serbia, the author of the  series Ona se budi (She Wakes Up), Mia Bjelogrlić, also spoke about how the idea behind the series was to position the topic of gender equality within the mainstream arena.

– It is now the turn for women to tell the story form their point of view, how they see their position in society, and not for men to talk about it instead of them – said Bjelogrlić and added that there is no single answer to the question of how to unravel the patriarchy, but that she sees the solution to be one of a parallel process, both in the institutional and in the private sphere.

– There is an implied consensus in society as to how a women should live and behave, and changing that requires additional engagement, regardless of laws and quotas, because if the institutional framework does not reflect on everyday life, then there is a gap in which we live – explained the author of the series Ona se budi (She Wakes Up) and added that that is why proactive activism of various kinds is important.

One such solution is the Feminist Media Declaration presented by Jovana Netković (Feministički kulturni centar Befem/Feminist Cultural Center Befem). This document is the result of the continuous work of media experts and is another tool in the fight towards more gender-sensitive media reporting.

In addition, Befem created the Equality Bureau (biro jednakosti), where 19 lists are available to the media wither over 385 women experts in various fields and which integrated the gender perspective in the fields of education, security, sports, culture, economy, mental health etc.

The participants in the gathering agreed that the media is a powerful tool for socialisation, and that is why it is of importance how various identities are presented through them and how topics are discussed. As potential solution to changing the media image, the speakers also mentioned the tools created by the group Journalists Against Violence Against Women. Namely, there is a database of photographs and illustrations that responsibly and ethnically depict the problem of violence, forms and reactions to violence, and /or are aimed at strengthening and showing solidarity with those exposed to violence.

Media Diversity Institute, in addition to monitoring and analysing media content, offers as a solution to this issue – the creation of alternative and counter-narratives in order to contribute to the diversity of images of women in the media.

All speakers at the conference agreed that examples of good practice should always be highlighted, especially supporting female journalists who bring stories in a professional and sensible way, and recommended that colleagues and media workers always consult with those with whom the report refers to as to how they wish to be represented.

The Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Gordana Čomić, Deputy Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Tatjana Prijić,  Special Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and Information, Gordana Predić and representative of the Press Council, Jelka Jovanović, spoke about the protection mechanisms and the institutional framework for improving the image of women in the media, as well as the position of workers in the media.

Gordana Čomić stated that all acquired rights must be defended, and explained that the introduction of obligatory quotas for women in decision-making positions is reformative work that cuts into all layers of society.

This is a beginning that must be defended, because first you have to fight for your rights to be written down, then to be turned into action, and then you have to fight so that someone doesn’t bring you back, and only then to improve those papers – said Čomić, adding that you cannot ban prejudice, but you can ban behaviour based on prejudice.

Tatjana Prijić confirmed that stereotypes and prejudices are a big problem and added that one of the solutions to this is to start by not doing to others what we do not want to be done to us, and not just because the commissioner or the law will tell us not to.

The gathering was concluded with the words of Jelka Jovanović who said that the media is a mirror of society, but often also a generator of ideas or initiators of topics, and that only a small number of media raise the issue of the position of women, and therefore, men in society.