BELGRADE, 11.10.2018 – The Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety, which represents more than 8000 members, strongly condemns physical attack on Zeljko Matorcevic, editor-in-chief of Zig Info portal.
Zeljko Matorcevic was attacked by an unidentified young man on Tuesday morning who first followed him, then suddenly hit him at the head, and when Matorcevic fell to the ground he continued to hit him. Matorcevic suffered serious body injuries: his cheekbone was broken and in the following days he would undergo a surgical procedure.
The incident was reported to the police, who had already taken investigative actions and listened to an injured colleague.
“We remind that Matorcevic already reported threats he got because of his journalists job to the police in Grocka last year, but nothing has been done so far,” said Slavica Lekic, president of IJAS, aand added: “We are worring because the inefficiency of the authorities in investigating threats to journalists has led to this physical attack.”
The Regional Platform supports IJAS in its efforts to protect journalists and freedom of speech and demands that the police urgently investigate this attack on our colleague and arrest the perpetrator.
We also, call on international organisations to exert additional pressure on the authorities in Serbia to demonstrate a full commitment to end impunity in this country, ensure the safety of journalists and respect the freedom of expression and media.
This is the fifth recorded physical attack on journalists in Serbia since the beginning of 2018.
Every attack on journalists is an attack on the public interest, democracy, and rights of all citizens.
Skopje – Belgrade – Podgorica – Pristina – Sarajevo – Zagreb, 11.10.2018.
BH Journalists Association
Trade Union of Media of Montenegro
Croatian Journalists’ Association
Association of Journalists of Kosovo
Association of Journalists of Macedonia
Independent Journalists Association of Serbia