Attacks on journalists, Sasa Mikic, Kikinda, 21.06.2020.

IJAS •︎ 22/06/2020

Attacks on journalists, Sasa Mikic, Kikinda, 21.06.2020.

Translations: Beograd 

  • Case info

  • Personal info

  • Regional center
    RS
  • Gender
    Male
  • Victim(s) name
    Saša Mikić

  • Media outlet

  • Name of the media outlet
    Radio DIR
  • Type of media platform
    Radio
  • Source of information about the incident
    Danas, Sasa Mikic

  • Incident Data

  • Date of incident
    21.06.2020
  • City
    Kikinda
  • Perpetrator(s)
    Not known
  • Attacked by
    (ordinary) citizens
  • Type of incident
    Actual attacks on journalists

  • Action by the authorities

  • Action taken by the journalists' association

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

Journalist Sasa Mikic was physically attacked and beaten while doing his journalistic work.

At around 4 pm on June 21, Radio DIR journalist Sasa Mikic came to the local polling station to report on the voting process in Kikinda. He introduced himself and showed his journalistic identification, asking for a statement from the president of the polling board at that polling station. The president first received him in an improvised office, but without any special intention to further communicate with the journalist. As Mikic was leaving the polling station, three men were waiting for him in the hallway of the room, grabbed his hands and roughly pulled him out. According to his statement, two men were holding him, and the third hit him directly in the face, followed by blows all over his body, leaving cuts and bruises. During the attack, Mikić was pushed to the edge of the yard, where he was covered in blood, verbally insulted by one of the men whom the journalist managed to photograph.

In the meantime, the attack was reported and the police arrived at the scene of the incident very quickly and took a statement from the attacked journalist. After receiving medical assistance at the hospital, Mikic was called to the police station to identify three men from the persons who were called to report to the station, but he did not recognize the attackers in the identification process.