Press freedom in Serbia is facing a dangerous turn

Press freedom in Serbia is facing a "dangerous turning point", following increased pressure on independent media by ministers and state-backed media, a group of senior editors has warned.

The editors, who are all from publications within the independent group Media United, said their reporters faced "constant harassment, physical attacks and smear campaigns" after their reporting in the country, which has been gripped by protests against its autocratic president, Aleksandar Vucic.

Their intervention follows what appears to have been the largest anti-corruption demonstration in Serbia's history this month. The mass gathering in Belgrade marked the culmination of four months of anti-government protests, following the deadly collapse of a train station concrete tent in the northern city of Novi Sad last November.

Civil society groups have been warning for months about an increasingly hostile environment for independent media since the collapse of the station, which killed 16 people and sparked a political backlash against Vucic's pro-Russian administration.

"Media in Serbia is at a dangerous turning point," the editors write in an open letter signed by five media outlets and included Igor Božić, the news director of N1 Serbia, affiliated with CNN. "The government is stepping up its attack on independent journalism, especially targeting media within the United Media, as the political crisis worsens and public frustration grows.

"Instead of addressing real public issues, the government creates false stories, which paint independent media as foreign agents and enemies of the state. As a result, our journalists are attacked, blocked from official events and targeted, with disinformation aimed at breaking the public's trust."

The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said that pressure on the media in Serbia has reached levels not seen since the 1990s. It has also urged the EU to condemn a raid on the offices of the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), an NGO that runs a prominent fact-checking website.

Pavol Szalai, head of RSF's EU-Balkans office, said Serbia was 98th out of 180 countries and territories in the global press freedom index last year, its lowest ranking in the index's 22 years.

There have been several reports of hostility towards independent journalists, since the train station disaster. Late last year, N1 journalist Žaklina Tatalović and her cameraman Nikola Popović were harassed while covering the protests. Local press freedom groups said at the time that Tatalović and Popović had endured sexist insults and physical violence. Police officers are accused of not interfering.

Another N1 reporter, Jelena Mirkovic, was attacked while covering protests against the demolition of a bridge. She suffered a neck injury and was then unable to work. Last month, the colleague of N1 journalist Ksenija Pavkov was verbally threatened during the reporting.

In their letter, the editorial group said that Vucic was falsely accusing journalists of "stirring up unrest". They also said financial and regulatory pressures were being applied, forcing advertisers and business partners to pull out.

"With ongoing student protests and a disbanded government, in anticipation of new elections, we are deeply concerned about the safety of our journalists on the ground," they write. "The growing hostility towards independent media, fueled by the government's orchestrated rhetoric, has created an environment where violence is not only allowed, but also encouraged.

"In the last four months alone, our journalists, including Zaklina Tatalović, Ksenija Pavkov and Jelena Mirkovic, have suffered physical and verbal attacks. Despite the clear video testimonies of the perpetrators, the police have done nothing to hold them accountable."

Half a million people have also signed an online petition calling for an independent investigation into whether security forces in Serbia used a sound weapon – what the petition described as a 'soundball' – during the March 15 rally.

Vucic remains under pressure and faces the most dangerous moment of his 12-year rule. Protests have been a regular feature in Serbia since November. The president has so far sought to remove the blame, with a series of resignations arising from the collapse of the station.

The Serbian government, led by Prime Minister Miloš Vucevic, officially resigned last week, with Vucic saying elections could follow in June.

Protesters are demanding accountability for the disaster in Novi Sad, as well as more transparent institutions based on the rule of law. More than a dozen people have been charged, in connection with the collapse of the tent. On Friday, it was announced that a teenager was the last to die from injuries sustained in the disaster.

Around 325,000 people took to the streets of Belgrade on March 15, although the government has disputed these estimates.

The footage shows crowds suddenly splitting, with some complaining of feeling the ill effects associated with the use of a sound weapon. However, senior government politicians and police have denied that such a weapon was deployed. Vucic described the claim as an "evil lie", aimed at "the destruction of Serbia"./ The Guardian.