Associations deplore “the culmination of violence against journalists” at Serbia protests

In Serbia, during demonstrations during the night to Thursday (14 August), ten serious incidents were recorded in which journalists were attacked, which represents the culmination of violence against media workers in the country, according to a group of journalist and media organisations.

In Belgrade, police in full riot gear blocked anti-government protesters from approaching the area in a park near the parliament building where Vučić’s supporters have been camping since March.

Elsewhere in Belgrade, anti-government protesters clashed with police who prevented them from approaching local SNS offices. Protests are also taking place in Niš, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Gornji Milanovac, Šabac, Negotin, Arandželovac, Kraljevo, Vrbas, Sombor and other cities.

Daily protests countrywide in Serbia, following the deaths of 16 people, killed when the canopy of the renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed last November, have rattled the popularity of populist President Aleksandar Vučić and his SNS party.

Students, opposition, and anti-corruption watchdogs have accused Vučić and his allies of ties to organised crime, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms, something they deny.

In a joint statement, journalistic associations called on the police and citizens to “stop attacking, threatening and intimidating journalists” and to provide them with normal working conditions.

“During last night’s demonstrations, ten serious incidents were recorded – from physical attacks and insults, to the destruction of equipment. The attacks came from both citizens and members of the police, who not only did not prevent the violence, but in a large number of cases committed it themselves. The red line has long been crossed,” the associations warned.

In the statement, they also stated that six of last night’s 10 attacks on journalists were carried out by members of the police.

“Instead of protecting journalists and ensuring their work, the authorities in charge of protection become direct perpetrators of violence, ignoring their legal obligations. Despite this, we ask the police and the public prosecutor’s office to urgently process and solve all attacks and threats against journalists, regardless of who carried out those attacks. The Ministry of Interior must initiate and solve all cases of abuse of power and exceeding the authority of its members,” the journalist associations stated.

They also assessed that in the conditions of “almost daily brutal and unjustified actions of the police towards journalists on the streets”, the question arises of the expediency of the continued existence of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists.

“State institutions, and above all the police, must recognize journalists as an indispensable link in the preservation of democracy and human rights, and provide appropriate protection in order to prevent further escalation of violence against journalists,” the statement reads.

The associations accused the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of “continuing to deliberately ignore certain media” because not all media were invited to today’s address by Minister Ivica Dačić, while a journalist from TV N1 was not allowed to attend the event at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade.

“According to N1, the decision to exclude them came from the office of the Minister of Police. The editorial office of N1 was informed that the decision came from the minister’s office not to organise a conference, but a closed briefing for a few selected media. Such a practice represents open discrimination of the media, which is clearly prohibited by the Law on Public Information and the Media. All this indicates that the police do not act transparently and that they deliberately prevent certain information from reaching the public,” the journalist associations assessed.

The statement was signed by the Coalition for Media Freedom, which consists of the Media Association, the Association of Online Media (AOM), the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), the Business Association of the Association of Local and Independent Media “Local Press”, the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation and the KUM Nezavisnost branch union, then the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM). They were also supported by the regional network SafeJournalists, which consists of the Croatian Journalists’ Association, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, the Media Union of Montenegro, the Association of Kosovo Journalists, the Association of Macedonian Journalists, and the Association of BiH Journalists.

Caption: Members of the Serbian Gendarmerie face off against protesters during an anti-government protest in Belgrade, Serbia, 14 August 2025. Protesters are demanding equal justice, release of those detained during protests and are calling for early elections. EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC