A large number of people gathered in Pionirski Park ahead of the announced protest of journalists’ associations in front of the Presidency. As the Danas reporter reports, it is currently peaceful in front of the Presidency, people are still gathering, and a speech is awaited.

Journalists and media workers blocked Kralja Milana Street today near the building of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic in protest against the attacks on journalists during the elections held on March 29 in 10 municipalities and cities in Serbia, a FoNet reporter reported.

Traffic has been stopped at the intersection with Kneza Miloša Street, from Terazije toward Kralja Milana.

Banners reading “Our pRoTeSt” and “Stop the brutal attack on journalists” were unfurled at the gathering. Journalists were joined by the president of the Democratic Party Srđan Milivojević, Green-Left Front MP Robert Kozma, and engineer Zoran Đajić.

What is known and already announced is the protest of media associations in front of the Presidency due to frequent attacks on journalists, especially after March 29, i.e., the local elections.

Members of media associations are gathering in front of the Serbian Presidency building in Belgrade for a solidarity meeting with journalists who were beaten while reporting on Sunday’s local elections.

The start of the gathering titled “Today solidarity, tomorrow survival” was announced for 10:30 a.m., at the time when, according to the protest organizers, the first attack on journalists occurred on election day.

“We are gathering here because (Serbian President) Aleksandar Vučić is a symbol of repression toward journalists and a symbol of violence that intensifies every day,” said the president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), Veran Matić.

According to his words, the violence starts “from the top of the government.”

“No one would do this if they did not have absolute approval or if they did not read the messages that Aleksandar Vučić and (Serbian Assembly President) Ana Brnabić aggressively send every day,” Matić assessed.

In the call for the protest, the organizers stated that by gathering, they want to point out the “increasingly difficult and dangerous” position of journalists in the field.

The gathering is organized by the Media Association, the Association of Independent Electronic Media, the Association of Online Media, the “Nezavisnost” Branch Union of Culture, Arts, and Media, the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, the “Local Press” Business Association of Local and Independent Media, the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, and the Journalists’ Association of Serbia.

The lawyer of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, Rade Đurić, is also at the Presidency and spoke about the reasons for the protest of media associations.

“You as journalists, and I as someone who represents you, want to emphasize and message that we report in the public interest, that citizens must know what is going on. One of the direct reasons is the terrible violence, nearly 20 serious physical attacks on March 29. We want to remind of the impunity and responsibility of the persons who do this,” he said.

Since the beginning of the year, he added, there have been over 100 attacks and physical threats.

“We are here to message that we are not surrendering, and to tell the state that it is responsible for ensuring our safety. Most masked individuals are almost never brought to justice,” he stated.

He says he saw that “Ćacilend” is filling up as a reaction to the citizens’ dissatisfaction and the UKP raid on the University.

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Source: Danas; Photo: Printscreen X

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