“THESE FASCIST METHODS CLEARLY SPEAK TO THE NATURE OF THE SERBIAN REGIME”: European Federation of Journalists offers full support to Nova.rs newsroom!

Ricardo Gutierrez of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expressed his full support for the Nova.rs newsroom, which has a new management headed by Marko Stjepanović, whom journalists and editors do not accept because he comes from a pro-government media outlet.

We are publishing Ricardo Gutierrez’s statement, posted on Facebook, in full.

“I know what a lie looks like. I saw it yesterday in the eyes of the representative of the Serbian government at the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) Human Dimension Conference in Warsaw. She had the audacity to claim that Serbia is a European role model when it comes to advancing media freedom!!!… I have never heard a bigger lie.

Serbia is undoubtedly the country that has experienced the greatest decline in media freedom in Europe in recent months. The brutal takeover of the Nova.rs portal, an independent media outlet with a large audience, is the latest episode in this wave of repression. The hasty appointment of propagandist Marko Stjepanović as editor-in-chief and responsible editor of Nova.rs was imposed in an atmosphere of terror: every journalist who opposes it is being told to leave the newsroom within 48 hours.

These fascist methods clearly speak to the nature of the Serbian regime.

I sympathize with the journalists of the Nova.rs portal. I salute the courage of Nataša Korlat and all Nova journalists who are fighting to preserve the rights of Serbian citizens to access free, independent and credible information.

They have the full support of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ),” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Alpac Capital, the new owner of the Nova.rs portal, informed employees last night that those who do not wish to work under the new management can declare their decision by October 15 at 7 p.m. and leave with an extraordinary severance package. In a letter sent to the newsroom, the company confirmed the appointment of Marko Stjepanović as editor-in-chief and responsible editor.

Stjepanović described the offer as fair and said the deadline was reasonable.

“This change of ownership did not happen overnight, and I believe that the vast majority of colleagues in the Nova.rs newsroom have already formed an opinion on whether they want to continue working with the new management,” he said.

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