ANEM: SNS Blocks Journalists in Zajecar, Kraljevo

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) said on Sunday, September 20, that two separate incidents were recorded within just two days in which media representatives were prevented from covering pre-election rallies held by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). The organization says the ruling party and its supporters physically attack journalists, drive them away from rallies and events, insult them and intimidate them, and it has asked the relevant prosecutor’s office to put a stop to the practice.

According to ANEM, this is the first time a single statement has combined two separate cases of journalists being blocked from covering ruling party rallies in the same weekend: one naming the official who removed a reporter, the other backed by a report filed with police.

The first incident took place on Saturday, September 19, at an SNS rally in Veliki Izvor near Zajecar, attended by local party officials; according to residents’ announcements, party leaders Ana Brnabic and Milos Vucevic were also expected to attend. ANEM says a reporter from Glas Zajecara was approached by Neli Nikolic, SNS deputy president for Zajecar, who told him he was unwelcome and had to leave the party rally immediately. The statement notes this is the second time Glas Zajecara, an ANEM member outlet, has been denied the chance to cover a ruling party event.

The second incident was recorded in Kraljevo, where Nenad Simovic, editor of the Likvidno news site, was trying to get statements from SNS supporters gathered at the rally when an unidentified man approached him and, according to the report, grabbed his right arm firmly, demanding he leave because he had no accreditation. ANEM points out that Simovic had a clearly visible press accreditation on him and had, only moments earlier, interviewed citizens gathered at a Student List rally without any obstruction. According to the organization, the issue was not the absence of accreditation but the subject the journalist had approached. Simovic reported the incident to police in Kraljevo and submitted footage as evidence.

ANEM Managing Board president Veran Matic said in the statement that the organization has been recording a string of attacks on local professional journalists trying to report objectively on all participants in the election race since the start of the campaign.

“Colleagues who work in the public interest are, as a rule, targets of attacks and threats. They are intimidated, physically threatened and attacked by local SNS officials and supporters. This practice by the ruling party deepens the polarization of society, creates an atmosphere of fear and heightened tension, and does nothing to help create the conditions for holding a fair and free election on October 25,” Matic said.

Matic said SNS is not backing away from its “campaign of violence and obstruction against journalists trying to do their jobs,” even though they are reporting in the public interest on the activities of all participants in the election campaign. ANEM has asked the relevant prosecutor’s office to stop the practice continuing, saying in its statement that it is, as a rule, carried out against those who uphold ethical standards and strive to inform citizens objectively.

The two incidents in Veliki Izvor and Kraljevo are not, according to ANEM, an isolated case, but build on an already documented pattern of pressure on Glas Zajecara, which had previously been excluded from ruling party events as well. Aside from the remark Nikolic made to the reporter at the rally itself, SNS had not responded to ANEM’s statement by the time this article was published.

The incidents come five weeks before the parliamentary election scheduled for October 25, at a time when the question of media freedom and journalist safety on the ground, in ANEM’s assessment, is once again becoming part of the broader debate over the conditions for running the election campaign.