United Media has sent an urgent request to the OSCE for the organization to seek explanations from the Serbian authorities regarding the dangerous rhetoric and threats directed at the media outlets N1 and Nova.
Addressing the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Jan Bratu, United Media expressed its deepest concern about the increasingly hostile environment in which the editorial offices of N1 and Nova in Serbia are forced to operate.
"In recent months, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, together with senior government officials and members of the ruling party, has repeatedly called N1 and Nova 'terrorists', 'occupiers', 'media poisoners', and even the main instigators of the alleged unrest and violence on the streets. These insults, tirelessly amplified by pro-government tabloids, have provoked a series of threats addressed to our editorial office," Aleksandra Subotić, director of United Media, recalled in a letter to Bratu.
She pointed to an undeniable pattern - "the more aggressive the rhetoric, the greater the danger for our reporters."
"Such language normalizes hatred, legitimizes violence, and creates a climate in which aggression against journalists becomes acceptable - even seen as loyalty to the state. By equating our editorial office with terrorism, the authorities are deliberately dehumanizing our employees, exposing them to immediate physical danger both in the field and in their private lives. In the past ten months alone, there have been more than thirty incidents targeting N1 and Nova journalists - from physical and verbal attacks to chilling death threats and interference with reporting. Not a single case has been resolved," the letter states, N1 reports.
It added that this escalation had now reached a "deeply concerning level", with reporters being attacked in front of police - stoned, pelted with bottles and insulted - while uniformed police stood by without intervening.
"This is not passivity but tacit approval. Even more disturbing is that there have been cases in which police officers themselves have directly attacked visibly accredited journalists: on June 28, a cameraman's assistant wearing a journalist's vest was hit twice with a baton, while in a separate incident today, a journalist was hit in the arm and pushed with a shield. These attacks show that journalists in Serbia are not only unprotected, but are sometimes threatened by the very authorities tasked with protecting their safety," the request to the OSCE states.
It adds that international organizations - from the Rapid Response for Media Freedom and the European Commission to parliamentary groups in Brussels - have already raised the alarm.
The SafeJournalists Network has repeatedly documented how such rhetoric directly encourages new threats and new attacks.
"The labeling of professional journalists as 'terrorists' or 'enemies' is not only defamatory - it is also deeply dangerous in the context of Serbia, where impunity for violence against journalists is already entrenched. This is not political pressure within the usual democratic arena. It is an attack on human security and a clear violation of Serbia's international obligations to protect media freedom and ensure the safety of journalists. The repeated use of such inflammatory language makes us ask: is this demonization campaign a prelude to the silencing - or even the forced closure - of N1?", states the request to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Jan Bratu.
United Media recalls that Serbia, as a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has committed to respecting the principles of freedom of expression, protecting journalists, and fostering a safe, pluralistic media environment.
"The OSCE's mandate in this area is clear: to monitor, to hold governments accountable and to intervene when fundamental freedoms are threatened. In this context, we call on the OSCE Mission to Serbia to act decisively and without delay: to publicly condemn the inflammatory rhetoric directed at N1 and Nova, to demand explanations from the Serbian government as to whether this behavior constitutes incitement to violence, to put pressure on state institutions to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the threats and attacks, and to remind the authorities that such behavior is incompatible with Serbia's democratic norms and obligations under both the OSCE and the EU accession framework," the request to Bratu states.
It is a reminder that independent journalism is not an enemy to be destroyed, but a pillar of a democratic society.
"The ongoing campaign of hostility against N1 is not only a test of Serbia's respect for the rule of law, but also a direct challenge to the values that the OSCE defends. Your intervention at this time is necessary and could prove decisive in preventing irreparable damage to the safety of journalists and the very future of free media in Serbia," the United Media director stated.
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