Former director of N1 television Igor Božić dismissed from his job

The previous director of N1 television, Igor Božić, was dismissed from his job today, "Vreme" has learned.

Božić was officially informed that he had been dismissed from his position as director of this television station, and that his current status was "employed but not assigned."

The new board of N1 is reviewing his previous employment contracts, after which they will decide what position he will be offered, according to "Vreme".

This situation, as the weekly writes, means that Božić can no longer perform editorial work or any directorial function, and he is practically forbidden from doing anything at N1 television except what the new management asks of him.

Although he is not explicitly prohibited from coming to work, he is "recommended" to work from home.

N1's new director, Brent Sadler, will come to N1 every day until the situation is resolved.

The weekly "Vreme" reminds that Sadler, a former CNN journalist from Britain, has been formally registered as the director of N1 television as of this week, as well as the co-director of the Nova.rs and Danas portals.

With him, Wouter van Huvelingen from the Netherlands, who serves as senior corporate representative of Adria News Network, was appointed as director of N1.

This company was founded on February 19th as part of a long process of changes in management structures in the companies that own N1, Nova, Radar and Danas.

Media Associations: The Beginning of a Wider Process of Displacement, Pressure, and Restructuring

Two days ago, journalist and media associations warned the domestic and international public about an attempt to completely control independent media in Serbia that are critical of Aleksandar Vučić's government.

"The decision to dismiss the director of N1 television, Igor Božić, made by Brent Sadler, represents a serious signal that the authorities, in coordination with the new ownership structures, have entered the final phase of establishing control over one of the last pillars of independent information in Serbia. This move cannot be seen as an isolated personnel change, but as the beginning of a broader process of dismissals, pressures and restructuring within the editorial offices within the Adria News Network," the association said in a statement.

The change was initially announced last year, when OCCRP released a recording of a conversation between the CEO of Telekom, Vladimir Lučić, and the CEO of United Group, Stan Miller, about a strategy to reduce the influence of media outlets that report critically on Aleksandar Vučić's regime.

N1 announced that, pending a decision by the Adria News Network (ANN) board on Božić's status, he will not be leading the editorial staff. Božić's exact position will be defined in the next few days.

Adria News Network did not publicly explain the decision to dismiss Igor Božić.