Ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and following a visit from IFJ's president Dominique Pradalié to Serbia, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined its affiliates in demanding Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić to properly investigate the killing of journalist Milan Pantić. A society that lets journalists' killers and harassers walk free is not a democracy.
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31. okt 2023.
RSF video investigation into the death of Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon: the journalists’ vehicle was explicitly targeted
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released a video reconstruction of the tragedy that resulted in the death of one journalist and the injury of several others. The initial findings of the investigation show that the reporters were not collateral victims of the shooting. One of their vehicles, marked "press", was targeted, and it was also clear that the group stationed next to it was journalists.
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23. okt 2023.
The Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists visits Norway with the aim of strengthening preventive mechanisms to protect the safety of journalists
In cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade, the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists (PWG) visited Norway from 16 to 18 October meeting numerous institutions and organizations dealing with media freedom and the safety of media workers.
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13. okt 2023.
Israel and Palestine: IFJ calls on UNESCO to protect journalists
Since the outbreak of the armed conflict between Hamas and Israel, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has been in constant dialogue with its Palestinian affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS), who organise journalists in the Gaza Strip, as well as being in contact Israeli journalists. The IFJ and its affiliates around the world call on Unesco to do its utmost to protect journalists and demand that the warring parties de-escalate the violence, which will only result in civilian casualties, particularly journalists.
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04. okt 2023.
Serbia: New draft media laws represent another step backward for media freedom
The International Press Institute (IPI) today joins its partner organisations in the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in raising the alarm about two draft media laws brought forward by the Serbian government for their lack of compliance with international freedom of expression standards. If passed they would represent a regressive step with wide-ranging implications for media freedom and pluralism. As the public debate on the legislation continues, the MFRR calls on the Serbian government to withdraw the problematic changes added into the latest drafts and ensure compliance with the country’s previously agreed Media Strategy.
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03. okt 2023.
Serbia: Convicted killers of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija must not be acquitted
The International Press Institute (IPI) today renews its two-decade long demand for the killers of Serbian journalist and newspaper publisher Slavko Ćuruvija to face justice for their crimes and for the Court of Appeal to reach its verdict on the landmark retrial in a fully impartial and independent manner.
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28. avg 2023.
Freedom for Ćuruvija’s killers?
A month ago, I received information from a state secretary to the effect that it was certain that the verdict was ‘not guilty’, and then also from a few of our journalist colleagues who are following different trials, so, at this moment, it is more certain that this is a not guilty verdict than another one, a conviction or different forms of imprisonment, says the Chair of the Commission for Investigating the Killings of Journalists Veran Matić for Novi magazin
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23. avg 2023.
An appeal to the media by the families of those killed in Experimental Elementary School „Vladislav Ribnikar“
I regard the letter from the parents of the murdered children to the editors in chief of the media as a kind of manifesto that all journalist associations and media associations should stand behind and that should be supported by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) and the Press Council, along with concrete steps from their domain of activity and responsibility. ANEM supports all requirements and calls on its members to consistently adhere to and respect them. (Veran Matić)
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07. avg 2023.
From April to June, the Public Prosecutor’s Offices filed 28 cases for endangering the safety of journalists, totalling 42 cases this year
The Supreme Public Prosecutor's (SPP) report submitted to the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists (PWG), with data on actions taken in the first six months of this year, indicates that 42 cases were filed for endangering the safety of journalists - 14 in the first three months and twice as many, 28, in April (8), May (12) and June (8).
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14. jun 2023.
Murder of Serbian journalist Milan Pantić: 22 years of impunity
On Monday morning, June 11, 2001, around 7:30 a.m., journalist Milan Pantić, a correspondent for Večernje Novosti in Jagodina, a small town in Serbia, was killed with three brutal blows to the head. The journalist, known for his objective and uncompromising articles on criminal affairs and corporate corruption, was just returning from the grocery store. In his hand, he was holding a loaf of bread.
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26. maj 2023.
IPI General Assembly Resolution: States should implement the Vienna Call to Action for improving the safety of journalists and ending impunity
IPI General Assembly Resolution: States should implement the Vienna Call to Action for improving the safety of journalists and ending impunity
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25. maj 2023.
Drew Sullivan: Many of the „scoops“ by pro-government media about KRIK appear to come from surveillance
It's a serious misuse of state resources and a sign that Vucic will use autocratic methods to attack those who pose a risk to him. In this case, the risk is the truth, as published by KRIK, says Drew Sullivan, one of the founders of OCCRP, a global investigative network that reports about organized crime and corruption, in the conversation for Cenzolovka.
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25. maj 2023.
Permanent Working Group for Safety of Journalists: Data on assaults against journalists from January to March 2023
The Permanent Working Group for Safety of Journalists (PWG), comprising representatives of six journalistic and media associations (UNS, NUNS, NDNV, AM, ANEM, and AOM), the prosecutor’s office and the police, had a regular quarterly meeting on March 24. On that occasion, current cases of threats and assaults against journalists were discussed, information was exchanged about certain older cases, as well as examples of good practice and challenges faced by the Group. The OSCE Mission to Serbia has been participating in the work of the PWG since its establishment in January 2017.
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23. maj 2023.
Serbia: IPI calls for international support for investigative media KRIK
The International Press Institute (IPI) and its global network today underscore our staunch support for the Crime and Corruption Investigative Network (KRIK) in Serbia as it faces a mounting barrage of vexatious defamation lawsuits and damaging court verdicts.
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26. apr 2023.
Serbia: Independent journalism faces biggest crisis in years
Following a visit to Belgrade on April 10 and 11 2023 to commemorate the murder anniversary of editor and publisher Slavko Ćuruvija, the International Press Institute (IPI) today joins the undersigned international press freedom and journalists’ organisations in issuing a stark warning over the state of media freedom and journalists’ safety in Serbia.
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25. apr 2023.
Media freedom in Serbia: A deepening crisis
To mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the MFRR is holding a webinar to take a closer look at the conditions which have allowed this hostile climate for independent media to thrive, and what can be done to address it. The webinar follows a recent mission to Belgrade, joined by MFRR partners, to mark the 24 year anniversary of the murder of leading Serbian editor and publisher Slavko Ćuruvija.
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17. apr 2023.
Serbia: Impunity continues for assassination attempt on journalist Dejan Anastasijević
No one ever held accountable for placing bomb on window of journalist’s apartment in 2007
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21. mar 2023.
Serbia: IPI welcomes guilty verdicts in Milan Jovanović case
The International Press Institute (IPI) today welcomed the guilty verdicts handed down to three defendants accused of ordering and carrying out an arson attack which destroyed the home of Serbian investigative journalist Milan Jovanović in 2018.
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17. mar 2023.
Serbia: more efforts needed to face the past, increase safety of journalists and human rights defenders, and protect women from violence
“It is high time for Serbia to face the legacy of the past, to protect media freedom and freedom of assembly, and to fulfil its commitments on women’s rights and gender equality” said today Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, at the end of a visit to the country carried out from 13 to 17 March 2023.
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13. mar 2023.
Crimes against journalists go unpunished, freedom of speech targeted
"For more than two decades families have been left in the dark and those responsible for the killings, kidnappings and disappearances of our colleagues have never been held accountable. Still, to this date, no effective investigations have been held despite a raft of resolutions, pledges and declarations to put an end to impunity. It is time for the International Commission of Experts to investigate the killings, kidnappings and disappearances of journalists and media workers in Kosovo between 1998 and 2005," Anthony Bellanger, Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).