Serbia / Europe & Central Asia

  
Serbian investigative journalist Milan Jovanović stands in the ruins of his home in the Belgrade suburb of Vrčin. His home was burned down in an arson attack on December 12, 2018. (Cenzolovka)

Serbian investigative journalist targeted with arson attack

New York, December 12, 2018–Serbian authorities must ensure the safety and well-being of investigative journalist Milan Jovanović and bring those responsible for today’s arson attack on his property to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

A cyclist rides on the bank of Sava river in Belgrade, Serbia, on October 21, 2017. A journalist who had been reported missing was found unharmed on June 15, 2018. (Reuters/Radu Sigheti)

Serbian government accuses journalist of false reporting abduction

On June 15, 2018–Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on June 15 that freelance journalist Stefan Cvetković was found unharmed. Local news outlets had reported, citing police and witnesses, that he went missing on the evening of June 13 in the town of Bela Crkva, some 100 kilometers east of the capital, Belgrade.

Read More ›

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during an interview on May 14, 2018, in Belgrade. Stefan Cvetković, a prominent Serbian freelance journalist, went missing late June 13. (AFP/Andrej Isakovic)

Police search for missing journalist in Serbia

Berlin, June 14, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Vojvodina, the northern province of Serbia, to take all necessary measures to locate Stefan Cvetković, a prominent freelance journalist who went missing last night, according to local news reports.

Read More ›

A women's rights march in Belgrade on January 21, 2017. Women journalists in Serbia say they face threats of sexual violence and online abuse over their critical reporting. (AFP/Andrej Isakovic)

Two-fold risk for Serbia’s women journalists as attackers target their work and gender

“In the past five years I was publically called many things. I was an old hag, a sterile, cheap Soros’ prostitute, a hooker, not f***ed enough, in need of a good prick, and destroyer of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” said Tatjana Vojtehovski, a Serbian television journalist with a large presence on social media. “My response…

Read More ›

A composite of front pages from Serbia's press. Headlines, from top left: Putin: I Can Destroy the States in Half an Hour; CIA is Warning: Putin is Ready to Wage a War for Serbia; Putin: Give me Crimea, I will Give you Kosovo. From bottom left: Blitzkrieg Campaign: To Kill Putin in Serbs; Serbia is facing an ultimatum: Either Russia or Europe

How influence of Russian media risks making Serbia a Moscow bureau

For a couple of days last month, uninformed tourists visiting Serbia could easily have believed that the country is a Russian outpost. With large photos of Vladimir Putin on their covers, Serbian tabloids–by far the biggest source of print information in the country–were engaged in a discussion over whether the Russian President would defend Serbia…

Read More ›

The Road to Justice

Sidebar: A New Start on Old Murders in Serbia Slavko Curuvija was killed 15 years ago, but Veran Matić, a veteran journalist of Serbia’s independent media, never forgot. Curuvija, an influential independent newspaper owner in what was then Yugoslavia, was shot in the back on April 11, 1999, by two men outside his apartment building.…

Read More ›

Defining role of the press in genocide prevention

Talking about genocide prevention in the shadow of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camps brings an intense and unique gravity to the discussions. The academic presentations cannot extract themselves from the looming presence of the barbed wires and grim towers surrounding the Nazis’ most infamous death factory.

Read More ›

Attacks on the Press 2010: Europe and Central Asia Analysis

On the Runet, Old-School Repression Meets New By Nina Ognianova and Danny O’Brien Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has often talked about the importance of a free press and free Internet, telling reporters before his election that the Web “guarantees the independence of mass media.” He explicitly tied the two together in his first State of…

Read More ›

Attacks on the Press 2010: Serbia

Top Developments • Authorities win convictions in anti-press attacks, improve access to information. • Constitutional Court strikes down restrictive media ownership regulations. Key Statistic 3: Suspects convicted and sentenced to prison for threats against B92 journalist. Serbian authorities stepped up law enforcement efforts in attacks against journalists, winning convictions in high-profile cases, even as they…

Read More ›

Reporter brutally assaulted in Belgrade

New York, July 26, 2010—Serbian authorities must thoroughly investigate the brutal attack on Teofil Pancic, a reporter for the independent weekly Vreme, and consider journalism as a potential motive, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›