The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) said in its latest monitoring report for Serbia that it recorded almost twice the number of incidents involving the media in 2024 as it did a year earlier.

The Mapping Media Freedom (MapMF) report said that in 2024 it recorded 83 alerts involving 117 persons or entities related to media, compared to 49 documented press freedom violations in 2023 in Serbia. “Most incidents were verbal attacks (71.1%), involving at least 14 death threats,” the report said adding that independent media and critical voices face constant threats for critical reporting.

The report lists various attacks on the Slavko Curuvija Foundation, journalists Ana Lalic Hegedus and Dinko Gruhonjic, Danas daily journalist Vojin Radovanovic, N1 Belgrade, Nova S, FoNet journalist Tamara Skrozza as well as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) which was targeted for investigating RT Balkan’s links to the Russian authorities.

The MapMF report documented 14 cases of physical attacks, most of them initiated by private individuals. It said that at least 10 journalists were assaulted by demonstrators in the protests after the Novi Sad Railway Station tragedy, including verbal attacks on 5 journalists with the pro-regime tabloid and TV Informer as well as a statement by President Aleksandar Vucic accusing the state TV (RTS) of pressuring prosecutors over the investigation into the tragedy.

The report said that the most alarming of 2 cases of physical assaults was against Ljubomir Stefanovic who was “reportedly abducted by the Serbian Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) and held at a Belgrade police station for criticizing the president … and had his phone seized and hacked”.

“Of the eight legal cases documented by the MapMF, three were initiated by the judiciary and involve the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK), which is continually harassed with lawsuits as a means of intimidation,” it said.

MapMF also recorded several cases of manipulative content used by politicians to discredit critical reporting and serve their agenda.

The report noted that N1 was accused of “misinformation and unsubstantiated claims” by global mining group Rio Tinto, after publishing a critical article on the opening of a lithium mine in the Jadar Valley.