NUNS condemns latest threats against N1

NUNS said that user account Petrovic Dusan wrote: “If only the police would storm N1, arrest and, in the process, give a good beating to the traitors who work there!!! At least let citizens in with pitchforks,” and a user signing only as “B” commented: “N1 Ustashe, die.”

A message by a Bojan said: “I’m warning you clearly: if the Expo gets canceled here, the building you work in will no longer exist, I guarantee that,” while, a Dragan among other things wrote: “…we will destroy this N1.” User account Uros threatened the author of the article “How Croats and Slovenes Overnight Became an Alleged Military Threat to Serbia”: “As the editor of the article, you’re on the list, write while you still have time.”

NUNS said that such messages and statements constitute unlawful behavior and cannot be tolerated; they must not become a usual and colloquial form of communication, and in the absence of a response to such threats, they may lead to physical attacks and even more serious consequences.

It noted that some threats were made in the most direct manner, while others were expressed in a way that is impermissible in public communication and speech, and therefore all cases have been reported to the competent Public Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime.

The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia demands that the Public Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime, within its competences, examine all the circumstances related to these threats and take all available measures to identify the persons behind them.

In addition, NUNS also demands that this office investigate the existence of the criminal offense of endangering safety and any other offenses prosecutable ex officio, bearing in mind that journalists are being targeted because of the work they do.

NUNS recalled that threats of murder and other severe violence constitute the criminal offense of endangering safety, while messages that incite hatred and violence also constitute offenses punishable under the Criminal Code.