UNS: Fabricated campaign in tabloids against prosecutors and journalists

The campaign is based on published photo from a public meeting of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists in Novi Sad held on May 30, 2023, said the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS).

“In this way, damage is also inflicted on the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, as one of the few working groups that has largely justified its existence through its practical activities and initiatives,” the Working Group told the UNS.

The Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists was established in 2017. Over time, a system of contact points has been established in every prosecutor’s office, police station, and relevant journalistic associations and media organizations.

“Everything is more than transparent and, consequently, all the constructs presented in tabloid articles are the product of the authors' imagination and are intended to cause harm, both to those holding the most responsible positions in public prosecutor's offices and to long-standing independent professional journalists,” said the members of the Working Group.

They noted that the attacks on prosecutors indicate that the authorities in Serbia plan to “intensify and brutalize” their approach towards journalists and everyone who seeks to protect journalists from threats and attacks.

They called on the OSCE, which serves as an observer in the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists, and the European Commission to protest through all available means in order to stop attacks on journalists and prosecutors associated with the Permanent Working Group, as well as on all prosecutors and judges who uphold the law.