Journalists mark their day, warn about pressure and violence

Journalists mark their day, warn about pressure and violence

BELGRADE -- Journalists in Serbia are this Thursday marking their day - for the 14th time since it was established in 2001.

On March 27, 1791 (according to the Julian calendar - March 14 in the Gregorian) the first newspaper printed in Serbian came off the presses.

The paper was called "Serpskija povsednevnija novini" ("Serb daily news") and was published in Vienna, by the Greek brothers Markides Pulio.

The state of Serbia should protect the journalists against pressure, threats and violence, and the perpetrators of the crimes must be exposed and adequately punished, it was concluded at the Wednesday's conference "Who, what, where, when, how - Impunity of crimes against journalists".

The state must not hold back journalists, who are “the eyes of democracy”, stressed the participants of the conference, organized by the Belgrade Center for European Integration.

They warned that the threats and pressure inhibit the freedom of reporting and contribute to self-censorship, while the reaction of the police and the judiciary is lacking.

Gordana Predić, a state secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Information, said that the threats have produced results, as “the self-censorship is widespread, the investigative journalism in not encouraged, and the journalists are withdrawing."

Professor Milan Žarković pointed out that Serbia does not have an adequate law on judicial experts, or a good witness protection system, noting that for that reason it is no wonder that in the cases of journalist murders there are no witnesses.

Chairman of the Commission for investigating journalist murders Veran...