Serbian News Agency Editor Beaten in Belgrade

Pasalic was set upon close to his apartment in the Novi Beograd district on Thursday night by three men who beat him up after he refused to give them money.

They also called him an ‘Ustasa’, a supporter of the fascist regime that led Croatia during WWII as a puppet state of Nazi Germany.

Pasalic was taken to hospital, where doctors said he had bruises all over his body, broken teeth and a head injury.

FoNet News Agency condemned the attack, urging any witnesses to call the police and give information about the assault.

“A potential lack of reaction by the police and judiciary would lead to a widespread atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, not just in the media but also in the whole of society,” FoNet said in a statement on Thursday.

The Association of Serbian Journalists urged the police to immediately identify and prosecute the perpetrators.

“The prosecution needs to issue an indictment and request harsh sentences for the culprits of this brutal attack,” the Association said in a statement.

This is the second violent incident involving Serbian journalists in recent days, after a reporter from public service broadcaster RTS, Andrija Igic, claimed that he was beaten up by Kosovo police.