SOZ: We are not thugs, media jump to conclusion

BELGRADE - The trade union organization of the Serbian Gendarmerie (SOZ) condemned "the media campaign against all its members", stressing that they are not thugs, hooligans or troublemakers, and adding that it is the interior minister's duty to protect members of the Gendarmerie from the media.

SOZ qualified as disgraceful the constant media attacks against this unit and asked what gives them the right to "vilify, slander and drag through the mud" a unit that is part of the Serbian Interior Ministry.

Pointing out that media reports should be objective, the union claims that the articles on the incident in which the brother of Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was beaten, pay no attention to the "specific tasks of the Gendarmerie in the zone of increased surveillance" and the fact that "the incident occurred in the near vicinity of a high-risk event".

It is also important to specify what kind of an arrangement was made regarding the passage for military personnel and civilians, the release adds.

Any use of force by members of the Gendarmerie is regulated by the law, and consequently, any incident involving the overstepping of powers must be sanctioned, SOZ states.

Pointing out that they have never protected their colleagues from liability when the authorities considered them to be at fault, nor will they do so now, the SOZ stressed that there are institutions and bodies that determine whether somebody is guilty or innocent.

The journalists seem to have forgotten the codes of ethics and conduct, and disregard the fact that they are neither prosecutors nor judges, states the release, noting that the Criminal Procedure Code bans the passing of judgment before one is handed down by the competent...