RSF urges Serbia to condemn verbal attacks on journalists

RSF also urged Serbia to stop this dangerous escalation in threats to the freedom to inform.

The most serious case has been the wave of hatred unleashed against Tatjana Vojtehvski, an investigative reporter for the commercial TV station TV Pra, after the station screened the third in a series of reports by her about alleged embezzlement at a factory in the town of Lucani.

The CEO of the factory and its spokesman reacted by staging a protest outside the plant and called for Vojtehvski to be jailed on the grounds that she had attacked a company that manufactures arms for the Serbian defence ministry. Even more troubling was the fact that the defence ministry itself relayed the protest call.

A well-known investigative journalist, Vojtehvski has long been the target of threats and harassment from Serbian politicians, including President Aleksandar Vucic, and these attacks have been relayed by social networks and the Serbian tabloids. But a street demonstration by members of the public or, at least, factory employees, is an altogether new phenomenon.

"We strongly condemn the harassment of a respected investigative journalist whose reporting ruffled feathers," said Pauline Adès-Mvel, the head of RSF's EU-Balkans desk. "Regardless of the stories they cover, no journalists should have to fear being imprisoned because of what they investigate and report. We call on the Serbian authorities to public condemn these verbal attacks, which are polluting the public space."

This serious incident was preceded by a series of verbal attacks on reporters and media outlets that have created an extremely toxic climate for independent journalism.

The Serbian officials and politicians indulging in this kind of verbal abuse in...