Stevan Dojcinovic

The President also influenced the work of the judiciary by qualifying the second shooting as a terrorist act. To make matters worse, a fake video of the shooting spread on the Internet, and a TV station, TV Happy, aired an authentic recording of a private conversation between the boy and his father without consent.

In Serbia, independent journalism still targeted

Media freedom remains a dilemma affecting the lives and work of hundreds of journalists in Serbia. Smear campaigns, online threats and other attempts to demonise independent media outlets are a consistent trend and a grim reality in Serbia's digital environment.

Several pro-government tabloids on Friday ran front pages linking the widely respected investigative media portal KRIK to a brutal gang whose key members have been arrested and charged with murder, torture and drug trafficking.

The Stockhold-based international human rights organisation, Civil Rights Defenders, has condemned what it called "the shameless campaign of the Serbian pro-government tabloid media" against a Serbian investigative media portal, Crime and Corruption Reporting Network, KRIK.

He did not ask for consular assistance or protection, and it is the discretion of each state to prevent foreign nationals from entering, according to the ministry, the ministry said.
Dojcinovic is currently on a plane returning to Belgrade.

Stevan Dojcinovic, the editor at Serbia's Crime and Corruption Reporting Network, KRIK, was held at the airport in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday morning after being prevented from entering the United Arab Emirates, where he had been scheduled to speak at a major UN anti-corruption event.

Slobodan Georgiev. Photo: Belgrade Media Centre.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network called on the Serbian police and prosecution on Thursday to take action after BIRN Serbia editor Slobodan Georgiev was vilified in an online video.

Serbian journalists and activists who protested recently over what they called the worsening situation of the free media will meet in Belgrade on Thursday to coordinate a new campaign in defence of media freedom in the country.

The official Facebook group "For Media Freedom" said all the participants at the meeting will sign a "Freedom of the Media Declaration".  

About 150 Serbian websites and NGOs have agreed to join a "blackout" campaign on Thursday, called "Stop media darkness", to protest over what they called the worsening situation of the free media in the country.

The EU press service has reminded would-be-member Serbia that freedom of expression is an important value of the European club - and that Serbia's respect for it will be examined closely during its accession process.