Dinko Gruhonjić, a well-known and recognized member of Vojvodina and Serbia journalism, received a death threat. At the entrance of the building where the program director of the Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists (Nezavisno društvo novinara Vojvodine – NDNV) lives with his family, the following graffiti appeared: “Dinko, you are ready for eternal life.” The threatening message was signed “Serb Vojvodina” (Srpska Vojvodina). The events provoked protests and indignation from domestic and international journalistic organizations, and professors and students of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Novi Sad, the institution where Gruhonjić works, have held a protest meeting. Subsequently, another atrocity took place at the university, where unknown youths entered and demanded that Gruhonjić “be fired.”
Meanwhile, the organized hate campaign against the journalist Ana Lalić, president of the NDNV, have also continued as she received more than 1,200 hateful messages, including threats to take her life. So far, the organization has filed six reports with the authorities, but official proceedings have not yet been initiated in any of them.
The Zenta/Senta-based Press Freedom Foundation consistently stands for free expression and the safety of journalists, regardless of national, religious affiliation or worldview, as long as the threatened persons do not themselves commit incitement or other crimes. As we pointed out in our previous statement, “without the free and safe work of journalists, there is no freedom of the press, and without freedom of the press there is no democracy.” Therefore, we call on the Serbian authorities to carry out the necessary investigation in each of the cases reported, initiate proceedings against the perpetrators, and inform the public without delay.
In addition to the effective action of the competent authorities, we cannot ignore the responsibility of public actors, especially politicians, who – sometimes with their silence, but often with their speeches and utterings – give breeding ground to this kind of unacceptable phenomena. Every politician who values democracy and freedom of the press has a duty to speak out and publicly condemn all attacks on journalists.
Stop to the threats (Illustration: Pixabay)
