OSCE media freedom representative welcomes Serbia's swift investigation of attacks against journalists

VIENNA, 6 August 2010 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic today welcomed Serbia's quick and efficient investigation into the attacks against two journalists.

"I am glad to see the increased attention of the Serbian authorities to cases of attacks against media and hope that the government will continue doing its utmost to ensure the safety of journalists and to protect freedom of expression as a basic democratic value", Mijatovic said.

On 3 August, the First Municipal Court in Belgrade had ordered the arrest of two men suspected of having physically attacked journalist Teofil Pancic. Pancic, political columnist for the weekly Vreme, was brutally beaten on 24 July in Belgrade and rushed to hospital suffering from arm and head injuries.

A day later, on 4 August, the Belgrade First Basic Court convicted to 16 months in prison a football fan for pronouncing death threats against B92 journalist Brankica Stankovic in December 2009.

"Crimes against media coupled with impunity of perpetrators and the authorities' passivity in investigating these murders breeds further violence and represent the greatest threat to media freedom across the OSCE region."

"I call upon all governments to treat any crimes against journalists with the highest priority. Firm public condemnation of such attacks by all sides is one of the indicators of media freedom in a democratic society", Mijatovic said.

Mijatovic expressed hope that the authorities will also soon be able to shed light on several unsolved cases of killings and attempted murders of Serbian journalists: in 1994, Dada Vujasinovic, a journalist of Duga magazine, was found dead in her apartment, Slavko Curuvija of Dnevni Telegraf daily was murdered in 1999, Milan Pantic of Vecernje Novosti daily was killed in 2001, and in 2007 two hand grenades were thrown into the house of Dejan Anastasijevic, a journalist of Vreme weekly.