Veran Matić, member of the Permanent Working Group for Journalists’ Safety (Stalna radna grupa za bezbednost novinara), has announced the arrest of individuals in connection with threats made against Ana Lalić Hegediš, president of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (Nezavisno društvo novinara Vojvodine – NDNV – https://ndnv.org/), and Dinko Gruhonjić, journalist and professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Based on the work of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime (VTK) and the High-Tech Crime Service of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, one individual was identified and apprehended on Saturday 30 March 2024, at the “Batrovci” border crossing in Serbia, Matić stated on the javniservis.net website.
After being detained for 48 hours, this individual was interrogated at the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime in Belgrade, Serbia. During the search, evidence was found indicating that the same individual had also threatened Dinko Gruhonjić.
The Prosecutor’s Office proposed pre-trial detention for this person on Monday 1 April 2024, but the court rejected the proposal and instead imposed a measure banning the individual from leaving their residence, with electronic monitoring.
Matić also recalled that another individual, from Novi Sad, Serbia was detained on Thursday, 28 March 2024, for the same criminal offense of endangering the safety of journalist and president of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina, Ana Lalić Hegediš.
Four threats against Ana Lalić Hegediš and two against Dinko Gruhonjić were reported to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Faculty members of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad organized a support rally for Gruhonjić last week, stating that he is facing a campaign against him and receives daily threats, including death threats. Earlier, a group of students of the University of Novi Sad, under influence of right extremists groups, demanded that the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad dismiss Gruhonjić. As this did not happen, around a hundred students began a blockade of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad on 26 March 2024. The blockade was temporarily suspended on Sunday 31 March 2024, after the university rector and two deans met with the students.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) welcomes the recent arrest made by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime and the High-Tech Crime Service of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior in connection with the threats against Ana Lalić Hegediš and Dinko Gruhonjić. The apprehension of the individual, underscores a significant step towards ensuring the safety of journalists in Serbia. SEEMO applauds the diligent efforts of the authorities in identifying and taking action against those who seek to intimidate and endanger members of the press. Such decisive measures are essential in upholding press freedom and protecting journalists’ rights to carry out their work without fear of reprisal or harm.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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