The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the physical attack that occurred on 2 June 2024 on Uglješa Bokić, a journalist for the daily newspaper Danas (https://www.danas.rs/) and demands that the attacker be punished. According to Bokić’s statement to Journalist Association of Serbia – UNS, he was recording during the local election young people leaving the Novi Sad Fair premises in Novi Sad, Serbia when a man allegedly approached, took his phone, and punched him in the chest. You can see the statement and the video of the attack here: https://uns.org.rs/saopstenja/160486/uns-hitno-pronaci-i-kazniti-napadaca-na-ugljesu-bokica-.html
Bokić, who had his “Danas” press card clearly displayed, believes the attacker was aware that he was a journalist. After the assault, Bokić was taken to the Emergency Center, where he was diagnosed with a bruised sternum.
Bokić reported the incident to the police while at the Emergency Center. He said that two inspectors arrived, spoke with him, and said they would forward the case to the prosecution.
Despite the attack, Bokić stated that he feels physically fine and has returned to work. However, he expressed deep concern over the incident, describing it as horrifying.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns physical assault on Uglješa Bokić, and calls the authorities in Serbia to urgently arrest the attacker. SEEMO is aksing the authorities to ensure a safe environment for journalists to operate freely and without fear of violence, especially during critical times such as elections, to maintain the public’s access to accurate and timely information.
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.
#fyp #mediafreedom #seemo #freespeech #southeasteuropemediaorganisation #ngo #journalist #serbia #danas #novisad #journalistattacked #journalistassaulted #SEEMO #pressfreedom #mediafreedom