The end of 2024 and the start of 2025 has been overshadowed by escalating threats and attacks on journalists in Serbia: threats against Nenad Kulačin and Marko Vidojković, the authors of the satirical show Dobar, loš, zao (Good, Bad, Evil – DLZ – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gd1g9GvN6U), campaign against Dinko Gruhonjić, a journalist, writer, and lecturer for journalism at the University of Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia, and graffiti against Zoran Kesić , comedian, TV presenter, talk-show host and political commentator, host of the show 24 minuta sa Zoranom Kesićem (https://www.youtube.com/@24minutaofficial).
Kulačin and Vidojković received on 2 January 2025 disturbing death threats, prompting them to report the incidents to authorities. The threats, posted as comments on their YouTube channel, included chilling messages such as promises to “shave them dry to make them whine better” and to “put them in a meat grinder”.
“These threats are particularly concerning given the political climate in Serbia,” Kulačin stated for Danas newspaper (https://www.danas.rs/). “We’ve faced vile insults in the past, but the intensity of these latest threats is alarming.” He called on authorities to take these threats seriously and work to eradicate such behavior, emphasizing that journalists should not be subjected to such dangers for producing satirical content.
You can read the interview for Danas here: https://www.danas.rs/vesti/drustvo/kulacin-vidojkovic-pretnje/
You can watch the show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lyL-g8ZK3M
Vidojković, who has been living outside of Serbia due to safety concerns, expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the judicial system, claiming that previous cases against perpetrators only resulted in further harassment of the victims. Vidojković is also book author and regularly writes for the daily Danas in Belgrade.
Another media figure, Zoran Kesić, faced targeted harassment through graffiti across Belgrade. At least 200 graffiti are written all over the center of Belgrade, Serbia: “1.11.2024. Zoran Kesić – Show must go on”. First inscriptions were seen on 26 December 2024. Till today there is no visible activity by Serbian authorities to expose the perpetrators, nor have the competent city of Belgrade services intervened to clean the buildings from the intimidating graffiti. The Association of Independent Electronic Media (Asocijacija nezavisnih elektronskih medija – ANEM) has filed a misdemeanor and criminal complaint with the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Republike Srbije – MUP Srbije) for the writing of disturbing graffiti targeting Zoran Kesić. “This is clearly a large-scale operation aimed at destroying property, discrediting the city and harassing Zoran Kesić and his family…. We have never had an operation targeting a journalist on this scale when it comes to writing graffiti,” ANEM stated.
In a campaign in Serbia Dinko Gruhonjić is called an “extreme Serbo-hater”, an ” Ustašophile ” (Ustaše was a fascist and ultranationalist organization in Croatia active between 1929 and 1945) and an agent of the SOA (Sigurnosno-obavještajna agencija – Security and Intelligence Agency – Republic of Croatia). The organizers of this campaign also cited as evidence that his son is studying in Croatia.
These alarming incidents underscore the need for a robust response from authorities to protect journalists and uphold press freedom in Serbia. Without decisive action, the threats against journalists could continue to escalate, posing a significant threat to democracy and the rule of law in the country.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the escalating threats and attacks targeting journalists in Serbia including death threats directed at Nenad Kulačin and Marko Vidojković, harassment of Zoran Kesić through organized graffiti campaigns and the campaign against Dinko Gruhonjić. SEEMO views these incidents as serious violations of press freedom and an alarming attempt to silence critical voices in the media. SEEMO calls on Serbian authorities to take immediate action to identify and prosecute those responsible for these threats and ensure the safety of journalists. SEEMO will be closely monitoring the situation and remains committed to advocating for the protection of media professionals across the region.
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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