A statement made by journalist Srdjan Škoro about President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and his family during a TV show broadcast on KTV Television (https://www.ktv.rs/) on 25 June 2024 caused a series of reactions in Serbia.
The Serbian Minister of Information and Telecommunications condemned the statment by Škoro and argued that he violated public interest and the Law on Public Information and Media (Zakon o javnom informisanju i medijima – ZJIM). This condemnation has been perceived by KTV’s editorial team as pressure on their editorial policy. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Serbia, has instructed the First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Serbia, to investigate whether Škoro’s statements contain elements of the criminal offense of endangering security.
Gordana Konstantinović, the lawyer of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (Udruženje Novinara Srbije – UNS – https://www.uns.org.rs/), stated for the UNS webpage, that there is no element of the criminal offense of endangering security, nor any other criminal offensethat in the statements made by journalist Srdjan Škoro. She criticized the media for misrepresenting his words. Konstantinović urged that the prosecution reviews Škoro’s actual statements rather than out-of-context excerpts. In that case it will find no grounds for criminal charges.
In response to the accusations, Škoro plans to file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministarstvo Unutrašnjih Poslova – MUP) for violating the presumption of innocence and prejudging the outcome of the investigation. His lawyer, Ivan Ninić, criticized the statement from the Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs, which alleged that Škoro called for the murder of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s son. Ninić argued that such statements by this Minister, who is presenting himself as a state official, undermine the police institution and set a dangerous precedent for political retaliation.
Furthermore, President of the Independent Association of Serbia’s Journalists – IJAS (Nezavisno Udruženje Novinara Srbije – NUNS – https://nuns.rs/), Željko Bodrožić, called for an end to the “witch hunt” against KTV due to Škoro’s appearance.
In a reaction by IJAS-NUNS it is written: “…The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees freedom of expression to all citizens of Serbia, and the Ministry of Information has no authority to limit freedom of expression before any information is published. According to the Law on Public Information and Media, only the court can prohibit the distribution of information and that, at the proposal of the competent public prosecutor, only if it is necessary in a democratic society. The reasons for the ban are calling for an immediate violent overthrow of the constitutional order or an act of immediate violence against a person or a group of persons based on personal characteristics, when the publication of the information threatens serious and irreparable consequences that cannot be prevented in any other way…. We remind ….that the freedom of public information must not be violated by abuse of official position and public authority. In the statement, the Ministry does not quote but interprets the statement of Srdjan Skoro and concludes that it is “hate speech”, “violation of personal dignity” and “call for lynching””.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) supports and stands in solidarity with UNS and IJAS-NUNS in their efforts to uphold media freedom and protect journalists from political persecution. SEEMO calls on Serbian authorities to respect the principles of freedom of expression and to ensure that legal processes are not used as tools of political control or intimidation. SEEMO also condemns the political persecution and media pressure against journalist Srdjan Škoro and KTV by Serbian authorities. SEEMO urges the Serbian government to uphold media freedom and protect journalists from political retaliation, ensuring that legal processes are not misused to suppress free expression or to intimidate media outlets.
The 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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