SEEMO/IPI Press Release: SEEMO urges Serbian police to investigate latest attacks against journalists
VIENNA, 3 October 2012, The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International
Press Institute (IPI), urges Serbian police to investigate the latest attacks against journalists, find the perpetrators
and bring them to justice.
On 29 September 2012, Mladen Mijatovic, a reporter specialised in covering crime for the Belgrade-based TV broadcaster
TV Pink found all four of his car tires slashed. Mijatovic had previously received verbal threats and had been
physically assaulted. The latest assault occurred in August 2011.
On 22 September 2012, a wedding in Vranje, southern Serbia, degenerated into a massive fist fight. Tanja Jankovic, a
journalist with the Belgrade-based broadcaster TV B92, and her family were among the guests. Jankovic was hit in the
head while other members of her family suffered concussions and other injuries. It is not clear if the brawl - a police
inspector was among the guests - was related to Jankovic’s work as an investigative journalist or was motivated by other
reasons. According to Jankovic, only her phone call to Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s prime minister and minister of the
interior, prevented a bloodbath.
“In the case of Mijatovic, I call on the police to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” said SEEMO
Secretary General Oliver Vujovic. “In the case of Jankovic, it is important to establish the facts, analyse what
happened and bring all those responsible to justice.”
ENDS