H.E. Boris Tadic
President
Masarikova 5/VI
Belgrade 11000
Republic of Serbia
Fax: (011.381.11) 303.0868/ 362.0676
Your Excellency:
We write to express our satisfaction that two persons have been arrested in connection with the recent attack on journalists by a mob demonstrating against the arrest of Radon Karadzic.
As you know, on July 24, Bosko Brankovic, a cameraman for B92 TV, was seriously injured when he went to the aid of Zoran Jovanovic, a photographer for FoNet News agency. Jovanovic was being attacked by the mob protesting the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. Brankovic suffered a broken leg and torn knee ligaments, and his camera was smashed.
At the time of the attack it was widely reported that police nearby did nothing to protect the journalists. Their disinterest fitted a “general pattern of unresolved crimes against journalists in Serbia,” in the words of another press freedom organization, the South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO). It is therefore welcome news that Interior Minister Ivica Dacic has declared that those responsible for the attacks will be prosecuted, and that in fact, two have been arrested and others are being sought.
If this represents official policy it will be a major departure from the past. Apart from the unresolved murders of journalists in past years, SEEMO’s records show that there have been thirty six attacks or threats against Serbian journalists so far in 2008, apparently carried out with impunity. While the Serbian press enjoys a large degree of freedom, attacks such as these inhibit journalists from reporting freely on certain subjects — unless the attackers are prosecuted.
The Overseas Press Club of America, which has been defending the freedom of the press around the world for seven decades, urges your government to carry out its promise to protect the press and to prosecute the people who committed these crimes.
Respectfully yours,
Jeremy Main
Kevin McDermott
Freedom of the Press Committee
cc:
H.E. Mirko Cvetkovic
Office of the Prime Minister
11 Nemanjina ulica
Belgrade 11000
Republic of Serbia
Fax: (011.381.11) 361.7609
H.E. Ivica Dacic
First Dep. Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 2
Belgrade
Republic of Serbia
Fax: (011.381.11) 314.8535
H.E. Ivan Vujacic
Ambassador of Serbia to the U.S.A.
Embassy of the Republic of Serbia
2134 Kalorama Road, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: (202) 332.3933
The Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the United Nations
854 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10021
Fax: (212) 879.8705
H.E. Cameron Munter
U.S. Ambassador to Serbia
Embassy of the United States of America – SERBIA
5070 Belgrade Place
Serbia
Fax: (011.381.11) 361.8230
(Or: U.S. Embassy – Serbia Washington, DC 20521 )
Mr. Veran Matic
Chief Executive Officer
B92
Bulevar Zorana Djindjica
11070 Belgrade
Serbia
Fax: (011.381.11) 263.0881/ 5346
Mr. Zoran Jovanovic
FoNet
NewsKnez Mihailova 21/V64
11000 Beograd
Serbia
Fax: (011.381.11) 301.2001