Inspections of Southern News Continue

More than five months after the launch of unusually detailed inspections of Južnih vesti – the most popular independent media company in southern Serbia, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has spoken with the Director of the Tax Administration and stated that checks should be completed in the shortest possible time, in order not to further hinder work, “provided there are no indications that they should be further expanded”, reports agency FoNet.

The inspections at Južnih vesti are, nevertheless, continuing. Inspectors have been monitoring the complete documentation of this independent media for more than five months, and chief editor Predrag Blagojević stated recently that “we’ve counted 14 inspectors working on the case of Južnih vesti”.

He also added that they’ve “begun visiting family members of the owners of companies that cooperate with Južnih vesti, to shout at the accountants and visit companies that advertise on this portal”.

According to Blagojević, the inspectors are taking copies of the contracts that the portal has with the EU Delegation, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the UN and certain embassies, in order to “show members of the families of employees in those firms that advertise with us” and to tell them that Južnih vesti “works for foreign intelligence agencies”. He claims that this has led to advertisers cancelling their cooperation.