Désir: Journalists’ security and media strategy crucial

The new OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, said during a recent visit to Serbia that this organisation is particularly concerned about the safety of journalists in the country, and that it is very important to shed light on attacks and unresolved murders of journalists.

Désir met with both President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, both of whom stated that the authorities are working to resolve all cases of attacks against journalists.

April also marked the 24th anniversary of the murder of journalist Dada Vujasinović, 19 years since the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija and 11 years since the attempted murder of journalist Dejan Anastasijević. All three of these cases have yet to be resolved – in the cases of Anastasijević and Vujasinović, pre-trial proceedings are underway, while the trial for Ćuruvija’s murder is ongoing.

Apart from security issues, during his visit to Serbia Désir also pointed out the exceptional importance of media and journalists’ associations being included in the development of the national Media Strategy. The Ministry of Information recently announced that this document will soon be subjected to public debate.

We would remind that the drafting of the Media Strategy was accompanied by numerous controversial events and has been rated by the top media associations as illegitimate, due to the fact that none of them participated in its creation.