McAllister: No progress on media freedom in Serbia

In his draft report on Serbia to the European Parliament, rapporteur David McAllister reiterated concerns over Serbia having not made progress in the area of freedom of media and expression, stressing that threats, violence and intimidation of journalists continue to be a concern.

Despite some cases having been solved and criminal charges filed, as stated in this document, convictions are rare. He appeals to the competent authorities to investigate and prosecute all attacks on journalists and the media, to implement media laws in full and to strengthen the independence of the Regulatory body for electronic media.

McAllister welcomes renewed efforts to adopt a new media strategy and adds that it is important that all relevant stakeholders participate in the consultation process during the drafting of this document.

McAllister’s draft report should be debated by the European Parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee in Brussels during the coming days, with the report due be adopted in September.

Also assessing the situation in the Serbian media as poor was Pauline Ades-Mevel, head of the Balkan Office of organisation Reporters Without Borders, speaking in an interview for Serbia daily Danas.

Referring to the latest report of Reporters Without Borders, she said that “under Vučić, Serbia has become a country where it is not safe to be a journalist”, due to numerous attacks on journalists that have not been investigated, resolved or punished, as well as aggressive orchestrated campaigns of pro-regime media against investigative journalists.