Who organizes the hunt against journalists?

It is interesting how someone who boasts that he knows almost all toponyms in Serbia, knows the situation in the state coffers of the couple, even knows better than his birth mother how heavy he was at birth, and has nine televisions in his cabinet, claims that he does not know about what kind of videos journalist Slobodan Georgiev speaks against the media and journalists.

Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, a former radical and former leader of the SNS, who, without evidence, has accused journalists of being traitors and foreign mercenaries for the duration of his political career, is now looking for evidence.

Georgiev: I have evidence 

What is it about? Another video appeared on social networks against the journalists of N1 and Nova S, as well as other media, in which this time it is said that their task is "to destroy Serbian culture and Orthodoxy in Serbia." 

Showing photos of current and former journalists and editors of N1, Nova S, "Danasa" and Insider, including Georgieva, the video states that they are "the dark world of the N1 and Nova media". In the video, those media are accused of being the "incarnation of anti-Serb propaganda", and that "their evil intention is to destroy Serbian identity, culture, tradition and religion". In the video, it is stated that all this is allegedly financed with foreign money.

The director of news at Nova S television and the journalist of the weekly "Vreme" Slobodan Georgiev said in a guest appearance on N1 television that Aleksandar Vučić is actually the one who commissioned the videos against independent journalists and the media and that I have proof of that.

"I think that Aleksandar Vučić ordered those things. I don't think he edited it, but he ordered it... And I have proof of that. I had one case in 2015, a bunch of these bot attacks on social networks, and when those attacks became threats, in the sense of - 'kill, slaughter', I had to react. I called Vučić, who was the Prime Minister at the time, I said I was calling him as the party president, I explained the situation, he said he didn't know anything about it, that he was going to ask Vladanka, and then those attacks stopped, for six months. , Georgiev said.

Georgiev is convinced that the authors of the videos are not "free shooters".

"No, it's part of their PR team to destroy our credibility." And prosecutorial investigations never end. After the video in 2019, I went to give statements, so they moved me to different departments, in the end they just informed me by letter that the investigation was over," says Georgiev.

Vucic is looking for evidence

Reacting to Geogriev's statement, Vučić ordered to show evidence if he had any and added that he had no idea what kind of videos they were about.

"I haven't seen them, nor do I know what he's talking about." When someone hates someone... it's the same man who would put us all in concentration camps. I don't know what videos he is talking about," said Vučić.

The government's intention, says Georgoyev, is to always look for some enemies: "And when you don't have external enemies, find your own." This government will continue to do so. And we should do our job even better and put pressure on the prosecutor's office to conduct an investigation... They are not doing their job, and if they are not doing it, that tells me that they are corrupt, and if they are not, let them prove it".

Locking up female journalists 

In addition, at a recent event, journalists from Nova S and N1 were physically prevented from approaching and asking questions to the speakers at the presentation of the Digital Europe program, among whom was Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.

The clerk detained the journalists by closing the door through which they wanted to pass to the Prime Minister and her interlocutors from the EU delegation.

Brnabić described the situation in which journalists from Nova S and N1 were physically prevented from approaching and asking questions to the speakers at the presentation of the Digital Europe program, as "manipulation by tycoon media" due to allegations that they were "locked up". Brnabić said that this was not true, because the journalists "at any time" could leave the hall where the program was presented.

The Prime Minister told Prva Television that the journalists "were not locked in" and that they could "at any moment" leave the hall where the Digital Serbia program was presented on Thursday.

According to Nova TV journalist Žana Bulajić for UNS, the journalists who followed the event in the Science and Technology Park in Belgrade wanted to ask the prime minister questions after the program ended, but they were prevented from doing so because the organizers kept them closed in the hall so that they could not be in the corridor. would manage to approach the Prime Minister.

"At the end of the official part, the participants of the conference left the hall through their own doors, we journalists started to go out the other door in order to meet them in the same, common, corridor and approach them to ask questions, but suddenly a girl from the protocol appeared and locked the door that we cannot leave until the Prime Minister and the others have passed," says Bulajić.

She states that the girl from the protocol told the journalists, while saying that no questions were planned, "I was only told to wait."

"Manipulation of tycoon media"

Prime Minister Ana Brnabić rejected as "manipulation of tycoon media" the allegations that journalists were "locked up" during the recent presentation of the Digital Europe program in Belgrade. She told Prva Television that the journalists "were not locked in" and that "at any moment" they could leave the hall where the program was presented.

"For the people to understand, there was an event in the Science and Technology Center, there were Brnabić, Minister Mihailo Jovanović, and Ambassador Žiofre was there. The journalists went to do their job, to ask questions, not just to film them arguing about something. Journalists Žana Bulajić and Emina Kovačević were prevented from asking questions, they were only allowed to ask after they had passed, that is not normal," stressed Georgiev.

He adds, he is not interested in what Brnabić says, but what the EU says "On this scandalous behavior of Gioffre and his team." Where are the journalists, there is no question, where in Europe there is no question, that they come to this and only film you. You cannot participate in that. How can you support such a thing. He even mentioned there that he was giving some money, for what? Ani Brnabić to arrange the media for us? Here, she arranged it," said Georgiev.

Television N1 announced that it was equally shocked that the Prime Minister of Serbia, although faced with a clear video showing that journalists were prevented from moving, which, we remind you, was condemned by both international and domestic journalistic organizations, instead of apologizing, hides behind semantics.

The president of the European Federation of Journalists, Maja Sever, called on the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, to reconsider her attitude towards journalists in Serbia.

BG/N1/Nova/UNS

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