OSCE Media Freedom Representative Denounces Incident Targeting Serbia's N1 Broadcaster

OSCE Media Freedom Representative Denounces Incident Targeting Serbia's N1 Broadcaster

Harlem Desir, the media freedom representative at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) denounced on Friday the incident of two men throwing politicized leaflets onto the Serbian N1 TV broadcaster's territory

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2019) Harlem Desir, the media freedom representative at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) denounced on Friday the incident of two men throwing politicized leaflets onto the Serbian N1 tv broadcaster's territory.

On Monday, two unidentified men threw some 500 leaflets across the broadcaster's fence in Belgrade, which read "Goodbye Republic of Serbia, N1 Welcome to Luxembourg," referring to the fact that the channel is owned by the Adria news media group based out of Luxembourg. According to the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, which has condemned the action, the gesture meant to intimidate the journalists, who have allegedly been repeatedly targeted by Serbia's state officials. A police investigation has been launched.

"I strongly denounce any attempt or action that could endanger journalists' safety. Targeting media professionals with the intent of presenting them as foreign mercenaries is a dangerous and unacceptable behavior, and must be met with condemnation and effective prosecution," Desir said in a statement.

The OSCE representative also welcomed the Serbian police's swift response to the incident and urged them to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, dozens of journalists and media-freedom activists assembled outside of the Serbian government headquarters to protest against intimidation toward journalists.

The N1 broadcaster's staff have been threatened anonymously on numerous occasions. In March, Desir condemned another incident involving the station, in which Jugoslav Cosic, the program director for N1 Serbia, and several journalists were threatened and called "traitors."

Reportedly, the broadcaster is being targeted for its alleged bias toward Kosovo, which proclaimed its independence from Serbia in February 2008, but has not been recognized by Belgrade.