Serbian government forms new working group to protect journalists

NEWS 14.12.202017:37
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The Serbian government has formed a new working group for the safety and protection of journalists headded by an official of the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Serbian Association of Journalists (UNS) said on Monday.

It quoted the Official Gazette which published the government decision. Ministry official Dejan Stojanovic was named head of the working group. The UNS statement recalled that the working group has been charged with “increasing the efficiency of reactions in cases of attacks on journalists and the monitoring of activities launched to protect them”.

According to the Official Gazette, the working group has to report to the prime minister and minister of culture and information at least once a month. The government said that the efforts of the working group to date showed that there is a need to institutionalize the problem.

The group includes members of the prime minister’s cabinet Mladen Basic and Ana Miletic and ministry officials as well as deputy Public Prosecutor Branko Stamenkovic and Ombudsman Zoran Pasalic, Association of Judges and Prosecutors President Nenad Stefanovic, Konrad Adenauer Foundation official Aleksandra Popovic and representatives of journalists’ and media associations. The working group includes Dejan Erakovic from the Foreign Ministry, Slobodan Malesic from the Internal Affairs Ministry, Miroslav Gacevic from the European Integration Ministry and Jovan Cosic from the Justice Ministry as well as Slobodan Radicevic from the UNS, Marija Babic from the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS), Veljko Milic of the Independent Society of Journalists of Vojvodina, Veran Matic of the Association of Independent Electronic Media, Ljiljana Stojanovic from Local Press, Stevan Ristic from the Media Association, Ivana Stevanovic from the Association of Online Media, Dragana Cabarkapa of the Serbian Journalists Union (SINOS) and Ferenc Bercek from the Association of Radio Stations (RAB).

The government also formed a working group to implement the action plant for the Strategy to develop the public information system 2020-2025.