Journalists charged with organizing protest

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Journalists in the northern Serbian city of Sombor are facing fines on charges of organizing a road block protest in December last year.

The local soinfo.org said that three of its journalists were facing fines of 100,000-150,000 Dinars (1 Euro – 118 Dinars) on misdemeanor charges. “The misdemeanor charges were filed against them following reports before and after the road blocks in Sombor ore than four months later,” the portal said. The road block protests were organized across the country against plans by the Rio Tinto company to open a lithium mine in western Serbia.

It said that the reports were included with the charges as evidence that they organized the road block. The portal added that one of the journalists was charged for posting a photo of the protest on Facebook and share a report from another portal. It said that a police video was also included.

The portal said that soinfo.org reporters were followed by police officers with cameras who were told that they had no connection to the protest organizers.