Dačić: I don’t know why the police did not react to the attack on the N1 crew in Belgrade

Acting Police Minister Ivica Dačić stated today that he does not know why the police did not go to the scene after the call of the N1 television crew, which was attacked in Belgrade in front of a building where more voters are suspected to be registered than residents, as Danas reports.

In a brief reply to journalists, Dačić limited himself, according to N1, to the words: “Everything you have regarding the police, address the police,” without giving any explanation for the officers’ failure to react after the journalistic crew’s call.

The incident occurs in an increasingly tense climate for journalists in Serbia during the campaign for the 25 October parliamentary elections. Only two days ago, the ANEM and NUNS networks condemned the threats against N1 journalist Mladen Savatović, who was threatened with physical violence while reporting in front of the Belgrade city administration — an event our newspaper has reported on.

Pressure on independent media has also been documented by journalists’ associations: N1 crews have been repeatedly obstructed from reporting from public spaces, while public officials have for years refused to appear on this television, as the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) has reported.