Inauguration Day Attacks Alarm Serbian Journalists

After Aleksandar Vucic was sworn in as President of Serbia on a day marked by several incidents, including attacks on journalists, media representatives have warned that journalists can expect only a worse situation in future.

"Stop being silent!," is the title of the letter that the head of the Independent Serbian Journalists' Association, Slavisa Lekic, on Thursday sent to the Ministry of Information, condemning it for not reacting to Wednesday's incidents.

A journalist from the daily newspaper Danas, Lidija Valtner, reported being attacked while filming another incident.

Slavisa Lekic expressed suspicion that Aleksandar Vucic permitted such attacks on journalists.

"If not, this morning ... he would have apologised to them, and given his assurances that in his mandate as President of Serbia, it would never happen again," Lekic told BIRN.

In fact, Vucic did apologize on Thursday at an event in the northern town of Pancevo to all journalists who had been attacked, adding, however, that he "didn't hear if any journalist was attacked".

At another occasion on Vucic's inauguration day, police checked the IDs of BIRN, Insajder and VICE reporters near parliament without explanation after they filmed an incident in which Vucic fans ripped up a banner carried by protesters.

Earlier, a fight erupted between two smaller groups of Vucic's supporters and opponents, while both were heading towards the parliament.

In the ensuing scuffle, around ten men pushed away a Radio Belgrade reporter and knocked out her audio recorder when she asked them who they were, according to the Independent Journalists' Association.

The incidents were condemned by all journalists associations and opposition...