Category: News and Events

Journalists’ associations have called for a proper investigation after a Serbian Progressive Party activist attacked BIRN journalist Sasa Dragojlo while he was reporting on a protest in Belgrade’s Zvezdara district on Sunday.

The attack happened in front of several police officers, who removed the assailant but ignored calls to check his identity.

The incident happened while local residents were demonstrating against Serbian Progressive Party activists who had set up promotional stands outside an open-air market to attract new members to the ruling party. The promotional effort, which came amid ongoing mass protests across Serbia about official corruption and negligence, sparked anger among some locals.

Before the assault, Dragojlo had identified himself as a journalist, which only seemed to provoke the attacker further. The incident was caught on video, recorded by Dragojlo and by other witnesses at the scene.

“This kind of attack would be unacceptable against any citizen, and the police should have responded. But in this case, it’s clear the attack was escalated because I was on duty as a journalist,” Dragojlo said.

“You can clearly hear me identifying myself on the recording. The attacker reacted aggressively, saying, ‘Oh, you’re a journalist, huh?’ before lunging at me,” he added.

Despite presenting his press credentials, Dragojlo’s request for the police to identify the attacker was ignored.

“The officers were more focused on me than on the attacker, which only reinforces the impression that they weren’t just failing to do their job – they were biased,” he said.

The case has been reported to prosecutors through the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia, NUNS. Both NUNS and the Journalists’ Association of Serbia, UNS, condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be held accountable.

“This was an attack on a journalist while on assignment – one who had clearly identified himself,” said Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic, director of BIRN Serbia.

“We’ve reported the incident and are closely watching how the authorities respond, not just to the attack itself, but also to the fact that police officers on the scene failed to identify the attacker. If there’s no proper response, it sends the message that attacks on journalists are acceptable,” she added.

Protests have been continuing in Serbia for several months, sparked by anger and grief about the Novi Sad Railway Station disaster in November, which left 16 people dead. The student-led protest movement has become the biggest challenge to the rule of President Aleksandar Vucic and the Serbian Progressive Party since the party came to power in 2012.

Aleksa graduated in journalism and communications at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade. As one of the youngest members of our network, he feels “a sense of responsibility, respect for the organisation, and a desire to prove myself.

“We, the young members, are here to push the organisation towards innovation and open it up to new trends. On the other hand, we stand on the shoulders of experienced media professionals, and personally, I strive to learn and absorb as much as I can from them”, he says.

He enrolled in journalism largely because of the investigative aspect.

“After my first job in marketing, I was at a crossroads and decided to pursue investigative journalism. Even during my studies, I attended a panel where I listened to my now-colleague from BIRN. His story completely intrigued me at the time – the investigative aspect and the adrenaline that comes with it,” he recalls.

When he started working at BIRN, he wasn’t initially that attracted to the topic of the misuse of personal data of citizens, journalists and activists. But it grew on him.

“This topic was simply assigned to me as part of a project. However, through discussions with my editor, I soon realised how interesting this could be to the public – especially since, at that time, no one in Serbia was specifically covering these issues; the topic was just emerging.

“The more I investigated, the more personally connected I became to these topics. I realised how difficult it is to obtain information, which, in turn, motivated and challenged me to break through. A few months later, my first big discovery came – the encrypted phones for EPS (Serbia’s state electricity company).

“Throughout the process, the most valuable thing for me was learning how to uncover and investigate. The final product, the investigative stories, came as a natural consequence of that learning process, and over time, it became easier,” he says.

Recently, the Novi Sad School of Journalism awarded him the Marina Kovacev Annual Award in the Best Investigative Journalism, Young Journalists Category, for his work in the above-mentioned field.

“For me, this award means recognition from my peers, which I deeply appreciate. Investigative journalists often get so immersed in their next investigation that they forget what they’ve already accomplished – they don’t stop to smell the roses or reflect on their achievements in the constant pursuit of the next big story,” he says.

“This is not just my award – it was given to me for my contributions, but those contributions were made possible with the support of many people: colleagues, sources, experts, institutions… I would love to see more young investigative journalists every year because they are greatly needed, and competition is healthy,” Aleksa adds.

One of the main BIRN programmes is Reporting and Monitoring Human Rights and Freedoms, focusing on Digital Rights. BIRN Serbia often reports about this and about technology in general. Aleksa explains what some of the commonest digital/online scams are, and how to detect them.

“Mostly phishing, Ponzi, and pyramid schemes. For years now, various phishing and Ponzi scams have been spreading via SMS and the internet. And those schemes still thrive in Serbia; some have been running for years, even though it’s common knowledge that they are scams.

“Serbia is not unique in this regard; digital fraud always finds fertile ground in countries that have a weak response to these issues. And Serbia is known to be one of them. The fact that all of this has gone unpunished and unchecked for years speaks volumes about the weakness and negligence of institutions. Since individuals are mostly left to fend for themselves, people need to educate themselves and develop awareness of cybersecurity threats. Digital literacy is often the first step,” he adds.

Digital supervision is sensitive, especially in Serbia, where the government seems oriented towards suppressing critical voices in the country.

“Digital channels and technologies are highly useful tools for this purpose. However, security services should primarily focus on actual threats, which is what citizens pay them for, while the regime should respond to public criticism professionally, civilly, and in accordance with the law. Digital repression and electronic surveillance of activists, students, civil society representatives, and journalists are anything but lawful,” Aleksa continues.

Although technology is the core of his work, he likes to spend his spare time away from it.

“I enjoy visiting galleries, film screenings, going to basketball games, reading classics and exercising. I own a parrot, and when the opportunity arises, I like to make a mess in my apartment with acrylic paint or clay. Lately, I’ve also developed an interest in making sweets and Indian food,” he says.

“One of the ‘downsides’ of investigative journalism is that it’s addictive; it constantly tries to consume a journalist’s time, and the real challenge is resisting that and carving out time for yourself. I once heard a saying along those lines: ‘If journalism is the only thing you know, then you’re not a good journalist,’” he concludes.