Serbian Groups Stage Blackout to Protest Media Intimidation By Tax Authority · Global Voices
Screen shot of the Twitter profile of <PERSON>, owner and editor of Novine Vranjske, featuring a header photo from September 18 “I stand with Vranjske” protest featuring the hashtag.
More than one hundred media outlets and NGO websites staged a website blackout on September 28, in an act of resistance against media control and intimidation in the country.
“This is how it looks when there is no media freedom” – Today 150 media and organizations in #Serbia are going black to alert on the situation in the country#StojimUzVranjske #ZaSloboduMedija #StopMedijskomMraku pic.twitter.com/aZ0GJg0KG7
— <PERSON> (@MarionDautry) September 28, 2017
The blackout is the latest in a series of events following the September 18 closure of Novine Vranjske (“Vranje Newspaper”), an independent weekly magazine that covered Southern Serbia for 23 years.
Vranjske owner and editor-in-chief <PERSON> explained that the newspaper was forced to close down due to administrative harassment and other forms of state pressure, particularly from Serbia's Tax Authority. In a statement about the closure, the European Federation of Journalists noted:
[<PERSON>], his family and his colleagues experienced multiple non-investigated instances of harassment and persecution, ranging from repeated direct threats, car tampering, offices robbed, to inspections and controls leading to the economic suffocation of the newspaper, peaking this year.
On the morning of September 19 <PERSON> locked himself in the newsroom and began a hunger strike. He was hospitalized the next night for health reasons, but then left the hospital on September 20 of his own accord. He soon after published an open letter to the director of the Tax Authority asking for clarification of the closure, citing evidence that the newspaper had paid all its taxes, which came in the form of a state-issued certificate. He noted that his firm had been subjected to selective justice since 1994, including inspections by Tax Authority and Bureau of Labor, with malicious intent to compromise them. The agency has not responded thus far.
Using the hashtag #StojimUzVranjske, meaning “I stand with <PERSON>,” journalists and other free speech advocates staged protests in person in Belgrade on September 18, and online. 463
Two print newspapers also expressed solidarity with Vranjske.
Behind a black front page, Danas daily republished a selection of the investigative articles from Vranjske which made it a target of the regime. Vreme featured the hashtag and provided an overview of media freedom issues.
Kupujem samo novine na kojima piše #StojimUzVranjske @OnlineDanas , @NedeljnikVreme pic.twitter.com/1H9ww8jzpR
— <PERSON> (@RihaAntonela) September 28, 2017
I am buying only those newspapers that stress that they stand with Vranjske: Danas daily and Vreme weekly.
Some leading journalist organizations also joined the protest movement, including Balkan Insight, one of the few independent media outlets that produces news from Serbia in English.
@BalkanInsight Serbia's page will not be available today as we join the campaign to raise awareness of the declining media freedom in the country#StopMedijskomMraku #ZaSloboduMedija #StojimUzVranjske pic.twitter.com/5BRA4TVWdu
— <PERSON> (@shnjoof) September 28, 2017
Even though the number of websites participating in the blackout action might seem large at first glance, this is just a small portion of the overall number of around two thousand media outlets in Serbia. Most of them keep silent or are openly complacent towards ruling party propaganda.
<PERSON> je registrovano preko 1800 medija. A mrak nikad veci.Vise propagandista nego novinara. #StojimUzVranjske #upitnik
— <PERSON> (@dusanmasic) September 26, 2017
Even though over 1800 media outlets are registered in Serbia, the media situation had never been darker. There are much more propagandists than journalists. #IStandWithVranjske #Upitnik [a TV show which dared to conduct an interview with <PERSON>]
It is an open secret that authorities misuse Serbia's tax authority as a tool for punishing disobedient media. 463