Veran Matić, President of the Board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), has called on relevant state institutions to urgently protect journalist Vuk Cvijić and the editorial team of Radar, to conduct a swift and effective investigation, and to prevent violent actors from endangering his life, enabling him to continue his work without intimidation or obstruction.
According to the statement, today at 4:10 PM, journalist Vuk Cvijić received a phone call from an unknown foreign number. During a brief conversation, he was issued a direct and explicit threat related to an article scheduled for publication in the next issue of the weekly Radar.
Caller: “Be careful what you publish tomorrow.”
Vuk Cvijić: “What is this about?”
Caller: “I’m telling you—be careful what you publish. You’ll meet me if you publish it.”
Vuk Cvijić: “What should I publish? Everything is already printed and goes out tomorrow.”
Caller: “Then you will meet me.”
Following this exchange, the call was abruptly terminated.
This serious threat was immediately reported to the competent prosecutor’s office and marked as URGENT.
Over the past year, Vuk Cvijić has been physically attacked several times in public places, including assaults by tabloid owners and members of intervention police units. None of these incidents has resulted in judicial accountability. The continued impunity for attacks against Cvijić has effectively encouraged further violence against one of Serbia’s most productive investigative journalists, known for reporting on high-level corruption within government and key institutions.
Once again, ANEM calls on state authorities to ensure the safety of Vuk Cvijić and the Radar newsroom, to carry out a prompt and thorough investigation, and to stop those who threaten journalists’ lives, allowing Cvijić to continue his professional duties free from fear and harassment.
Veran Matić
President of the Board, Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
Member of the Standing Working Group for the Safety of Journalists
Operator of the Safe Line for Reporting Threats and Endangerment of Journalists
Reaction of the Weekly Radar
The editorial board of Radar has strongly condemned the direct telephone threat received by journalist Vuk Cvijić due to his reporting. The newsroom demands that state institutions urgently identify the perpetrator who dared to directly threaten and intimidate a journalist.
Radar reminds the prosecution that none of the previous attacks on Cvijić have been resolved, not even those captured by surveillance cameras. Incidents including cowardly pepper-spraying of the journalist while on assignment and an assault by a police officer in front of the Faculty of Law, witnessed by bystanders, remain in the pre-investigation phase.
The editorial board raises a grave question: Does this indicate that the state is unwilling to protect journalists—and by doing so, effectively becomes complicit in endangering them?
