Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Europe and Central Asia: Country SummariesSabic, for expediting requests. Some progress was also reported in theprivatization of local state-owned media outlets, although the effort stalledin mid-year. “There was strong obstruction from mayors and city councilsaround the country to this privatization because they wanted to retaincontrol over these media outlets,” said Slobodan Kremenjak, a legal adviserfor the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), a local pressfreedom group.Politicians and government officials continued using advertising contracts,financial subsidies, secretive ownership structures, and politicizedprocesses for issuing broadcasting licenses, according to ANEM. The globalrecession and Greek debt crisis also led to a drop in advertising revenue,exacerbating the media’s dependence on government subsidies and advertisingrevenue from politicians, businesspeople, and politicized governmentagencies, according to local journalists and media analysts.TOP DEVELOPMEN TS» Authorities win convictions inanti-press attacks, improve accessto information.» Constitutional Court strikes downrestrictive media ownershipregulations.KEY STATISTIC3Suspectsconvicted andsentenced toprison for threats againstB92 journalist.Authorities obtained convictions in two high-profile attacks on thepress. In July, Teofil Pancic, a reporter for the Belgrade weekly Vreme,suffered a concussion and injuries to his arms after being attacked by twomasked assailants wielding metal bars, according to news reports. “Thiswas no mistake, no robbery, but a personally targeted attack,” Pancictold the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Thejournalist was known for his critical coverage of Serbian nationalists andsports hooligans. The president personally condemned the attack and,in August, police detained two men whose DNA was found on the metalbars, according to news reports. The suspects, described as members ofan ultranational group, were convicted on assault charges but receivedsentences of just three months, half the minimum term under the law,according to news reports.For the first time, prosecutors made use of a 2009 law that made “endangeringthe safety of a journalist” a crime, according to local and internationalpress reports. Three defendants were convicted under the statutein 2010 for threatening Brankica Stankovic, an award-winning journalist207