August 1, 2017
Suzana Vasiljević, the head of President Aleksandar Vučić’s PR team, confirmed that she personally called the news director at TV N1, Jugoslav Ćosić, with a request not to broadcast footage of the incident at the 2014 Pride Parade, when Vučić’s brother, Andrej, was beaten by riot police tasked with securing the event.
According to her, “that wasn’t pressure”, but rather “a friendly request” in order to protect and prepare Andrej’s mother and child,” considering that the footage is dramatic.
Representatives of individual associations of journalists stated that there can be no “friendly requests” from the prime minister’s office, so this is actually pressure on journalists.
Ćosić previously posted on Twitter that the head of the Security and Information Agency, Aleksandar Đorđević, had “relayed Vučić’s wish” that the footage not be aired, only for the same request to soon follow from Suzana Vasiljević. However, their request was denied and the footage recorded exclusively by the cameras of this television company was shown to the public.
Besides Andrej Vučić, also beaten that day was Predrag Mali, the brother of the Mayor of Belgrade, though it is still not known why. The trial of eight police officers is in progress.
Photo: YouTube Screenshot / N1
