July 17, 2018
Journalist Stefan Cvetković, who disappeared in mid-June and was later found, has been attacked and beaten in a café in the centre of Bela Crkva (100km east of Belgrade). A suspected attacker has been arrested and criminal charges are to be filed against him for causing minor injuries.
Cvetković described the attack as attempted murder, though he doesn’t know what could have motivated such an attack. According to his testimony, the attacker, who he said had previously threatened him, stuck him in the head with a heavy blunt object. According to Cvetković’s statement, after receiving medical assistance, he fled to Romania for his own safety, returning only after the publishing of information about the arrest of the attacker.
After last month disappearing and subsequently being found after two days, Cvetković received police protection. However, he says that the security detail was withdrawn two days prior to the attack. Prosecution services are also conducting an investigation against Cvetković for a false claim of abduction.
According to the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS), this was the third recorded physical assault on journalists and media workers in 2018.
