IFJ Condemns Grenade Attack on Serbian Journalist

The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the grenade attack on Dejan Anastasijevic outside his home on Friday night.

Anastasijevic is a well known journalist and expert on war crimes for Belgrade’s weekly Vreme magazine. He had recently criticised the verdict of the Serbian Special court for war crimes on the members of the Scorpions, a unit accused of involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica massacres.

“This shocking attack on a respected Serbian journalist should be rapidly and thoroughly investigated,” said Oliver Money-Kyrle, IFJ Director of Programmes. “The authorities must do everything they can to protect Anastasijevic and his family, and to send a message that violence and intimidation of Serbia’s journalists will not be tolerated.”

Dejan Anastasijevic was at home with his wife and daughter when the grenade exploded destroying the apartment’s windows and damaging several cars. He had previously received death threats following his appearance as a witness for the prosecution in The Hague trail of Slobodan Milosevic.

The IFJ gives support to its affiliate the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia in its demands for justice. It also supports demands for results into the investigations into the murders of Dada Vujasinovic (13 years ago), Slavko Curuvija (8 years ago) and Milan Pantic (6 years ago).

For more information contact the IFJ at 32 2 235 2200
The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries worldwide