Beta News Agency Demands that Persons Behind Threats to Dragan Janjic be Identified and Punished

The Beta News Agency has condemned in the strongest terms the threats the agency's editor-in-chief, Dragan Janjic, has received on social media.

"The Beta agency urges the authorities to identify and punish those who used social networks to threaten Dragan Janjic, placing Janjic and his family in danger by revealing his home address," the Beta collegium said in a press release. Beta described the attacks against Janjic, which followed a personal view he had expressed in a Tweet, as threats to the freedom of the press, creating and encouraging an atmosphere permitting verbal or physical violence against anyone who holds a different opinion.

The reason behind the threats to Janjic was the opinion he shared on social media that the murder of the Civic Initiative SDP leader, Oliver Ivanovic, was politically motivated.

The threats were launched after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic criticized Beta's editor-in-chief Dragan Janjic's view at a press conference, following the murder of Ivanovic.

The attacks against Janjic were condemned by the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists (NUNS), the Independent Association of Vojvodina's Journalists (NDNV), the Democratic Party, the Enough movement, the Let's Not Drown Belgrade movement, the Movement of Free Citizens coalition, the People's Party, the Serbian Left, the Movement for Transformation and a candidate for Belgrade mayor, Dragan Djilas.