The founders of the Regional Journalist Award “Srđan Aleksić” strongly condemn the lynching of the journalist Tamara Skrozza and the winner of the Award “Srđan Aleksić” by the regime in Serbia and its close tabloids, propaganda media, which writing endangers the life of our colleague and sends a terrifying message on what a regime is ready to stifle critical thought and media freedom.
We stand in solidarity with Tamara Skrozza, our laureate, and we remind you of part of the explanation of our jury that awarded our colleague Skrozza the award in the category “For Courage” in December 2022: “That human duty, which costed Srđan his life, Tamara Skrozza performed through her texts consistently for decades, caring towards the victims and merciless towards the perpetrators, immune to political pressure and tabloid torture”.
The tabloid press, under the control of the regime, issued a warrant for our colleague, targeted her and threatened her safety.
Producing violence in society has become the mode of operation of the regime, especially towards critics, which puts all those labeled as “enemies” of the regime in serious – even life-threatening – danger. It is a dangerous narrative that does not disdain any method with the aim of silencing all dissenters and critics of the regime.
We invite not only journalists and media workers, but also societies in the region to raise their voices and stand in solidarity with Tamara Skrozza and all those who have been lynched by the regime in Serbia and its propaganda media in recent months.
We invite the interested international public to carefully monitor and react to the demolishing of democracy and freedom of expression in Serbia, before it is too late.
The founders of the Regional Journalist Award “Srđan Aleksić” are: the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Banja Luka, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina, the Media Institute of Montenegro and the Association for the Promotion of Media Culture, Art and Tolerance “Lupiga – the world through ordinary eyes” from Zagreb.
Srđan Aleksić was a young man from Trebinje who was killed in his hometown after he saved fellow citizen Alen Glavović, a Bosniak from that town, from being killed. He was killed by three members of the former Army of Republic of Srpska in the center of Trebinje in January 1993.
Many cities in the post-Yugoslav region have streets named after Srđan Aleksić, and numerous awards from different areas of social life bear his name.
Photo: From the award ceremony in 2022
