Seselj publishes personal data of a Croatian journalist to target him as a “foreign agent”, allegedly obtained from Serbian intelligence

Large student protests are taking place in Serbia, provoking a strong reaction from the government of President Aleksandar Vučić. In order to discredit the protests, the authorities made accusations against “foreign enemies” and accused them of instigating the unrest. One of the targets of such accusations was Matej Devčić, a journalist from the Croatian news portal Telegram.hr, who had been hired to report from Serbia.

Devčić became the victim of public attacks when the convicted war criminal Vojislav Šešelj revealed his personal details on the TV channel’s “Informer” program. This included the publication of a photo of Devčić’s identity card and the claim that he was part of a group that “trained” protest leaders. During the broadcast, the broadcaster also revealed details of his accommodation, directly jeopardizing his safety.

This case was highlighted by the regional platform “SafeJournalists.net”, which stated that “this incident has caused shock and concern, especially due to the possibility that the journalist’s personal data was leaked by the involvement of the police or security services of the Serbian secret service, which further underlines the seriousness of the situation.”

Journalist Matej Devčić from the Telegram portal, who has since returned to Croatia, expressed his own surprise at this and said that he did not know how his data could have fallen into Sešelj’s hands. He suspects that “only government agencies could have done this, as the document was only scanned by the Serbian police at the border crossing.”

The European Union has also reacted to the case and called on the Serbian authorities to ensure the unhindered work of journalists and to investigate cases of misuse of their personal data.

“Freedom of the media is a central cornerstone of a democratic society and fundamental rights in the EU. Therefore, it is also a key element in Serbia’s integration process into the EU. “It is crucial that journalists can carry out their work in an environment free from threats or violence, intimidation or ill-treatment in order to guarantee citizens access to all information,” the EU’s response reads.

The EU emphasized that it was following the protests closely and that Serbia – as a country seeking membership of the Union – must respect its citizens’ right to freedom of expression.

In addition to journalists, some pro-government media in Serbia also published the personal data of some students they consider to be “organizers of the protests” and accuse them of “working for the Croatian secret service”.

The EU stated that any unlawful access to the personal data of citizens, including journalists, and the publication of such data is unacceptable and must be prosecuted by the competent national authorities./The Geopost/