English version below

Godine 1989, Srbija se nalazila u stanju turbulencije. Region je bio na ivici jugoslovenskih ratova – decenijskog sukoba izazvanog raspadom Jugoslavije, čija je Srbija bila jedna od šest konstitutivnih republika. Slobodan Milošević, populistički predsednik Srbije koji je došao na vlast kapitalizujući na rastućim etnonacionalističkim tenzijama, nedavno je stupio na vlast. Centralna komunistička kontrola je slabila, neslaganje je bilo ugušeno, a slobodni mediji su bili na meti.

To su bili uslovi pod kojima je Veran Matić, zajedno sa nekoliko drugih studenata novinara sa Beogradskog univerziteta, osnovao radio stanicu B92. Matić je bio uključen u nezavisne omladinske medije od 1984. godine, a stanica je nastala iz njegove želje da spoji novinarstvo sa drugim oblicima građanskog aktivizma. Predložio je da osnivački dokument stanice bude Univerzalna deklaracija o ljudskim pravima – princip, rekao je za Indeks, koji ga vodi od ranog života.

„Odrastao sam u selu, uglavnom sa bakom i dekom. Oni su me naučili vrednostima iskrenosti, pravde i mnogim etičkim principima utemeljenim u verskim učenjima“, rekao je Matić. „Moja interesovanja su uvek bila izvan samog novinarstva.“

Kombinujući rok muziku sa aktuelnim događajima i telefonskim intervjuima, B92 je brzo stekao popularnost kao redak izvor zapadnih vesti i informacija u Jugoslaviji. Međutim, Srbija je postajala sve autoritativnija pod Miloševićem; sklonost stanice ka iznošenju istine bila je u suprotnosti sa režimom, a B92 je postao glavna meta za suzbijanje. Godinama kasnije, Matić je saznao da je bio praćen od samog početka svoje karijere.

„Jugoslovenska služba državne bezbednosti je već počela da me prati i prisluškuje“, objasnio je. „Bio sam svestan da me prate, ali nisam imao pojma da su moji telefonski razgovori sistematski presretani godinama.“

Matić je ubrzo postao glavni urednik B92. Tokom antivladinih demonstracija u Beogradu u martu 1991. godine, policija je upala u redakciju i pretila članovima osoblja i stranim dopisnicima u redakciji, primoravajući stanicu da prestane sa emitovanjem.

„Tenkovi su već počeli da se pojavljuju na ulicama, a policija je pretila nasiljem našim ljudima“, rekao je Matić. „Konačno smo obustavili emitovanje, ali smo odbili da emitujemo izveštaje zvanične državne novinske agencije. Sledećeg dana smo nastavili emitovanje bez dozvole jer su studentski protesti već počeli.“

Sledeći put kada je država pokušala da ugasi B92, 1996. godine, stanica je bila spremna. B92 je nadmudrio vlasti tako što je preko interneta preneo svoj signal BBC-ju u Londonu, koji ga je satelitski prenosio nazad lokalnim radio stanicama širom Srbije radi emitovanja. Ovo je bio jedan od prvih primera korišćenja interneta za zaobilaženje cenzure u emitovanju.

Matić je tvrdio da je najopasniji period za zaposlene B92 bio tokom NATO bombardovanja 1999. godine – velike vazdušne kampanje sa ciljem uništavanja jugoslovenske infrastrukture i zaustavljanja represivnih aktivnosti Miloševićeve vlade. Usred turbulencija i ratovanja, Radio B92 je ponovo zabranjen. Ali ovog puta, Matić je uhapšen.

„Odveden sam u pritvorsku ćeliju unutar najveće policijske uprave u Beogradu“, rekao je. „Kroz mali prozor mogao sam da vidim noćno nebo, čekajući da bombarderi stignu. Prvi put u životu, osećao sam se potpuno nemoćno.“

Matića i njegove kolege je, međutim, ohrabrila međunarodna kampanja solidarnosti u podršci nezavisnim medijima u Srbiji. Odgovorili su inovacijama, vođeni verovanjem da vlasti „nisu jače od ideja“.

„Odgovorili smo postavljanjem predajnika u Rumuniji i Bosni i Hercegovini, kao i tajnog predajnika u Beogradu“, rekao je Matić za Indeks. „Uključili smo ga 5. oktobra 2000. godine, kada se skoro pola miliona ljudi mirno okupilo u Beogradu kako bi srušili diktaturu Slobodana Miloševića.“

U godinama koje su usledile, Matić je nastavio da gradi svoju karijeru u novinarstvu. Pomogao je u osnivanju Komisije za istragu ubistava novinara 2013. godine, a trenutno predsedava Stalnom radnom grupom za bezbednost novinara i Udruženjem nezavisnih elektronskih medija (ANEM). Takođe je na čelu fondacije B92, neprofitne organizacije koju je pokrenula medijska kuća, a koja okuplja kompanije, fondacije i organizacije civilnog društva radi promocije filantropije i humanitarne pomoći.

Iako je Miloševićeva era davno prošla, Matić se i dalje suočava sa nedaćama i cenzurom dok izveštava iz Srbije. Tek prošlog meseca, napadnut je dok je snimao javni skup ispred Narodne skupštine, kada mu je neko na silu oduzeo telefon uprkos tome što se Matić predstavio kao novinar.

Želi da naglasi da ovo nije bio izolovan incident. „Ono što se dogodilo tog dana ne može se shvatiti samo kao incident u kojem sam bio sprečen da snimam“, rekao je. „To je kulminacija mnogo dužeg procesa javnog ciljanja i stvaranja atmosfere u kojoj je nasilje nada mnom efikasno legitimizovano.“

Između 2011. i 2016. godine bio je pod 24-časovnom policijskom zaštitom, kako u Srbiji, tako i tokom putovanja u inostranstvo. Nedavno je sadašnji predsednik Aleksandar Vučić javno ocrnio Matića tokom televizijskog nastupa, sugerišući da su ljudi osuđeni za zločine kao rezultat Matićevog istraživačkog novinarstva pretrpeli nepravdu. Istovremeno, provladina medijska organizacija objavila je ono što je Matić opisao kao dugačak propagandni članak o njemu.

„Nakon emitovanja, pretnje su se pojačale“, rekao je. „Više puta sam bio verbalno zlostavljan i fizički suočen u javnosti. Članovima moje porodice su takođe upućene pretnje.

„Najstrašniji aspekt nije samo neprijateljstvo, već i rastuće uverenje da je dostupna mala institucionalna zaštita.“

Matić nije jedini novinar u Srbiji koji je na ovaj način meta. Prema zvaničnim evidencijama Vrhovnog javnog tužilaštva, samo 12 od 271 zabeleženog slučaja pretnji i napada na novinare u poslednje dve i po godine rezultiralo je pravosnažnim sudskim presudama.

Nezavisni mediji su od vitalnog značaja za pozivanje vlasti na odgovornost, a biti deo toga nikada neće biti laka profesija. Matić je identifikovao nekoliko ekonomskih, pravnih i bezbednosnih problema sa kojima se takvi mediji suočavaju, uključujući pretnju od SLAPP-ova, zajedno sa kampanjama blaćenja, uznemiravanjem na društvenim mrežama i zastrašujućim taktikama nadzora.

„Posledica je da mnogi novinari svakodnevno idu na posao znajući da su izložene mete“, rekao je Matić. „To je postala borba za ličnu bezbednost, za opstanak nezavisnog novinarstva i, na kraju krajeva, za demokratsku budućnost Srbije.“

Fondacija B92 je poslednjih godina pružila podršku novinarima van Srbije, uključujući dopisnike u Ukrajini i Gazi. Kroz svoja iskustva, Matić razume važnost slobode štampe na globalnom nivou – i cenu koja može doći sa tim.

„U mnogim aspektima, ceo moj profesionalni život se odvijao pod pritiskom, pretnjama i raznim oblicima državne represije“, prisetio se. „Ako želimo da građani nastave da znaju šta se zaista dešava u našoj zemlji, moramo osigurati da novinari koji otkrivaju te istine mogu bezbedno da nastave svoj rad.

„To je, više od svega drugog, ono što me održava.“

In 1989, Serbia was in a state of turbulence. The region was on the brink of the Yugoslav wars – the decade-long conflict prompted by the collapse of Yugoslavia, of which Serbia was one of six constituent republics. Slobodan Milošević, populist president of Serbia who gained power by capitalising on rising ethno-nationalist tensions, had recently come into office. Central communist control was weakening, dissent had been stifled and free media was at a premium.

These were the conditions under which Veran Matić, together with several other student journalists from Belgrade University, founded the radio station B92. Matić had been involved in independent youth media since 1984, and the station was born from his desire to combine journalism with other forms of civic activism. He proposed that the founding document of the station should be the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a principle, he told Index, that has guided him since his early life.

“I grew up in a village, mostly with my grandparents. They taught me the values of honesty, justice, and many of the ethical principles rooted in religious teachings,” Matić said. “My interests have always extended beyond journalism alone.”

Blending rock music with current affairs programmes and phone-ins, B92 quickly gained popularity as a rare outlet for Western news and information in Yugoslavia. However, Serbia was becoming increasingly authoritarian under Milošević; the station’s preference for truth-telling was at odds with the regime, and B92 became a prime target for suppression. Years later, Matić found out that he had been surveilled from the very beginning of his career.

“The Yugoslav State Security Service had already begun monitoring and wiretapping me,” he explained. “I was aware that I was being followed, but I had no idea that my telephone conversations had been systematically intercepted for years.”

Matić soon became editor-in-chief of B92. During anti-government demonstrations in Belgrade in March 1991, police stormed the newsroom and threatened staff members and foreign correspondents in the newsroom, forcing the station off the air.

“Tanks had already begun appearing on the streets, and the police threatened violence against our staff,” Matić said. “We finally suspended broadcasting, but we refused to air the official state news agency’s reports. The following day we resumed broadcasting without permission because the student protests had begun.”

The next time the state tried to shut B92 down, in 1996, the station was ready. Staff outmanoeuvred the authorities by transmitting their signal over the internet to the BBC in London, which relayed it by satellite back to local radio stations across Serbia for broadcast. This was one of the first examples of using the internet to circumvent censorship in broadcasting.

Matić contended that the most dangerous period for B92 staff was during the NATO bombing campaign in 1999 – a large-scale air campaign to destroy Yugoslav infrastructure and to stop the repressive activities of the Milošević government. In and amongst the turbulence and warfare, Radio B92 was once again banned. But this time, Matić was arrested.

“I was taken to a detention cell inside the largest police headquarters in Belgrade,” he said. “Through a tiny window I could see the night sky, waiting for the bombers to arrive. For the first time in my life, I felt completely powerless.”

Matić and his colleagues were buoyed, though, by an international campaign of solidarity in support of independent media in Serbia. They responded with innovation, driven by their belief that the authorities were “not stronger than the ideas.”

“We responded by installing transmitters in Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a clandestine transmitter in Belgrade,” Matić told Index. “We switched it on on 5 October 2000, when nearly half a million people gathered peacefully in Belgrade to bring down Slobodan Milošević’s dictatorship.”

In the years that followed, Matić continued to build his career in journalism. He helped to establish the Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists in 2013, and currently chairs the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists and the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM). He is also head of the B92 foundation, a non-profit launched by the media house which brings together companies, foundations and civil society organisations to promote philanthropy and humanitarian aid.

Even though the Milošević era is long gone, Matić continues to face adversity and censorship while reporting in Serbia. Just last month, he was attacked while filming a public gathering in front of the National Assembly, when someone forcibly took his phone despite Matić introducing himself as a journalist.

Matić is keen to stress that this was not an isolated incident. “What happened that day cannot be understood simply as an incident in which I was prevented from filming,” he said. “It was the culmination of a much longer process of public targeting and the creation of an atmosphere in which violence against me has effectively been legitimised.”

Between 2011 and 2016 he was under 24-hour police protection, both in Serbia and while travelling abroad. More recently, current President Aleksandar Vučić publicly disparaged Matić during a TV appearance, suggesting that people convicted of crimes as a result of Matić’s investigative journalism had been wronged. At the same time, a pro-government media organisation ran what Matić described as a lengthy propaganda piece on him.

“After the broadcast, the threats intensified,” he said. “I have repeatedly been verbally abused and physically confronted in public. Members of my family have also been threatened.

“The most frightening aspect is not only the hostility itself, but the growing conviction that there is little institutional protection available.”

Matić is not the only journalist in Serbia being targeted in this way. According to the official records of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, only 12 out of 271 recorded cases of threats and attacks against journalists over the past two and a half years have resulted in final court judgments.

Independent media is vital in holding those in power to account and being part of it will never be an easy profession. Matić identified several economic, legal, and security issues facing such outlets, including the threat of SLAPPs together with smear campaigns, harassment on social media and intimidating surveillance tactics.

“The consequence is that many journalists go to work every day knowing they are exposed targets,” said Matić. “It has become a struggle for personal safety, for the survival of independent journalism, and ultimately for Serbia’s democratic future.”

The B92 foundation has provided support to journalists outside of Serbia in recent years, including correspondents in Ukraine and Gaza. Through his experiences, Matić understands the importance of press freedom globally – and the cost that can come with it.

“In many ways, my entire professional life has unfolded under pressure, threats and various forms of state repression,” he reflected. “If we want citizens to continue knowing what is really happening in our country, we must ensure that the journalists uncovering those truths are able to continue their work safely.

“That, more than anything else, is what keeps me going.”

Izvor/Source: Index on Censorship.

Autorka/Author: Daisy Ruddock

Prevod/Translation: ANEM uz pomoć VI