In 2018 journalists' associations have registered over a hundred different attacks on media freedoms in Serbia – verbal attacks, cyber-attacks, pressure from editors, limited access to information and events. According to the 2019 Freedom House report, the status of Serbia declined from Free to Partly Free, among other things due to legal harassment and smear campaigns against independent journalists by the government and allied media. The culmination happened in December 2018 when the home of Milan Jovanović, a journalist for the local news website Žig Info, was set ablaze with a Molotov cocktail during the night. Jovanović and his wife managed to escape, but the entire house and their car burned down. A month earlier, one of the opposition party leaders was physically attacked and beaten on his way to a round table organized in the town of Kruševac. As a response the protest “Stop the Bloody Shirts” was organized on 8 December, gathering thousands of citizens on the streets of Belgrade demanding greater press freedom, political plurality, electoral reform, and new elections. Asked to comment on the demands, Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, replied that protesters could walk as much as they wanted, but he would not meet a single demand even if 5 million people gathered in protest. And a new name for the protest was born - “1 in 5 million”.
In the turbulent recent past of Serbia, protests are not a novelty. The longest ones were organized by students in 1996-1997 and they lasted for three months. The largest ones were organized on 5 October 2000 when Slobodan Milošević was overthrown from power. What marked the new protests “1 in 5 million” is a collective response from Serbian academia.
The support first came from the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Philosophy who addressed the public with a letter titled “105 out of 5 million”. In the letter 105 professors, researchers and assistants stated that through their scientific research of individuals, and society as a whole, they recognize many signs of dictatorship in the government’s behaviour. Among other things, they pointed out that “the foundations of modern European democracies – political, economic, and cultural freedoms, have been taken away from the citizens of Serbia, institutions and the rule of law are suspended and general welfare subordinated to personal and party interests”. In the context of political and media freedoms they noted that by using persecution in the tabloids, threats, arrests, judicial procedures and violence, they are trying to scare and humiliate the citizens of Serbia, that the government refuses to answer the questions and demands of the citizens, and its officials insult all those who dare ask questions or state different opinions. Furthermore, the letter from the Faculty of Philosophy noted that plagiarism and fake diplomas are destroying the education system, and that the new legal framework is undermining the autonomy of the university.
Soon, other faculties of the University of Belgrade followed. The Faculty of Political Sciences, home to the largest communication scholars’ community in Serbia, highlighted the main points about the undermined political and media freedoms, while the Faculty of Law raised concerns about the accumulation of executive powers that conflict with the constitutional role of the President. The faculties from the northern and southern parts of the country, the Universities of Novi Sad and Niš, also expressed public support for the protests. The website University support to protests now includes over 1500 signatories. The protests have been evolving since 30 November 2018, spreading throughout Serbia. Organized once a week, protests have taken place in more than 50 cities so far, with new cities joining in constantly. As the protests continue, many professors took the side of citizens in marches and gatherings, or take part as speakers at the rallies in different Serbian cities.
Ana Milojević, University of Belgrade
Jelena Kleut, University of Novi Sad
