The Media Council for Self-Regulation expresses serious concern regarding the statement of the director of the Police Administration, Lazar Šćepanović, who, during a guest appearance on the show, told journalist Petar Komnenić that "he will be prosecuted after this for the insult" and threatened him for using a stylistic figure with which he described the work of the institution.
A ficus is not an insult, a threat, or a vulgar word. It is not irony either, but a semantically valid "instrument" for inertness, immobility, being static. Unless there is a list of "normal forbidden words." In a democratic society, metaphor, irony and critical language are not an incident, but an integral part of public dialogue. Journalists do not exist to beautify reality, but to name it, even when it is unpleasant.
If they were to be called to account for metaphors and value judgments, a dangerous space opens up in which freedom of speech turns into permission - and permission is issued by those who have power. In such an environment, the question logically arises: should those who do not know grammar or the meaning of words, let alone the difference between an insult and a stylistic expression, be even more afraid? It is particularly worrying that the authority of one of the most powerful institutions in the country is used as means of pressure, instead of a space for a calm and reasoned exchange of views. The police must be a symbol of safety for citizens - and for journalists.
The Media Council for Self-Regulation expresses full solidarity with Petar Komnenić and all journalists who work daily under conditions of pressure, disparagement and threats. A journalist who asks questions must not be treated as an enemy. Free media are not a threat to the state, because when semantics are responded to by the police, and questions are understood as provocation, the problem is not with the journalists, but with the understanding of the function. This is not a ficus story from one show.
This is a story about the kind of country we want: one where the authorities explain and give answers - or the one where the authorities get angry.
Ranko Vujović
Izvršni sekretar
Medijski savjet za samoregulaciju
