The Bajatovic case: Instead of an answer - insults (VIDEO)
It has been three weeks since the journalists of Insajder.net asked the director of Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, about the spending of the money Serbia has invested into the joint Russian-Serbian company South Stream, with him either refusing to answer, or answering in general terms and reiterating that South Stream was a private company. Serbia's stake in that company is 49 percent and EUR 30 million has so far been invested into the company from the budget. The events culminated with Bajatovic, instead of answering the questions, insulted the journalists of Insajder. At a news conference about the operations of Srbijagas, when asked about the spending of the money, Bajatovic answered with another question, about how much did the protection cost of the editor of Insajder, Brankica Stankovic, which she was given by the state and which she requested to be removed more than a year ago. After that, the Insajder crew left the conference because of the inappropriate behavior of Dusan Bajatovic. The journalists of other media stayed at the conference and continued with the questions for the director of Srbijagas. In the video report, among other things, you can see how the director of Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, from 2013 to this day, used different methods to avoid answering concrete questions.
Instead of an answer to the question about how much the South Stream had cost Serbia - insults
Dačić: I assigned protection to Brankica Stanković
In a written reply to Insajder.net, Ivica Dacic, the president of the Socialist Party of Serbia and current foreign minister, said that he did not know what had happened at the conference because he was away, in Moscow, but recollected that he assigned police protection to Brankica Stankovic while he was the interior minister, on the basis of a security assessment.
"I gave Brankica protection on the basis of security assessments. That is not a subject for political arguments. I will talk to Bajatovic about that," he said.
This was not the first time Dusan Bajatovic behaved inappropriately when Insajder asked him questions about the spending of the citizens' money. Every time we asked about the operations of Srbijagas, about the company South Stream in which Serbia, through the company that he is heading, has a stake of 49 percent, or around EUR 30 million as a financial investment, Dusan Bajatovic used different ways to avoid giving a concrete answer.
Solidarity among journalists?
Journalists are obliged to solidarity by the Code of Journalists. However, the problem is that the majority of journalists mostly do not adhere to that provision of the Code. The editorial office of Insajder believe that journalists should react, either by asking a question or by walking out of an event, every time a representative of the institutions or of the authorities insults or attempts to discredit a colleague from any media for asking questions.
The behavior of journalists in such situations is something that is not mentioned in public at all. The truth is that journalists do not even contemplate standing up in defense of the dignity of the profession, regardless of which media is being discredited. The latest example, the insult of Dusan Bajatovic, because of which the crew of Insajder left the conference, has shown how the journalists practically contribute themselves to the undermining of the profession.
The journalists not only stayed at the conference even after this incident, but one of them asked his question while the Insajder crew was still leaving the room, completely disregarding the incident. A more serious problem at news conferences is that some journalists attempt to interrupt their colleagues when they ask unpleasant questions, or even mumble in protest when such questions are asked.