Jovo BAKIĆ
Writer and academic Jovo Bakić continued to face threats and harassment by government officials and pro-government social media trolls in 2024, with Minister for Family Care and Demography Milica Đurđević notably branding him ‘extremist’. Bakić further told PEN International he received several online messages threatening him and his family during the year.
Bakić’s ordeal originally started on 13 June 2019, after the independent weekly NIN published an interview in which he denounced the nationalistic stance of the Serbian authorities and connections between criminal organisations and government representatives. That same day, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić smeared Bakić at a press conference, calling for a criminal investigation against him to be launched. An edited version of the interview, shown by Serbian broadcaster RTS, falsely made Bakić to appear to be calling for violence. A pre-investigation procedure was launched on 14 June 2019 but was promptly shelved after Bakić provided a copy of his interview to the police. Yet attacks against Bakić by members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and pro-government tabloids continued at the time, with Bakić receiving several anonymous threats online.
On 7 May 2023, following two mass shootings in the country within days, pro-government Pink TV broadcast a short film on social media quoting Jovo Bakić out of context, accusing him of stoking violence. A smear campaign by government officials and pro-government outlets and trolls ensued, with then Prime Minister Ana Brnabić notably urging the University of Belgrade to take a stand against Bakić and an SNS MP starting a petition calling for his dismissal. Pro-government tabloids quoted Bakić as calling for ‘blood’ to be spilled in the streets of Belgrade – words he never used. PEN International has seen several anonymous messages sent to Bakić, threatening him and his family with rape. Alarmingly, his home address was disclosed on Pink TV. Bakić also reported being approached twice on 3 June 2023 by an unknown individual who threatened and insulted him. PEN International has called for an end to the harassment.
Jovo Bakić, born on 23 March 1970, is a writer, sociologist and academic, who specializes in national conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. His writings focus on theories of ethnicity, nation and nationalism, national minorities, refugees, conflict, and war studies, and he frequently contributes to daily independent newspapers. He currently works as Associate Professor at the University of Belgrade, Serbia.