Prominent figures in Serbia have petitioned the country's Constitutional Court asking it to intervene to stop pro-government media from threatening independent journalists, activists, and artists.
The group signing the appeal outside the court building in Belgrade on September 27 included three journalists: Antonela Riha, Tamara Skrozza, and Vukasin Obradovic; two actors: Branislav Trifunovic and Sergej Trifunovic; and nongovernmental activist Ilir Gasi.
The move comes after the group filed complaints against a pro-government chief editor of a tabloid newspaper, Informer, and the owner of pro-government Television Pink, the most watched commercial television in Serbia. Those outlets had published a series of articles and stories accusing journalists, activists, and artists of conspiring against the state.
However, the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade ruled in August that there was no case for charges.
If the Constitutional Court dismisses the appeal, the group said they would take the case to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
