A group of watchdog and media organizations condemned over dozen of cases of attacks on journalists during the dispersal of the protest rally on May 26 and called on the Interior Ministry to immediately investigate such cases.

Coalition for Media Advocacy, the umbrella organization established in April, also called on the Interior Ministry to reimburse material damage inflicted on journalists in a form of seized or damaged equipment – video and photo cameras, recording devices and mobile phones.  

The coalition hosted on May 31 a roundtable discussion and showed a short documentary consisting of interviews with some of those journalists who have suffered on the night when the protest rally was dispersed by the riot police outside the Parliament.

Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE representative on freedom of the media, said on May 27, that cases of abuse, detention and questioning journalists by the police during the break up of the protest “worrisome.”

Reporters Without Borders said in a statement on May 27, that it was “deeply shocked” by the violence used against journalists covering dispersal of the rally.