Slovenia: CFWIJ demands swift investigation into the storming against RTV

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September 13, 2021, Ljubljana – A group of people stormed into the RTV Slovenija’s (RTVS) headquarters in Ljubljana in protest against the measures to limit COVID-19 in the country. When the protesters broke into the TV studio, Manica Janežič Ambrožič, editor-in-chief of information programming at the broadcaster, was present in the scene. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the vicious attack against the TV. We demand Slovenian authorities to conduct a swift investigation into the attackers. 

 The anti-vaccine supporters broke into the public broadcaster RTV's studio to protest the new measures to limit Covid-19 across the country. On September 3, around 8.30 PM around 20 rioters came to the TV headquarters. While five or six of them broke the office’s security area, around 15 of them joined those people. 

 The protestors, who were not wearing a face mask, shouted at RTVS' views and complained about the coronavirus pandemic. They also requested airtime for their complaints and attempted to break into the offices, studios and RTVS newsroom to disrupt the broadcaster's 10:00 PM news time.

 Sports reporter of RTV, Matej Rijavec, posted the video of the storming on his Twitter account. He said, “This was the case yesterday, a few minutes after 9 pm, at the reception of TV Slovenia, when the police removed about 20 anti-vaccine protesters who broke into the building from the studio of the news program.”

Police took control of the riots an hour later of the incident and according to the interview Manica gave to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), nobody was injured during the protest.

 According to the Slovenian Journalists' Association, RTV Slovenia have been reporting the harassment they experienced at the entrances to the television and radio station, over the last four months. They have repeatedly called on the authorities to take action and protect the employees of RTV Slovenia. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the vicious attack against the TV. We demand authorities to conduct a swift investigation into the storming and ensure all media workers’ safety.