The Serbian newspaper Vranjske, local weekly that until 2000 was the only independent media in southern Serbia, have been shut down, due to tax inspections that have been investigating its finances, although no charges have been pressed so far.
The founder and editor-in-chief of Vranjske, Vukašin Obradović announced a hunger strike today. Obradović, the ex-president of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS), is a prominent journalist, whose work was awarded many times.
His announcement came a day after the announcement of the closure of Vranjske, which he founded in 1994.
It is believed that the state authorities are behind the shutdown and that they are using state institutions to suffocate the independent media.