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Pre 10 godina odlučile smo da osnujemo nezavisnu produkciju – jedino tako Peščanik je mogao da nam obezbedi slobodu da radimo isključivo u skladu sa svojom savešću i svojim sposobnostima. Sve dobre i loše odluke koje smo donele u ovih 10 godina – naše su odluke. Pretnje i pritisci nisu imali nikakvu ulogu u našem radu, a finansijska nezavisnost od države – što u slučaju Srbije uvek znači od vladajućih partija i njihovih oligarha – učinila nas je otpornim i na finansijske ucene. Tu vrstu nezavisnosti dugujemo našim donatorima. Zahvaljujući njima, ali i velikom broju saradnika koji volonterski pišu, prevode, snimaju, montiraju, zastupaju nas pred sudom… Peščanik je bio ne samo slobodan, nego je objavio više od 15.000 tekstova, 10 puta povećao broj posetilaca sajta i višestruko proširio broj saradnika.

U poslednje dve godine stvari su se promenile – većina donatora je znatno smanjila podršku nezavisnim medijima kao što je Peščanik. U isto vreme počinju stalni napadi na naš sajt: u nekoliko navrata on je obaran a tekstovi brisani. Na krivične prijave niko nije reagovao. Za nas je to značilo sve veće ulaganje u odbranu sajta, tako da su troškovi njegove zaštite i održavanja porasli tri puta. Verujemo da je upravo to i bio cilj organizatora napada – finansijsko iscrpljivanje nezavisne produkcije koja provereno nije podložna pritiscima i ucenama, a više nema podršku većine stranih donatora.

I dalje ćemo tražiti podršku donatora, a više od polovine svih sadržaja Peščanika biće urađeno na volonterskoj osnovi. Međutim, prvi put moramo i vas da molimo za pomoć. Nekoliko puta do sada Peščanik je bio u teškoj situaciji, ali smo tada mislile da je važno da ostanemo verne stavu da svako treba da radi svoj posao – vi da činite sve što je u vašoj moći da dobro radite svoj posao, a mi da obezbedimo sve što je potrebno da Peščanik bude pristojan medij. Mi svoj deo pogodbe nismo više u stanju da ispunimo bez vaše pomoći. Sa sredstvima kojima raspolažemo ne možemo da platimo iznajmljivanje servera i zaštitu sajta, agencijske vesti, fotografije, radni prostor, elementarne komunikacijske troškove. Vaše donacije bi omogućile ne samo da se uspešno branimo, nego i da više vremena posvetimo svom poslu – umesto neuspešnoj potrazi za grantovima.

Možda Srbija Vašingtonu, Briselu i Berlinu izgleda kao stabilna i demokratska zemlja, ali i vi i mi znamo da to nije istina. Zbog onoga što je bilo, što jeste, i što će tek biti u ovoj zemlji, Peščanik će opstati, ali je pitanje da li ćemo morati da redukujemo sadržaj i smanjimo zaštitu sajta.

Pozivamo vas da nam pomognete da sačuvamo ovu slobodnu teritoriju na koju svakoga dana stupa oko 20.000 građana.

Unapred zahvalne,
Svetlana Lukić i Svetlana Vuković

* Iako naš zakon o deviznom poslovanju to eksplicitno dozvoljava, PayPal rezidentima Republike Srbije još uvek ne dopušta da primaju donacije preko svojih PayPal računa. Na pitanje zašto je to tako, od PayPal servisa je dobijen odgovor da je to tako zbog srpskih “zakona i finansijskih propisa”.

Ten years ago, we were forced to establish an independent production – that was the only status that would allow Pescanik and us complete freedom to work exclusively in accordance with our conscience and abilities. All good and bad decisions we’ve made in the past ten years – are our own. Threats and pressures never influenced our work, and complete financial independence from the state (and in Serbia this means from the ruling parties and their oligarchs) has also enabled us to be resistant to financial blackmail. We owe this independence to our donors. Thanks to them, but primarily to our many colleagues who write, translate, record, edit, and represent us in court without compensation, Pescanik was not only free, but the number of our contributors and visitors to our website has increased significantly.

Things have changed in the past two years – most donors have dramatically decreased their support to independent media like Pescanik. At the same time, constant attacks on our website began, which caused its collapse and deletion of articles on multiple occasions. No one ever responded to the criminal charges we’ve filed. For us, it meant more investments into website security, so the costs of its protection and maintenance have tripled. We are confident that this was the goal of the attacks’ organizers – to financially drain an independent production known for its resilience to pressures and blackmail, which has lost the support of the majority of foreign donors.

We will continue to ask donors for support and the majority of all Pescanik content will be created without compensation, but, for the first time, we are forced to ask for your help. Pescanik was in a difficult situation several times before, but we thought it was important to remain true to our belief that everyone should do their job – you should do everything in your power to do your job as it should be done, and we should ensure that Pescanik remains a decent media. Unfortunately, we’re not able to keep our end of the bargain without your help anymore. The resources we have aren’t enough to pay for server rent, protection, agency news, photographs, offices, basic communication expenses. Your donations would not only allow us to defend ourselves better, but also to commit more time to our work instead of the futile search for grants.

Maybe Serbia is perceived as a stable and democratic country in Washington, Brussels, and Berlin, but we all know that’s not true. For everything that has been, that is, and that still will be in this country, Pescanik will survive. The only question is whether we will be forced to reduce its content and the protection of our website.

We ask you to help us preserve this piece of free territory, which 20,000 citizens enter every day.

We thank you in advance,
Svetlana Lukic and Svetlana Vukovic

* Although our foriegn currency transactions law explicitely permits it, PayPal still does not allow the residents of Serbia to recieve donations through their PayPal accounts. When querried about this, PayPal service responds that the reason are Serbian „laws and financial regulations“.