Rejection of the criminal charges for the threat to journalist Dragan Janjic shocks IJAS and IJAV

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Source/Author: Ijas
Source/Photo: Photo: Media Center

29.03.2018. – The Independent Journalists Association of Serbia and the Independent Journalists Association of Vojvodina are shocked by the fact that the Prosecutor’s Office has rejected criminal charges against unknown person submitted by IJAS on behalf of Dragan Janjic, Editor-in-Chief of the Beta News Agency and vice-president of IJAS. Charges refer to the criminal offense of Endangerment of Safety.

The safety of Dragan Janjic was directly threatened by a sponsored post on some Facebook pages where information about his address of residence was offered and open threats were made against to him. The threat to Janjic came after the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, among others, singled Janjic at the media conference about the murder of Oliver Ivanovic. The direct reason for the threats was Janjic’s assessment that the murder of Oliver Ivanovic was politically motivated.

Despite posts on “Srbija NAŠA zemlja” (Serbia OUR country) Facebook page that contained threats such as “(take him) to Kalemegdan and put a bullet in his forehead”, the Prosecutor’s Office found that “there is no threat of attack against the life or body of injured person or a person close to him, that the contents of post do not contain an immediate, clear and serious threat, ie. there are no subjective and objective elements of criminal offense Endangerment of Safety” and that “there are no grounds for suspicion that a criminal offense has been committed, prosecutable ex officio”. The Prosecutor’s Office referred Janjic to file a private prosecution to the competent court.

Although the Prosecution’s decision is unexpected, such practice is becoming common and represents the ultimate proof that the justice system in Serbia does not work in accordance with law and justice.

*According to information that we receive from Prosecutor’s Office the criminal charges were rejected against the administrator of the Facebook pages “Srbija NAŠA zemlja” (Serbia OUR country). The case of direct threats to Dragan Janjic via comment on Facebook: “(take him) to Kalemegdan and put a bullet in his forehead”, „Hang him on the square“ and similar, is still ongoing.