Report from Public debate “Protection of the freedom of the media and freedom of expression in Montenegro”

The documentary was produced in cooperation with distinguished journalists of Television Vijesti, as a series of reminders, reconstructions and testimonies of attacks on journalists in Montenegro.

As the director of the NGO “35mm” Darko Ivanovic pointed out, the film is a permanent heritage for future generations and a reminder of the stories about Montenegrin journalists and their lives who are in danger only because of the job they chose, that is, the desire to investigate and inform the public about it.

“We appreciate the need to exchange views on this subject, and the documentary we present is a cause and a reminder that the protection of the right to freedom of speech is crucial in the integration process, and the involvement of the public, institutions of the system, the non-governmental sector, the media community, journalists and individuals, foreign partners- is of especial importance. Aware of the role of the media in the democratization of society, we want to remind in this way that only effective investigations can reveal the originators of the attack, thus protecting the freedom of speech, the pillar of democracy, which enables citizens to learn about the affairs, incidents and events that are of interest the public, “Ivanovic said.

On the first panel, “Freedom of the media in the light of attacks on them – between phrases and real protection”, the moderator was Ivanovic, and participants were:

Patrick Schmelzer, EU Delegation to Montenegro – Media and Public Relations,
Jeff Adler, Head of Media and Culture Department, US Embassy;
Dragan Pejanovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro;
Ljiljana Klikovac, Head of the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office
Nikola Markovic, president of the Commission for Investigations on Attacs on Journalists.

During, at moments, fierce debate, amplified by the fact that the public word from the competent authorities can not be heard often, the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office claimed that attacks on journalists exist all over the world and that statistics show their reduction in Montenegro. Totally opposite claims were heard from the representatives of the media.

Head of the State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica, Ljiljana Klikovac, said that the film about attacks on journalists left a strong impression on her. She stressed that her office is sending to European Commission (EC) balance of results twice a year when it comes to attacks on journalists, stating that these data show that a significant number of these cases have been resolved.

Klikovac said that the cases of attacking journalists are not exclusivity of Montenegro, and that these cases exist in so in many other countries, pointing to the example of Malta.

– This is not a justification and should not be used as such by the prosecutors, the police, or the courts. But I point out that this is not something that is characteristic of Montenegro – Klikovac emphasized.

“All this relativisation is cruel, because it can lead to new harsh situations,” said director of the ND “Vijesti” Željko Ivanović.

Klikovac stated that behind everything she said, there is documentation: “The cruel falsehood is not that there are many more unsolved than solved, I have statistics.”

Zeljko Ivanovic from ND Vijesti answered that Vijesti and employees survived 23 physical attacks in the last 12 years.

“None of these attacks have been resolved, and you tell me that there are a bigger number of attacks that are resolved than the other ones. I ask you where do we live”

Klikovac added that freedom of expression is a fundamental right and that in the Prosecution they consider media freedoms important for the development of democracy, and that they are aware that the EU report pointed to a situation that does not satisfy and that they work on removing shortcomings. In her view, objective criticism is an impetus to the prosecution.

Regarding the outdated nature of the cases referred to, the Prosecutor’s Office may, by legal actions, extend the duration of the case- ie work on new facts, and that final court decisions change only with new evidence, in this context Jovanović / Softić are active cases; Otasevic – rejected the criminal case, in the Lakic case we have a final verdict, and ten people were sentenced for false testimony.

The Commission for the Investigation of Attacks on Journalists agrees that this number of unsolved attacks is a danger to society, and the key problem is seen in the fact that neither the question of dismissal nor the public debate about it is triggered. There is simply a lack of political will to solve it, an example of Malta and Slovakia are just pointing to that.

“No case that is suspected of having a political background is solved, only cases that have a banal cause, not consequences, the consequences are serious, but the causes are banal,” said the president of the Commission for Investigations on Attacks on Journalists, Nikola Markovic .

Prosecutor Klikovac said in her presentation that attacks on journalists are not only happening in our country, but that we have such examples in Malta and Slovakia. These examples help to show how responsible states work, unlike ours. When it comes to a journalist in Slovakia, the prime minister and his closest associates resigned after mass protests. In Malta, 17 people were arrested and the prime minister of Malta requested that the FBI be involved in the investigation, because the accusations went in his direction, that people close to him could have had to do with this murder. When Dusko Jovanovic was murdered, the then prime minister, and newly elected President Milo Djukanovic tried to misuse this case for political purposes, saying that he knows that the murder was ordered from Serbia. When the prosecution called him, he tried to manipulate it – Markovic said.

He said that we can not talk about successful investigations when they last for 10 or 15 years, and there are no results or satisfactory results.

“How can we expect the authorities in the prosecutor’s office and the police to detect and resolve an attack, when we have an example of the police members beating journalists,” he asked.

Markovic pointed out an example of threatening to “Dan” newspaper reporter Vladimir Otasevic, reminding that the prosecution in this case dismissed a criminal complaint against Velizar Markovic, the brother of the current Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, although he said that “the whole Montenegro heard that he was threatened”.

He pointed out that in the case of the threat of journalist “Vijesti” Jelena Jovanović was properly treated and that there was an arrest of the person that threatened, and that the state was dealing with the same thing, but that it was dealt with differently because in the case of Otašević the perpetrator was the brother of the Prime minister’s.

He asked why there has never been an investigation into the disappearance of an official note from the case of an attack on journalist Mladen Stojovic mentioning the name of controversial persons and alleging that they could be the inspirers of the attack. Markovic confirmed that the Commission, headed by him, is better off in this mandate because, as he said, representatives of state bodies do not have the majority.

Representatives of the Prosecutorial Council and the Agency for national security have only come to the Commission sessions once so far, and the Commission is already a year in mandate. This tells a lot about their interest, not personal, but about the relationship of institutions – Markovic said.

Klikovac replied that in the case of threatening Otasevic, a journalist had the opportunity to file a lawsuit because the prosecution decided already, but Markovic stated that the point was’t that journalists themselves seek justice, but that the prosecutors and the police protect them. Klikovac said that the Prosecutor’s Officein Bar, not hers, was competent for the Stojović case.

The Interior Ministry promises that the case of the editor of the IN4S portal, Gojko Raičević, who is at the protests of the Democratic Front in 2016, will not repeat again. While he was doing his job, he was attacked by a policeman who has not been identified yet.

“Immediately after these cases, a rulebook was issued where every police officer, regardless of whether he was wearing a mask or without a mask, must have an identification mark,” State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Dragan Pejanovic said.

He added that it is a common goal to improve the state of affairs through legal solutions / action plans and that risk analysis of employees in the media was done.

According to him, the Government supports the work of the Commission and will take into account all the recommendations that are in the domain of the executive branch and that: “We are working on the prevention to reduce the number of the cases and efficiently investigating all filings on attacks – 85 events, 56 cases formed, 14 no elements of the crime, 14 still in process. “

Vijesti Television, whose journalist Svetlana Đokić is the author of the documentary “With force on the Seventh power”, which was made within the framework of the 35mm NGO project, has a message for the ruling structure.

“What is most important in the whole story is to stop messages from the top of the power pyramid and various threats coming from the top of the government, which, quite clearly, descend, so to speak, to ordinary citizens who then feel free to attack a journalist or threaten him, “TV Vijesti director Marijana Kadić-Bojanić said.

From the international address there are messages that the state must do more to improve the media scene in every sense. According to the representatives of the European Union and the US delegation, there is still work to protect the freedom of the media.

Representative of the EU Delegation to Montenegro Patrick Schmelzer quoted a paragraph in the European Commission’s recommendations, which says that the authorities must show zero tolerance for threats to attacks on journalists, to refrain from making statements that can create an atmosphere unfavourable to freedom of expression. In his opinion, everyone has to agree on this problem – it is clear where the problems are and the EU report have clearly pointed out, the recommendations of the Commission must be urgently addressed.

Montenegrin leaders are obliged to protect journalists with their actions and provide a safe environment for their work, but also to use appropriate words in public appearances and harmonize the tone when they comment on the work of journalists.

These were the words of the representative of the US Embassy in Podgorica, Jeff Adler, who noted that the US Report on Human Rights and the Rule of Law 2017 indicates media freedom is a problem.

“They may not like what they say and how journalists work, but they have a duty to respect their work. They can not heat up the flames of polarization in Montenegro with their statements, “Adler said, adding that political leaders are a role model, which citizens often follow and on whose statements they act.

Montenegro, he claimed, is joining the Euro-Atlantic community, which means that it must share Euro-Atlantic values, and that’s why the government must ensure that journalists are safe. there are two aspects of the problem: capacities and political leaders with words and deeds must protect media freedom.

The debate continued with questions from the audience in which Gojko Raicevic, one of the victims of the police attack, noted that the prosecution was impotent because it was not coordinated, while the Police had a “law of silence” and that policemen were “a danger in uniforms”, while after four beatings of journalists his conclusion is – that a policeman can beat anyone and the state is ready to pay five or six thousand euros easily.

It was also heard that there is an the of missing official records and names from police records. There is a feeling that in certain cases, different treatments are undergone in the prosecution and police, ie those who do not have a political connotation are resolved quickly.

On the second panel, “Journalists’ Security in Montenegro – Current Status and Perspective” moderated by Ajša Hadžibegović; participants were:

Samra Campara, Head of the OSCE Mission’s Media Program;
Predrag Nikolic, Media Trade Union;
Mila Radulović, Association of Professional Journalists of Montenegro;
Biljana Knezevic, Senior Police Inspector in the Department for the Suppression of General Crime and
Marijana Bojanić, CEO of TV Vijesti.

The panel began with short videos from OSCE regional film on the subject of the attack on journalists from 2016, and a clear commitment to this topic was announced, support to the Commission, a series of films on unresolved cases, a free SOS line for reporting cases of attacked journalists. She noted that stronger coordination between international organizations on this issue is needed.

She posed the question whether the Montenegrin journalists report cases of attack or have lost hope that something can be solved – as no recent cases from Montenegro have been registered in the OSCE’s latest reports.

In front of the Media Union, Predrag Nikolić noted that the problem in the industry is great because students of the III and IV year of journalism already clearly want to go to the PR, discouraged by the attacks and situation – while at the I and II year of study they are still idealists and want to deal with journalism work. How much the situation is absurd, tells the report on the attack on a journalist in Pljevlja – when a journalist who reported was put on a lie detector, Nikolic emphasized.

When they do a job well, journalists get beaten, when they do not do their job well – prosecutors are advancing. According to him, there is no political will to protect journalists.

Mila Radulovic emphasized that after the previous panel, she was convinced that the hope that something would change is very small. In her view, the Prosecution is crucial to transfer evidence and operational knowledge into evidence, but the results are missing and that the entire process can be crippled due to these shortcomings. She also noted that it is necessary to bear responsibility at all levels of government and decision-making. The state must guarantee the safety and normal conditions of work for journalists, but she does not personally see that there are concrete actions except for the declarative narrative. The Association of Professional Journalists will continue to monitor the realization of cases in order not to forget.

She also asked who is the contact person in the police for cases of attacks on journalists.

Biljana Knezevic explained in front of Police Directorate that the police administration has been keeping official statistics on attacks on journalists since 2014, and in the last five years statistics say that there were 10 attacks in 2014 – 1 case the prosecutor has not yet responded; 2015 – there were 5 attacks; 2016 – 4; 2017 -9; 2018 – 4 (three processed, 1 unqualified). So far, eight requests for police protection have been received, only 2 have been implemented and feedback on the safety assessment has been given to each journalist.

According to her, “the assessment that the police do not do their job professionally is not in place” and that it is planned:

– in the job systematisation (in all police centers) an officer for monitoring the attack on journalists
– In cases of attacking journalists, they should work according to special procedures
– in addition to training for court employees and prosecutors, also we should plan police training because they need training for sensibility

Marijana Bojanić stressed that the public is not even aware of the difficulty of filming “With force on the Seventh power” and that she is constantly exposed to the questions of her family and friends “Why don’t leave Montenegro” because of the pressures and attacks?

However, the question, in her opinion, should be “How would Montenegro look like without media?”

Đukanovic’s recent statements on the media and fascism give freedom to people to attack journalists, in a system where the functionality of the system is under a big question until the police and prosecution find those who order the attacks , but also we should raise the question of the accountability of officials in these bodies for omissions and non-professionalism.

In the end, she says, the question is how many cases could be prevented rather than waiting for criminals to launch a concrete attack or to throw a bomb. Often times, she claims, cases of threat and violence were dealt with in an informal manner because she could not rely on the police.

The debate continued with questions from the audience, on which occasion there was an explaination that the divergence in the media industry contributed to feed the uncertainty, and that in some media today it is forbidden to join the unions, but also that there are media that do not behave in accordance with the standards and that public perceives those journalists as an extended arm of interest and that the editorial policy of these media is consciously oriented towards violation of standards and this creates a misleading picture of the media and it’s role.

Association of journalists, they said, have to fight against these phenomena, but their work is significantly hampered by the pressure of ownership structures of certain media on the employees.

“The project is funded by the European Union through a program of small grants ” Protecting the freedom of the media and freedom of expression in the Western Balkans “implemented by the Croatian Journalists Association as part of a regional project” Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Security of Journalists in the Western Balkans “, implemented in co-operation with six regional associations of journalists – Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), Association of Bosnian Journalists (BHN), Croatian Journalist Association (HND), Association of Journalists of Macedonia (UNM), Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) and Trade Union of Montenegrin Media (SMCG).”