PODGORICA, 27.05.2020. – The editor-in-chief of the “Dan” , Dusko Jovanovic, was killed on this day 16 years ago in front of the office of that media outlet. However, the authorities did not reveal who shot Jovanović, or who ordered the murder, and no one disciplined because of the omission in the investigation.
In mid-September 2019, the director of the Police Administration, Veselin Veljović, announced that there were omissions in the investigation of Jovanović’s murder, but he also said that he was sure that it was not an obstruction and a conscious intention. He then said that the case is lost.
The president of the Commission for Monitoring Investigations of Attacks on Journalists and the deputy editor-in-chief of “Dan”, Nikola Markovic, said that the anniversary of Jovanovic’s murder warns the whole society that this monstrous crime has not been solved even after 16 years.
He said that the perpetrators are not known, and to make matters worse, the largest representatives of the judiciary say that there is little chance that this murder will ever be solved. Despite numerous omissions in the investigation, he said, no one has even been disciplined. Markovic assessed that all this speaks of the lack of political will for resolving the murder of the editor of “Dana”.
The Human Rights Action (HRA) notes with regret that the sixteenth anniversary of Jovanovic’s murder is being marked without answering the questions of who all took part in that murder, who ordered it and why, and who is responsible for the fact that the investigation has not led to more serious results.
Two years ago, Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (SMCG) posted the case of Jovanovic’s murder, through the International (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), on the Council of Europe’s Platform for Security and Protection of Journalists (CoE Media Freedom), which collects data on attacks and threats. and the difficulties faced by journalists from 47 countries across Europe.
Jovanovic was killed around midnight on May 27, 2004, when a burst from an automatic rifle was fired at him from a Golf 3. The only accused, Damir Mandic, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for complicity in the murder.