Montenegro experienced a slight decline in its score in the Journalist Safety Index for the Western Balkans 2023, dropping from 3.35 to 3.33 compared to the previous year. This decrease continues a trend since the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM), as a member of the SafeJournalists network, began using this methodology to measure the safety of media workers. Montenegro’s score was 3.40 in 2021. and 3.59 in 2020.
The score, on a scale from 1 to 7, in the Journalist Safety Index is determined based on conditions in four areas: Legal and Organizational Environment, Prevention, Process, and Actual Safety.
“Legal and Organizational Environment” pertains to the existence and implementation of legal guarantees relevant to journalist safety, whereas “Prevention” involves the presence and application of various preventive measures that directly impact journalist protection and safety.
“Process” examines how state institutions and public officials interact with journalists, as well as the efficiency of the criminal and civil justice systems in investigating threats and violence against journalists. “Actual Safety” reflects incidents and cases of various forms of threats and violence against journalists and media outlets.
For years without progress
The author of the report and Vice President of TUMM, Marijana Camović Veličković, stated that the Index consists of 19 benchmarks and represents a fairly complex system for both the collection of information and its processing and scoring.
She explained that everything is measured precisely, even though the public often only hears the final figure, which pertains to the number of attacks on journalists.
“If we measured only that single number, Montenegro would have made significant progress in 2023. However, everything that happened —or failed to happen but should have—throughout the year is assessed, which is why there was a 0.02% decline. This decline is mild for the past year, but it remains consistent because we have been measuring the same indicators for four years and have yet to make even slight progress. On the contrary,” stated Camović Veličković.
The Worst Situation in Terms of Actual Safety
The worst score in the Index was recorded in the category of “Actual Safety”, where Montenegro had a score of 3.58 in 2020. That year, journalists worked under the challenging conditions of the COVID-19 crisis, parliamentary elections, a change of government, and mass religious processions in response to the adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion.
Due to the pandemic and movement restrictions, 2020 saw a significant increase in threats and harassment, with nine cases recorded, particularly on social media. That year, there were also two physical attacks, although no incidents resulted in serious injuries. Journalists were arrested under the pretext of “preventing panic and unrest.”
The situation continued to worsen in subsequent years, reaching its lowest point in 2022 with a score of 3.10. In that year, 15 cases of non-physical threats and harassment of media workers were reported, including eight cases in the online sphere. Two online cases involved death threats and threats to physical safety, which is particularly concerning given that online harassment perpetrators are often unidentified. The number of physical attacks on journalists also increased.
The types and severity of attacks increasingly created an atmosphere of intimidation, with a growing number of journalists and media outlets becoming victims of such threats, as noted in the 2022 Journalist Safety Index.
In 2023, the situation slightly improved, with six cases of threats reported. These were of similar severity, involving security threats and insults. Journalist Dragana Šćepanović felt endangered and filed a report after being targeted by a portal and its owner, businessman Zoran Bećirović, about whose business dealings she had reported. Bećirović also initiated a petition against her among local citizens. Bećirović was also recently involved in an attack on journalist Ana Raičković from Pobjeda, marking the most serious assault on a media worker since the attempted murder of journalist Olivera Lakić in 2018.
In 2023, five female journalists received rape threats via email, marking the first case of mass rape threats. There were also five cases of threats against media organizations and associations, three of which were attributed to then-acting Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, who publicly linked the media to criminal structures.
What to expect in 2024?
What score can we then expect for 2024, given that there was also a physical attack on Pobjeda journalist Ana Raičković? Camović Veličković stated that such situations are certainly drastic and will undoubtedly affect the final score.
However, as she explained, much will also depend on how the case progresses.
“From the perspective of the research itself, I think it will be interesting because, fortunately, we haven’t had similar attacks since we started working on the Index,” she said.
Camović Veličković also warned that, to date, not a single case of physical attack on journalists has been resolved.
According to her, over the past six years, there have been attacks, but of lesser intensity, and in those cases, the police and prosecution handled them better, especially in recent years. However, they were in a more comfortable position, making it easier for them to act.
“The attack on Ana Raičković is the first real test for the police and prosecution, and hopefully soon for the courts, to demonstrate whether they are finally capable of conducting swift and efficient proceedings that will result in convictions. These convictions must genuinely send a message to all potential attackers,” she said.
Camović Veličković noted that media workers are more proactive in reporting cases of attacks.
“But we still encounter situations where we have to encourage them to report something that, at first glance, seems insignificant to them or, unfortunately, feels like an everyday occurrence but is, at the very least, a violation,” she concluded.