Danko Femić, who is being prosecuted for the criminal offense of coercion to the detriment of photojournalists of Vijesti and Pobjeda, Boris Pejović and Stevo Vasiljević, was released yesterday from the detention facility of the Institute for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (ZIKS) in Bijelo Polje, Vijesti confirmed from unofficial sources within ZIKS. Femić was released by a decision of the Basic Court in Berane.
The information about Femić’s release was also shared on Facebook by the president of Free Montenegro, Vladislav Dajković, who welcomed him with the words: “Our brother Danko Femić is free again. Good luck to you, Serb.”
Femić’s trial began yesterday before the Basic Court in Berane. He was originally arrested on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of endangering safety.
Alongside him, five other people were detained, but Femić was the only one formally charged.
The incident occurred in August, during the removal of a monument to Chetnik commander and war criminal Pavle Đurišić in the village of Gornje Zaostro near Berane, when a group of people attacked Pejović and Vasiljević.
Judge Tomo Zečević postponed the hearing on October 13 and scheduled the next one for October 24. In the meantime, a criminal record extract for the accused Femić must be obtained.
Photojournalists Vasiljević and Pejović stated on October 12 that they still feel endangered, and state prosecutor Amra Sujković, given those statements, opposed the defense attorney’s request to lift Femić’s detention, in which he had been held since August 11 of this year.
Pejović and Vasiljević were attacked in August of this year while on assignment, photographing the removal of the statue of the war criminal and Chetnik Pavle Đurišić in Gornje Zaostro.
On October 12, before the Basic Court in Berane, Femić admitted that he had taken the cameras, expressed regret for what had happened, and apologized—especially to Pejović—“for the threats that he did not make.”
“I’m sorry if he felt endangered because of that, and if taking the cameras constitutes a criminal offense, I admit it. I also add that I reacted because the priest present had instructed that no photographs be taken, and I did not know they were journalists since they did not have identification,” the accused said, among other things.
Answering the prosecutor’s questions, he said that the photojournalists had been warned that photography was forbidden, that Vasiljević was holding the camera when he “took it,” and that he removed the camera from Pejović’s shoulder.
Pejović has joined the criminal prosecution and filed a property claim for damages.
Source: Vijesti