At the Basic Court in Berane, the trial of Danko Femić, who is accused of committing the criminal offense of coercion against Vijesti and Pobjeda photojournalists Boris Pejović and Stevo Vasiljević in Donje Zaostro on August 8, continued today.
At today’s hearing, Femić’s defense attorney proposed that five more witnesses who were present at the event be questioned during the proceedings — Dragoslav Labović, Dragoljub Šćekić, Radovan Obradović, Milić Ralević, and Vojislav Rmuš.
“They can provide important information regarding the allegations in the indictment,” said Femić’s defense attorney.
The court accepted the proposal, and the witnesses will be examined at the next hearing, scheduled for November 19.
Also, in Berane, on October 27, a misdemeanor proceeding will begin before the Misdemeanor Court against five individuals suspected of participating in the incident in Donje Zaostro.
The attack on the photojournalists occurred in August, during the removal of a monument to Chetnik Duke and war criminal Pavle Đurišić in the village of Gornje Zaostro near Berane.
When the journalist crews arrived, several individuals ran toward them, began threatening them aggressively, getting in their faces, and seizing their cameras and equipment.
Vasiljević’s equipment was taken and broken; he was forcibly taken into a tent, where several people began hitting him and threatening him. Under threats, the photojournalists were forced to delete all the material from their cameras.
Pejović was threatened that if “anything appeared in Vijesti,” he would be “killed with bare hands.” While all this was happening, two plainclothes police officers merely watched the attack on the journalist teams.