The SDT will finally file an indictment for shorting a journalist

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07/11/2021

PODGORICA, 7.11.2021 – The Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) managed to collect evidence on who organized and who shot the journalist Olivera Lakic, Vijesti Television has published.

According to their information, the SDT will file an indictment in the coming days, in which Filip Knezevic will be marked as the person who shot at Lakic on May 8, 2018.

In addition to Knezevic, the list of indictees will allegedly include Goran Rakocevic, Luka Bulatovic, Filip Besovic and Vesko Bubanja.

Filip Besovic was originally identified as the perpetrator of this crime.

“The suspect and the organizer of this criminal group, F.B. with certain members of his group, on May 8, 2018, followed the injured Olivera Lakic from the moment she left the editorial office of the daily newspaper Vijesti, to her apartment located in Bulevar Sveti Petar Cetinjski, where he waited for her to get out of the vehicle and head towards the entrance of the building, in order to approach her and insidiously inflict severe bodily injury in the area of his right leg with a pistol of an unknown brand, “said Milovan Pavicevic, head of the Podgorica Security Center earlier.

Representatives of the police and the prosecution more than two years ago also assured that Besovic’s group was responsible for the murder of Miodrag Kruscic.

At the same time, Besovic denied in an open letter that he had anything to do with the injury of Olivera Lakic.

Almost a year later, the public learned that the criminal group did not plan to stop only at wounding the journalist, but also planned her liquidation.

“According to the prosecution’s evidence, their motive is to prevent the journalist from investigating criminal organizations on the territory of Montenegro and their connections with criminal groups from the region,” stated Sasa Cadjenovic, special prosecutor at December 25, 2020.

The testimony of Bajram Pista, an associate witness who allegedly told prosecutors that the suspects in the murder of the journalist, offered him 200,000 euros because she “saw a notebook”, allegedly helped in resolving this case.

According to that statement, Vesko Bubanja told Pista in prison that Olivera Lakic “saw something she didn’t need”, which is why he started following her where she was going, taking photos, and sending everything to the suspect, Filip Knezević as well.

In addition, Vesko Bubanja told the associate witness that Filip Besovic was the driver, that he followed Olivera Lakic and that he informed Filip Knezevic of the time and moment when there will be an opportunity that she’s alone and to approach her unhindered. After that, Filip Knezevic approached Olivera Lakic from behind and shot her in the leg. Bubanja allegedly said that Knezevic used a pistol which does not throw the shell casings out.

AJK and UNKT award the prizes on the Best Reporting on Poverty Eradication

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AJK

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05/11/2021

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The Association of Journalists of Kosovo in partnership with United Nations agencies in Kosovo – UNKT, under the coordination of the Office of the Development Coordinator – Ulrika Richardson, held today the 16th edition of the annual journalism awards “Award for Best Reporting on Poverty Eradication”.

The 16th edition was held under the slogan “Framing Poverty Responsibly”.

This year, the story of the journalist Genta Zejnullahu from TV Syri was awarded with the “The best short video story”.

The award for the best audio story was awarded to Denis Galushi, a journalist from Radio Kosova 2.

The prize for the best-written story was awarded to Fitim Gashi, a journalist from KOHA Group.

While, in “The best TV documentary” category, the prize was awarded for the documentary “Working today, only for tomorrow”, by journalist Vjosa Çerkini.

The photographer Valdrin Fetahu was awarded for the best photography. In addition to awarding the prizes, the participants were also addressed by the Chairman of the AJK Board, Xhemajl Rexha and the United Nations Development Coordinator, Ulrika Richardson.

AJK would also like to thank Dukagjini Bookstore for offering their space for organizing the awards ceremony.

IJAS: Prosecute the person who threatened journalist Snezana Congradin

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IJAS

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03/11/2021

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The Independent Journalists Association of Serbia strongly condemns the disturbing, insulting and threatening messages sent to Danas journalist Snezana Congradin, messages that cross all boundaries of normalcy, but are also a signal that journalists have become an open target in a greatly poisoned atmosphere within society.

Snezana Congradin received such messages via the social network Facebook after a statement she gave to the FoNet informative agency. Threats that contain direct messages, but also a number of audio and video recordings, were sent to her by M. Č, team manager of one of the younger selections of the Football Association of Serbia, ie their employee. The Football Association of Serbia distanced itself from its employee, but also pointed out in its statement that it “does not deal with political issues.”

Such disturbing messages and threats addressed to the Danas journalist cannot be part of any “political issue”, but only another part of the continuous call for lynching and open hatred towards journalists who think and write critically.

IJAS informed the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime about this incident, by filing a criminal report for endangering security, or another criminal offense that is being prosecuted ex officio.

We ask the representatives of the authorities to unequivocally condemn such threats, and we expect the competent institutions to prosecute the person behind them as soon as possible.

IJAS will enter this case in the Database of attacks and pressures on journalists and inform international organizations about it.

IJAS,

November 3, 2021

The prosecutor rejected the criminal complaint of journalist Jovanović

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TUMM

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03/11/2021

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PODGORICA, 3.11.2021 – The fact that the suspect in the two murders in the alleged denial revealed that he knows where the journalist who witnessed one of the two liquidations he is charged with, does not have an element of threat in the criminal law sense.

This was stated by the basic state prosecutor Ivana Petrusic Vukasevic, rejecting the criminal complaint filed by Jelena Jovanovic filed against Mario Milosevic and his legal representative Natalija Karadzic, for endangering security, ie endangering security through assistance.

Jovanovic filed the report after the lawyer delivered a letter to her official e-mail address on July 28, called a denial, in which the information about her whereabouts was also stated.

Shortly afterwards, the “Vijesti” journalist received an all-day police escort and protection due to the threat. She had previously received information about the preparation of her murder.

According to the decision, the prosecutor, by analyzing the entire case file, assessed that there is no grounded suspicion that Milosevic and Karadzic committed any criminal offense for which they are being prosecuted ex officio.

“The State Prosecutor bases this position on the fact that the applicant Jelena Jovanovic pointed out that the feeling of endangerment was created by the fact that in the denial in question the reported Milosevic indicated the place where she lives, which could lead to members of criminal clans being able to follow her movements as well as the movements of her family members. However, despite the fact that the reported Mario Milosevic in the disputed text asked the question: ‘Does the apartment at the “Stari Aerodrom” have to be repaid by slandering Mario Milosevic and writing nonsense about him’, I appreciate that the content of this sentence, both individually and even in the context of the entire text, there are no elements of a threat in the criminal law sense”, the decision reads.

The prosecutor, among other things, stated that the content of the denial shows that Milosevic appealed to the journalist and representatives of state institutions not to prejudge his guilt and to hear the other side before publishing any information.

According to the operative data of the police, Milosevic is considered a high-ranking member of the Kavac criminal group, and he is in the Directorate for Execution of Criminal Sanctions, due to the accusation that he killed Radomir Djurickovic from Cetinje and the suspicion that he killed Podgorica caterer Miodrag Migi Kruscic, what was witnessed by journalist.

UN: Nine out of 10 murders of journalists go unpunished

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BHJA

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03/11/2021

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United Nations experts have announced that nine out of 10 murders of journalists remain unpunished.

In a joint statement on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, UN experts called on countries to investigate violence against journalists and prosecute perpetrators. They emphasize that journalists are still unsafe and that there is a high rate of impunity for attacks and murders on them.

“Over the past year, journalists around the world have been threatened, harassed, physically assaulted, kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured and killed – just because they did their job,” they said in a joint statement.

Threats to the safety of journalists have taken on new forms in the digital age, especially for female journalists.

“While journalists are threatened while doing their jobs, women, including those from minority groups, are at a much higher risk of sexual assault and gender-based online violence, including harassment, poisoning, rape and death threats,” the UN experts said.

According to their statement, impunity for such acts undermines the self-confidence of female journalists, stigmatizing them and generating fear, shame and reputation and professional damage.

“In extreme cases, online threats can escalate to physical violence and even murder, as shown by the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, who fought corruption in Malta,” experts said.

They believe that attacks on journalists are an attack on the right of society to be informed, on the right to freedom of expression, as well as on many other human rights, including the right to life and liberty of the individuals concerned. Much more needs to be done to protect media representatives, they added.

Last year, according to UNESCO, 62 journalists around the world were killed just because they were doing their job, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an earlier statement.

“Many were killed while reporting on the conflict. But in recent years, the number of media workers killed outside conflict zones has risen”, Guterres said.

He added that in many countries investigating corruption, human trafficking, human rights violations or environmental issues puts journalists at risk.

eLearning Course on Digital Safety of Female Journalists

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AJM

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03/11/2021

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Impunity for crimes against journalists remains a global concern. Acknowledging the increasing number of attacks against female journalists online, we at the Communication and Media Relations Unit of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, developed a self-paced eLearning course to help female media professionals develop their digital safety approaches, crucial for staying safe online.

The eLearning course focuses on specific challenges journalists face online and offline, including threats, hate speech, harassment, intimidation, slander and other associated risks journalists encounter while doing their jobs. Moreover, the learning sessions communicate effective ways to prevent and address attacks as well as psychological stress associated with them, inclusive of COVID-19 challenges.

Despite being primarily aimed at addressing concerns of female journalists, the course is also useful for male journalists facing potential security challenges online. Upon course completion, the journalists will be able to better understand and to improve their digital security habits, follow safe practices as well as plan a response to possible incidents.

The course was created as a sustainable resource hosted on the OSCE Secretariat’s eLearning platform, and is developed in English, Macedonian, and Albanian. Aside from being developed for journalists and media workers in North Macedonia, it is also designed for international use.

The course is offered in three languages on the following links:

English:

https://elearning.osce.org/courses/course-v1:OSCE+OMSk-DSFJ-EN+2020-12/about

Macedonian:

https://elearning.osce.org/courses/course-v1:OSCE+OMSk-DSFJ-MK+2020-12/about

Albanian:

https://elearning.osce.org/courses/course-v1:OSCE+OMSk-DSFJ-AL+2020_12/about

IJAS: New pressures on KRIK – attempt of silencing with a lawsuit

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IJAS

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02/11/2021

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The Independent Journalists Association of Serbia expresses solidarity with colleagues from the KRIK editorial office who are sued for reporting on the “Jovanjica” case and gives them full support to continue following this topic, important for our entire society.

Namely, the editorial room of KRIK and the editor Stevan Dojcinovic were sued by Predrag Koluvija, the first accused of organizing criminal activities in both cases called “Jovanjica”. For the mental pain he suffered and he is asking KRIK for satisfaction in the amount of 400,000RSD.

We would like to note that KRIK reported on this case from the very beginning and that when reporting it respects the presumption of innocence of the accused. KRIK journalists reported the allegations from the indictment, which charges Koluvija, as the first accused, with committing the criminal offense of unauthorized production and distribution of narcotics with a group of other persons. After the end of this procedure, Koluvija will have the right to inform the public about the outcome of the criminal procedure, and if he is acquitted he would be able to submit such a request, KRIK, as well as other media that reported from this trial, would have to comply with such a request.

Since the beginning of the year, KRIK journalists have been targeted by various interest groups and individuals, and above all by politicians. Since the beginning of the year, we have recorded seven cases of pressure on our colleagues from the KRIK editorial office in our database. Regardless of everything that happens to them, they persevere in their work and because of that, the public owes them gratitude.

We would like to remind that filing SLAPP lawsuits against journalists is a well-known way of silencing the media and journalists. In our country, it has become popular again since the end of last year and the beginning of this year. IJAS has so far been informed from more than 10 different media about SLAPP lawsuits as a method of pressure and exhaustion of journalists and media, and that number is growing day by day as we get new data and information.

IJAS,

September 2, 2021

The AJK’s Board discusses about its work during these four months

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AJK

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01/11/2021

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The Board of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo – AJK, held its next meeting, where 8 out of of 9 members of the Board participated.

The Executive Director of AJK, Getoarbë Mulliqi Bojaj, reported about the projects that have been implemented during this time, as well as ideas and plans for activities that will be implemented in the coming months.

The Chairman of the Board, Xhemajl Rexha, informed the other members about the meetings that he held with the representatives of the international organizations in the Kosovo, as well as his participation in the annual meeting of the European Federation of Journalists -EFJ.

They also discussed about the previous conferences, as well as the organization of the award ceremony for the best reporting on poverty, new ideas for a better cooperation with organizations, with emphasis on organizing a training for camera operators.

AJK and the Council of Europe organized the conference “Legal protection of political pluralism in the Media”

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AJK

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29/10/2021

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The Association of Journalists of Kosovo – AJK, organized the conference “Legal protection of political pluralism in the media.”

The conference was organized within the project of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Freedom of expression and media – JUFREX II”, part of which were representatives of political parties, journalists and representatives of media regulatory bodies.

The panelists discussed how political pluralism in the media is regulated by the legislation regulating the scope of media outside the electoral process, what are the obligations of the State Public Broadcaster and those of private broadcasters regarding political pluralism outside the electoral process, what are the legal obligations of the media during election campaigns, as well as whether political parties and candidates have fair and equal access to the media during election campaigns.

Safejournalists.net