On 8 October 2020, the verdict in the retrial of the Montenegrin journalist Jovo Martinović will be pronounced. Ahead of the decision, we, the undersigned organisations, call on the High Court of Montenegro to take full account of the overwhelming evidence of the reporter’s innocence and acquit him.

Investigative journalist Jovo Martinović has experienced judicial persecution instead of protection ever since he was arrested five years ago, while researching arms trafficking in the Balkans. Denied the right to due process, he spent 15 months in pre-trial detention before the High Court of Montenegro sentenced him to an 18-month prison term for marijuana trafficking and criminal association in January 2019. Concerns of political pressure hang over the verdict, which was eventually quashed by the Appeal Court of Montenegro in October 2019. It concluded that the first-instance court had indeed failed to explain the facts and name the evidence that would justify a conviction of the journalist.

A specialist in covering organised crime, Jovo Martinović has worked for such leading international media as The Economist, Financial Times, NPR and the BBC. In 2018, he was given the prestigious Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism, which he could not receive in person due to a travel ban related to his trial.

We are convinced that Jovo Martinović, who was in contact with criminal networks only for the purpose of his journalistic coverage, is innocent.

On 8 October, the same High Court of Montenegro that once convicted the reporter, will now have a chance to acquit. The responsibility resting on the judges is great : a renewed conviction of Martinović would undermine media freedom in the country and as such would be incompatible with Montenegro’s EU accession, for which an independent and pluralist media is a key condition. In the last decade, hardly any other journalist in an EU Member State, candidate country or potential candidate country – with the exception of Turkey – has spent so much time in prison merely for doing his job.

We call on the judges to stand for media freedom and human rights in Montenegro and to acquit Jovo Martinović.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

International Press Institute (IPI)

ARTICLE 19

Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG)

Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT)

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

PODGORICA, 07.10.2020 – During the reporting period Montenegro made no progress on freedom of expression overall, it is stated in the European commission report on negotiating for 2020.

Although there has been progress on the media legislation, this has been overshadowed by arrests and proceedings against editors of on-line portals and citizens for content they posted or shared online in the course of 2020.

“Although brief, the January 2020 detentions of editors of on-line portals for the alleged offence of causing panic and disorder, as a measure to fight disinformation, have the potential to set a dangerous precedent and encourage
self-censorship”, it is stated in the report.

As emphasized, important old cases of attacks remain unresolved, including the 2004 murder of the editor-in-chief of daily newspaper, Dan, Dusko Jovanovic, and the 2018 shooting of an investigative journalist Olivera Lakic.

“Four attacks were registered by the authorities in 2019. In 3 of those cases, indictments were lodged. Protection was offered to 2 journalists. Further cyber-attacks against media outlets were reported”, the report states.

In April 2020, the Police, however, shed light on four cases of attacks on media property from 2011 and 2014, when five vehicles were damaged and destroyed.

“Two persons – minors at the time of the attacks – suspected of direct involvement in the attacks are being prosecuted under the law applicable to minors. Indictment of the leader of the criminal group suspected to be the mastermind behind these attacks has been dismissed and he was released from detention”, the report states.

The report also mentions working conditions: The economic situation of journalists remains precarious, particularly due to job insecurity and low salaries, putting them at risk of self-censorship and owner interference, and further aggravated due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Journalists are jointly represented in Montenegro’s media trade union. In 2019, after years of stagnation, the trade union succeeded in obtaining a salary increase for public broadcaster employees”, the report states.

Also, concerns remain about RTCG’s editorial independence and professional standards.

The media scene continues to be highly polarised and self-regulatory mechanisms remain weak. The growing volume of region-wide disinformation further polarised the society in the aftermath of the adoption of the Law on freedom of religion and during the electoral campaign”, the report states.

European commission presented the report yesterday in Brussels.

BANJA LUKA, 06.10.2020. – The judge of the Basic Court in Banja Luka, Dean Trivic, passed a verdict according to which he rejected as unfounded the lawsuit of the journalist of BN television and the portal Gerila.info, Vladimir Kovacevic, against Banja Luka’s Alternative Television (ATV). Kovacevic sued ATV and it’s responsible persons for defamation because in September 2018 they published an article on the website of that television called “Creeping coup d’etat”, in which it was stated that Kovacevic received $ 80,000 from USAID for his web portal, and in the context of overthrow of the government in Republika Srpska, writes Gerila.info.

“This means that the act of defamation consists of giving a false or untrue statement about another person which seeks to damage the reputation of that person in the eyes of prudent members of society. According to the court, such an expression did not cause damage to the prosecutor’s reputation“, reads the verdict of judge Dean Trivic.

Judge Trivic assessed in the verdict that it is indisputable that the article stated untruths about journalist Vladimir Kovacevic receiving any money, yet the Court considers there are no elements of damage to his reputation and honor. The judge in the verdict did not appreciate the moment when the article was published, and that is a few days after the attempted murder of journalist Kovacevic.

The judge states that although the allegations made in the article are not true, „it is not a shame to take money from USAID“. Kovacevic announced that he would appeal the verdict.

Journalist Goran Dakic told Gerila.info that this verdict should be remembered by court practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I think that the Basic Court in Banja Luka should have punished Kovacevic because he sued ATV. I think it would be good to pass a legal provision that allows everyone to spit, insult and slander journalists. Legal practice should remember this verdict, because it once again legitimizes defamation and transmission of false news, and we have seen that the non-existent 80,000 dollars can be easily converted into very existing metal bars on the stock exchange of honesty here”, says Dakic.

Interestingly, the Banja Luka Basic Court ruled in January this year that the Radio-television of Republika Srpska (RTRS) was guilty of defamation in the same case. RTRS and ATV transmitted the controversial article from Belgrade „Informer“. RTRS appealed the judgment of the Basic Court.

President Mladen Chadikovski, director Dragan Sekulovski and the lawyer representing group of journalists for illegal wiretapping, Filip Medarski, met yesterday with the state public prosecutor, Ljubomir Joveski.

At the meeting were raised several issues related to improving the safety of journalists and media workers and how the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office should be more active in prosecuting those who threaten journalists and violate their rights.

Chadikovski pointed to the growing trend of threats against journalists in 2020: “Since the beginning of this year in the AJM register of attacks on journalists, we have recorded 14 attacks on journalists, out of which more than half are against women journalists. In 2019, we had only 4 attacks in total and this negative trend should raise the alarm primarily in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, especially considering that according to our records there is not a single indictment filed against the attackers.”

The representatives of AJM demanded greater proactivity for these cases by the prosecution, and proposal was made to establish special unit in the prosecution to prosecute attacks on journalists and media workers. “The task of this special unit is to investigate not only the violations of journalists’ rights this year, but also the older cases, because only in that way the negative practice of impunity that is currently present will be improved,” said Director Sekulovski.

According to Joveski, in the coming period the BPPO will strive to check the cases registered by AJM for attacks on journalists and will discuss internally the request for the establishment of special unit.

Lawyer Medarski, in his capacity as AJM’s legal representative in the case of illegal wiretapping of journalists, asked the State Public Prosecutor for assistance in providing evidence that the telephone numbers used by journalists during the critical period were subject to unauthorized wiretapping. This support from the Public Prosecutor’s Office for this procedure is necessary in order to further argue the lawsuit on behalf of the journalists whose rights have been violated in this case.

PODGORICA, 02.10.2020. – As of today, interested citizens can use the instructions – Guide for submitting objections to the reporting of the Radio Television of Montenegro (RTCG).

The guide was created by the NGO Media Center and is available on their Facebook page.

“The purpose of the Guide is to facilitate the submission of complaints by interested citizens regarding the violation of professional principles and standards in the program contents of RTCG (radio, television, portal),” the NGO said in a statement.

The guide offers citizens information on the professional principles and standards that RTCG must adhere to in its work, including how they can find a program documents on the RTCG website. Also, the Guide contains an explanation of how to file complaints as well as examples of complaints that have been accepted by the Commission for Petitions and Complaints of Listeners and Viewers and the RTCG Council.

This document also explains the Media Center can give a support during the process.

Skopje, 30.09.2020 –

This mid-September, the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo has ruled in favor of to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) in Sarajevo in a judicial review case against the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) Ministry of Displaced Persons and Refugees after the ministry denied reporters access to the records on grant beneficiaries.

In 2017, CIN reporters citing FBiH FOIA requested records from the Ministry about grants doled out to refugees and displaced persons. The Ministry refused to provide full access to information and withheld beneficiaries’ names under the pretext that refugees and displaced persons belonged to a sensitive category which called for “a special treatment”.

However, the Court held that the Ministry’s decision was not handed down in a legal and adequate manner: “The agency in question…has failed to demonstrate that the grant beneficiaries would be harmed if their identities were made public”.

The Court instructed the Ministry to review again CIN’s request for access to said records.

This is the twelfth ruling for withholding public information or breach of FOIA that BiH courts have handed down in CIN’s favor. In the past, public bodies and government agencies turned down CIN’s FOIA requests by wrongly applying the law or by ignoring reporters’ requests.

That’s why CIN has sued in the past courts; government agencies; ministries and public hospitals and all rulings were in CIN’s favor. On average, it took courts around 18 months to hand down a ruling.

“The principle of maximum revelation of information is a fundamental principle of every democratic society,” stated one of the rulings.

The general public is entitled to free access to information of public interest. This right is enshrined in the state and entity freedom of information acts. Public bodies have an obligation to allow citizens to access records under their custody, unless the requested information is exempted because it represents a national security concerns, or it represents a breach of personal information or confidential commercial and financial records.  In those cases, a public authority, or oversight body is required by law to conduct the public interest test to weigh the harm that disclosure would cause to the protected interest against the public interest served by disclosure of the information.

Every year, by citing state and entity laws on freedom of access to information, CIN reporters collect government records they use to uncover misuses of public funds. Based on journalists’ work, the authorities initiate numerous investigations and file indictments. Reporters’ work has also led to changes in the legislation. Public bodies are inconsistent in the practice of law and its application – while some disclose all requested records, the others search for ways to avoid this.

The ruling against the FBiH Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons comes during the month in which on September 28 is celebrated the Right to Know Day.