BEOGRAD, 02.06.2020. – Jovanoviću je u noći između 11. i 12. decembra 2018. godine oko 3.30 časova zapaljena kuća u kojoj su bili njegova supruga i on, a spasli su se bekstvom. Suđenje optuženima – bivšem predsedniku opštine Grocka Dragoljubu Simonoviću, policajcima iz Grocke Vladimiru Mihailoviću, Igoru Novakoviću i Aleksandru Marinković – zakazano je za sutra.
Jovanović je u Novom danu TV N1 rekao da očekuje da će presuda biti brzo doneta.
“Mislim da im se žuri da donesu presudu, jer je ogroman pritisak i međunarodne javnosti, tako da očekujem da će biti doneta za najkasnije dva meseca. Očekujem da će (Simonović) biti osuđen (…) Ako slučajno bude oslobođen, onda više Palate pravde nema potrebe da nosi taj častan naziv, neka se zove onda Palata nepravde, onda građani nemaju šta tu da traže pravdu”, poručio je novinar portala “Žig info”.
Da je Vučić kao premijer uradio svoj deo posla i reagovao na prijave i izveštaje koje sam mu dostavljao, do ovog slučaja ne bi ni došlo”, uzvratio je Jovanović.
“Dva puta sam poslao svu dokumentaciju o proneverama na teritoriji Grocke, ništa nije preduzeo kao premijer. Jednom sam mu poslao kad je bio predsednik, nije ništa preduzeo. Neaktivnošću se Dragoljub Simonovioć osilio, tako da mi je zapalio kuću”, naveo je.
Milan Jovanović (foto: N1, Jutjub, skrinšot)
Uprkos tome što danas ima policijsku pratnju, Jovanović se i dalje ne oseća sigurno. “Ubijen je ministar unutrašnjih poslova, ubijen je ministar odbrane, ubijen je premijer, ubijeni su novinari, pa zašto ne bi bio i jedan Milan Jovanović”, rekao je on.
Jovanović je kazao i da je protiv Simonovića ranije podnosio veliki broj krivičnih prijava i prijava policiji, ali da niko ništa nije preduzimao.
“Imamo nekoliko kilograme tih dokaza, i ništa nismo objavljivali bez dokaza. Ako ne veruju ‘Žig infu’, valjda veruju budžetskoj inspekciji”, poručio je Jovanović i dodao da je budžetska inspekcija 2018. utvrdila milionske pronevere u Grockoj, ali da nikakve reakcije nije bilo.
Novinar “Žig infa” zahvalio je kolegama na solidarnosti i istakao da bez njihove pomoći ne bi uspeo da koliko-toliko sanira kuću. Dodao je, međutim, da su kolege u pojedinim medijima postali bilteni pojedinih stranaka i da time kaljaju ugled profesije.
PODGORICA, 02.06.2020 – The Agency for Electronic Communications of Montenegro (AEM) analyzed the program of local public TV broadcasters and concluded that they adequately transmitted the opinions of experts on the corona virus epidemic.
Previously, AEM analyzed a television program with national and regional coverage and came to the same conclusion.
For the purposes of this analysis, news programs of five public television broadcasters with local coverage were monitored: Television Budva, Television Herceg Novi, Television Niksic, Television Pljevlja and Rozaje Television, in the period between April 16 and 22, 2020.
The program of the five monitored television broadcasts, on average, a total of eight and a half hours of news program, predominantly dedicated to informing the public about the COVID-19 epidemic.
“Having in mind that the observed local public televisions are program-oriented to the local audience, a significant amount of information and TV articles of special importance for the local population was broadcasted. It is important to point out that a large amount of information relevant to the local population and the functioning of local communities was broadcasted, including information on the work of local services and organizations and their activities related to the new health situation”, it is concluded by AEM.
The monitoring also showed that the analyzed contents conveyed the opinions of, first of all, medical workers, experts and authorities, and credible journalistic sources.
“All observed televisions adequately directed viewers to the official information channels of the competent state services”, the AEM concluded.
SARAJEVO, 01.06.2020. – A great number of media representatives spent the past two days in front of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of BiH, following the events surrounding the “Respirators” affair.
As some journalists reported from the scene, they were accompanied by the four men who did not want to introduce themselves, and some of those men came by a car to pick up FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić after he was released, Klix.ba has learned.
According to Klix.ba news portal, journalists were able to enter the Court of BiH with an identification card only, without a media accreditation card, which is mostly not the case, and two of the four unknown men entered together with the journalists.
After the journalists asked them which media outlet they worked for, they laughingly replied that they were “from Kurir”, while one of them had an inappropriate comment that they “came to [visit] us in Islamic Sarajevo”, Klix.ba reported.
Considering that the unknown men listened carefully to what the journalists who were reporting from the scene commented in informal conversations, the journalists wondered whether this was another pressure on the news media.
SARAJEVO, 01.06.2020. – Veliki broj predstavnika medija protekla dva dana proveli su ispred Tužilaštva i Suda BiH prateći dešavanja oko afere “Respiratori”. Kako su sa mjesta događaja izvijestili pojedini novinari, zajedno sa njima bila su i četiri muškarca koji se nisu željeli predstaviti, a upravo su neki od njih došli automobilom po premijera FBiH Fadila Novalića nakon što je pušten na slobodu, piše Klix.ba.
Prema navodima portala Klix, novinari su mogli u Sud BiH ući na ročište samo sa ličnom kratom, bez novinarske akreditacije, što uglavnom nije slučaj, te su s njima ušla i dvojica od ova četiri nepoznata muškarca. Nakon što su ih prisutni novinari pitali za koji medij rade, odgovarali su da su “sa Kurira” smijući se, dok je jedan od njih imao i neumjesan komentar da su “došli kod nas u islamsko Sarajevo”, navodi se u članku na portalu Klix.ba.
S obzirom da su nepoznati muškarci pažljivo slušali šta reporterske ekipe koje su izvještavale ispred Suda BiH međusobno komentarišu u neformalnim razgovorima, novinari su se zapitali da li je u pitanju još jedan pritisak na medije.
Marijana Camovic - Velickovic, president of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro
On May, 27 2020 Montenegro’s media community marks 16 years since Dusko Jovanovic, editor-in-chief of the daily Dan was assassinated. We talk to Marijana Camovic Velickovic, president of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM) and a member of the Commission for the monitoring of operation of competent authorities in investigating the cases of threats and violence against journalists, murders of journalists and attacks on media property about the case, the role of the Commission and failure of the state to investigate the assassination and bring to justice the executioners and those who ordered it.
Dusko Jovanovic, editor of Dan daily
SafeJournalists: The murder of Dusko Jovanovic happened 16 years ago. Only one person, Damir Mandic, was sentenced to 19 years in prison as an accomplice, but we still don’t know who ordered it, or who directly executed this crime.
Marijana Camovic Velickovic: The problem of impunity for attacks on journalists is most drastic and most obvious in the case of Dusko Jovanovic. Jovanovic was assassinated in 2004. It is interesting to note that this year marked a beginning of a series of more or less frequent attacks on journalists – the most significant remain unresolved. Since its establishment in 2013, Trade Union of Media of Montenegro continuously emphasised the importance of resolving the murder of Dusko Jovanovic, not only for the journalistic community and judicial bodies, but to a society as whole. Additionally, we can say that this case is almost a stone around Montenegro’s neck on its way to the European Union.
SJ: There were many comments about the state’s failure to act responsible in this case. How do you comment omissions in the investigation and lack of accountability?
MVC: Numerous opportunities to solve this case were deliberately or accidentally missed. Apart from the accomplice in the murder who was sentenced to 19 years in prison, no one was punished. The trial itself did not bring any new or important details that could lead to identifying anyone else in the chain of committing this crime. Back in 2014 in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists, TUMM asked for the case of Dusko Jovanovic assassination be put on the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists. This Platform collects data on attacks on journalists in 47 countries across Europe. We also requested an independent investigation into this case because it has been clear that Montenegro is not able to implement it.
SF: You are a member of a special Commission for the monitoring of operation of competent authorities in investigating the cases of threats and violence against journalists, murders of journalists and attacks on media propertyestablished in 2014 by the Government. Its mandate is to provide a comprehensive opinion on shortcomings in these investigations and manner in which they could have been improved based on the overview of investigations recognised as high-priority ones. How did it deal with this case?
MVC: The Commission, now in its second mandate, has repeatedly requested of the Government to secure expert assistance. More concretely, we asked for assistance of professionals from the FBI or similar institutions that could provide additional, more detailed insight into look into this case and note omissions that had occurred during investigation. The Decision that established the Commission provides us with an option to request such actin. We used the opportunity and addressed the Government and the Ministry of the Interior officially. The Commission requested this in our last report, but as far as I know we only received verbal promises. So far, such cooperation with expert institutions did not realise.
SJ: MINA news agency reported that the Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, commenting the anniversary of the Jovanovic assassination, said that expert police and prosecutor assistance of the most developed countries will be sought to solve this case.
Dusko Markovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro
MCV: Yesterday’s statement by the PM Markovic is encouraging, but just a little: we have witnessed many times before that, when marking anniversaries of such and similar crimes, once a year, promises are made and often forgotten. We are yet to see if this statement serves only to create an illusion that the state is doing something or it will finally start doing it. My impression is that, unfortunately, the case of Jovanovic’s murder will not be fully solved. This is why it is of utmost importance to identify and hold accountable those who are responsible for the failures in the investigation. In September 2019, Veselin Veljovic, Police Director stated that the failure is due to fatigue of the prosecutorsv who had been assigned to the case in the middle of the night. Such statement about any crime is scandalous, let alone in case of assassination of a journalist.
Assassination of Dusko Jovanovic, 27.05.2004.
Description of the case as featured on the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists(link to source)
On the evening of 27 May 2004, journalist Dusko Jovanovic, editor-in-chief of the opposition daily Dan in Montenegro, was shot dead while he was leaving his office in Podgorica. Unidentified individuals shot him in the head and chest with an automatic rifle as he was entering his car just after midnight. The daily newspaper Dan was closely tied the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic throughout the 1990s. Before the killing, the newspaper has faced numerous lawsuits for criticizing Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.
Both Dan and Jovanovic’s family reported that the editor had received numerous death threats, and the newspaper’s office in Podgorica was set on fire in April 2003. The editor’s wife, Slavica Jovanovic, testified before the court that the head of Montenegro’s State Security Service, Dusko Markovic, had called her husband and threatened to kill him in April 2003, according to Dan.
On June 9 2004, police arrested Damir Mandic, a local organised crime figure. In October 2004, prosecutors charged Mandic with murder, citing evidence linking him to the vehicle used in the crime. While the indictment did not clarify the reason for the murder, the only motive discussed in the local press has been Jovanovic’s work for Dan exposing government abuses.
In April 2009, Mandic was sentenced to 30 years in prison for being an accomplice in Jovanovic’s murder. The lawyer representing the Jovanovic family and Dan staff has criticised the police investigation for failing to identify Mandic’s accomplices; not identifying who ordered the killing; and not investigating possible links between Mandic and Montenegrin government authorities.
On 28 May 2018, the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro issued a statement demanding “to secure the conditions for carrying out an independent investigation of the assassination of Dusko Jovanovic” in order to “find and arrest the perpetrators and masterminds of the gravest violation against journalists in the history of Montenegro”
BELGRADE, 29.05.2020. – A Belgrade court has temporarily banned a pro-government tabloid from publishing offensive claims about N1 TV Program Director Jugoslav Cosic.
The Higher Court issued the temporary restraining order banning the Kurir tabloid from publishing anything that inflicts damage on Cosic’s dignity for the duration of the law suit that the N1 program director filed against the Kurir daily and its portal Kurir.rs. The tabloid and portal published untrue and offensive claims about Cosic and his professional integrity in April.
The request for the temporary ban was rejected initially but Cosic appealed and the court reviewed the decision and issued the temporary ban which Kurir can appeal.
SARAJEVO, 29.05.2020. – The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line strongly condemns the threats made via social networks to Nikola Vučić, a journalist of N1 TV from Sarajevo, after his post on Twitter.
Commenting on the news that the West Herzegovina Canton has declared itself a “corona-free zone”, journalist Vučić sarcastically asked on Twitter whether the “fascism-free zone” would be declared soon. This was followed by threats, calls for violence with remarks that Vučić should be brought to “Neretva or on a stake”, labeling Vučić as “halal Serb”, and numerous other insulting messages against him and his family.
The BH Journalists Steering Committee considers threats of violence, hate speech and harassment of journalist Vučić and his family members unacceptable, and calls on the MUP of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Police Administration to react urgently, investigate threats and take legal action against those behind them.
The Steering Committee of BHJA explicitly emphasizes that calls for violence and death threats are a criminal offense, which means that no one is allowed to use public communication space to endanger the safety of anyone, in this case journalist Vučić and his family. Disagreement with Vučić’s comment must by no means be an excuse for violence or death threats, since freedom of speech and public political debate imply criticism, denial, challenge and argumentative polemics about someone’s claims or views. We also remind that journalists and (or) the media, even if it is through social networks, must not violate the rules of professional, objective and correct expression.
In this context, the BH Journalists Steering Committee also considers unacceptable the initiation of a media chase against Nikola Vučić, as well as political manipulations, factually unfounded captions and generalizations regarding his Twitter comment in a number of media outlets from Herzegovina. Violation of the right to privacy is especially unacceptable, as well as unnecessary exposure of Vučić’s parents, especially his father, to the public, for which there is no reasonable basis or justified public interest.
The Steering Committee of BH Journalists and the Free Media Help Line will inform the competent police authorities of the Federation of BiH, the Press Council in BiH and the Communications Regulatory Agency, as well as all other media organizations and institutions in BiH and Europe about this case.
SKOPJE, 29.05.2020 – The Association of Journalists of Macedonia strongly condemns the threats against the journalistic team of TV Klan. Yesterday, journalist Furkan Saliu and cameraman Ibrahim Mamuti were on field in the village of Vaksince, where they spotted and filmed a large group of migrants who were moving in the area.
After recording them, they rushed back to Skopje. As they were going back, a car with a Kumanovo registration plate cut their way, and a man came out and directly threatened the journalists and asked them to delete the recordings and not publish them.
AJM requires from the Ministry of Interior to urgently identify the person who threatened the journalists and to file appropriate criminal charges to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for this case. According to the journalists of the TV Klan, the case was reported to the police immediately after receiving the threats. Therefore, we expect the MoI to immediately start an investigation, and thus to send a message that such attacks will not be tolerated.
In addition, we call on national and international institutions which are working on protection of the rights of migrants to show interest for this case and in order to be completely resolved. We remind that censorship is prohibited by the Constitution and threats against journalists are completely unacceptable, and are considered as a criminal deed.
The Association of Journalists of Macedonia in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation organized a three-day webinar on May 26-28 on the topic: “Journalism in a time of pandemic, state of emergency and quarantine – Challenges, responsibility and post-period of change and adjustment.” The workshop was attended mostly by young journalists from several media outlets from the whole country. Trainers on the webinar were journalists Stole Naumov and Maja Jovanovska.
The webinar focused on improving participants’ skills and interviewing techniques, and included topics for investigative journalism as well. Journalism and the media during the pandemic with the coronavirus were discussed in direction of ethical and professional reporting.
Guests of the workshop were the Minister of Health Venko Filipce and the journalist Mirche Adamchevski, who is one of the two journalists who successfully recovered from the coronavirus. The participants had the opportunity to talk to them and learn about the issues related to the pandemic and their personal experiences. In addition, they discussed the work of the media and the minister’s communication with journalists during the crisis.
At the end of the webinar, the journalists were divided into four groups, within which they will jointly prepare journalistic products which will be published and shared on the AJM’s communication channels.
Assassination of Dusko Jovanovic, 27.05.2004.
