KRAGUJEVAC, 05.11.2019. – An N1 reporter was harassed by a security guard at the construction site of the Serbian national Data Center on Monday while a Serbian delegation headed by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic was offering the Chinese IT company Huawei access to part of that center.

Brnabic had a separate meeting with a top Huawei official and offered a part of the Data Center in the city of Kragujevac with the idea of making it the Chinese company’s center for southeastern Europe.

A security guard at the Data Center construction site first ordered an N1 reporter to leave and then pushed his camera away, telling him that he can’t record images of the building. The guard then took a picture of the reporter with his cell phone.

PRISTINA, 04.11.2019 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo in cooperation with UN Women started the trainings for central level journalists on the topic “Media as an instrument of peace.”

The first training is organized in cooperation with the Finnish Embassy in Kosovo, and it was opened by remarks from the Finnish Ambassador Pia Stjernvall, the Chair of the Association of Kosovo Journalists Board, Gentiana Begolli Pustina, as well as Head of UN Women Kosovo Office Vlora Tuzi Nushi.

SARAJEVO, 02.11.2019. – The judicial authorities of countries in the region must process attacks on journalists, whether physical or verbal, as quickly as possible. As pointed out on a press conference held in Sarajevo on November 2, International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, journalists cannot be attacked while doing their job.

The press conference was organized by the BH Journalists Association in cooperation with partners from the region.

The need for more efficient prosecution of attacks on journalists, prevention of impunity and more effective implementation of the Council of Europe standards in the application of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights was addressed at a press conference by Marija Vukasovic of the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, Marijana Camovic of the Union of Media of Montenegro, Ivan Breshovski from the Association of Journalists of Macedonia and Borka Rudic from the BH Journalists.

Since the beginning of 2019, 48 cases of attacks on journalists and violations of the right to freedom of expression have been registered in BiH, said Borka Rudic, secretary general of the BH Journalists Association, noting that impunity in many cases is the result of the attacker’s direct connection with centers of political power.

“We pay special attention to ten physical attacks against journalists, whose perpetrators are linked to political and economic centers of power. Such attacks are justified by politicians. In addition, there is pressure from the judiciary in BiH, where those who are supposed to protect journalists and their right to freedom of expression are creating new cases and turning into those who commit violence. It is unacceptable not to punish attackers, no matter where they come from or whether they have political power or protection. If you do not punish 70 percent of attacks on journalists, then this is one very destructive message for the citizens and the public”, Rudic said, adding that the media themselves should boycott those individuals and institutions that are attackers against journalists.

Regional Legal Assistance to journalists in BiH, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro started functioning in May this year with a focus on providing free legal assistance to journalists and media from the Western Balkans region and strengthening the network of lawyers who will deal with the defense of journalists before the courts and creating conditions for more effective application of the principles of media law in the protection of freedom of expression and freedom of the media. Between May and the end of September, 80 cases were processed through the Regional Legal Assistance.

“The murder of Dusko Jovanovic, editor-in-chief of ‘Dan’ daily in 2004 is the most drastic example of an attack on journalists in Montenegro, but also an example of how the state is unable to cope with such cases. We still do not know who shot Jovanovic, who ordered the murder and why. A few days ago we received an explanation that the competent prosecutor was too tired on the night of the murder to take statements from the key witnesses and accomplices”, said Marijana Camovic of the Montenegrin Media Union.

She also mentioned the attempted murder of journalist Olivera Lakic last year, and that it is unknown to this day who shot her and on whose order.

“The Montenegrin government formed a commission last year to investigate cases of attacks on journalists and the media. The commission made recommendations, but so far the competent institutions have not followed any of these recommendations,” Camovic concluded.

The impunity of attacking journalists must become a thing of the past, said Ivan Breshovski, a lawyer at the Macedonian Association of Journalists.

“We want to change the criminal code so that the attack on journalists is treated as an attack on persons who perform professional journalistic duty, and now we are working on it. The plan is also to create a protocol for better cooperation between police and journalists. In 2019, there were two physical and one verbal attack on journalists in Macedonia and in the last few years a total of 55 cases of violations of journalists’ rights and security”, Breshovski said.

Both journalists and media professionals in Serbia are daily exposed to attacks, threats and pressures.

“NUNS has recorded more attacks and threats this year than in the previous three years. The target are most often journalists who write critically and do their job in accordance with professional standards. There are frequent pressures on journalists when senior officials and politicians label journalists by calling them enemies of the state, spies and similar. Politicians, instead of condemning such attacks, only encourage them”, emphasized Marija Vukasovic of the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS).

She mentioned the case of burning the house of journalist Milan Jovanovic last year, where the Mayor of Grocka municipality is suspected of being one of those involved in the arson.

“Although some progress has been made in cooperation with the judiciary, judicial epilogues of attacks on journalists in Serbia are still very rare, and penalties are mild,” Vukasovic added.

Three years ago, a regional Safejournalists network was set up to protect the rights of journalists from the region. The web site of this network contains one of the largest databases on attacks against journalists – as many as 570 registered cases from BiH, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Representatives of journalists organizations from the region have pointed out that such a network is a very good tool for preventing all forms of impunity of attacks against journalists, and especially for preventing avoiding trials of attackers, including those who hold the highest functions in the country.

Регионалната платформа на Западен Балкан за застапување на слободата на медиумите и безбедноста на новинарите, која претставува повеќе од 8000 членови, го одбележува Меѓународниот ден за ставање крај на неказнивоста на злосторства против новинарите .

Генералното собрание на Обединетитете нации го прогласи 2-ри ноември за Меѓународен ден за ставање крај на неказнивоста на злосторствата против новинарите.  Овој датум беше избран во знак на сеќавање на атентатот на двајца француски новинари во Мали на 2-ри ноември 2013 година.

Овој ден е симбол на силната посветеност на новинарите да ја донесат вистината пред очите на пошироката јавност и истовремено да ги потсетат надлежните институции дека се должни да обезбедат безбедно опкружување во кое новинарите можат слободно да работат.

Во текот на изминатата деценија, повеќе од илјада новинари се убиени додека ја вршат својата професија. Девет од десет случаи се нерешени, а на крајот никој не е казнет. Неказнивоста доведува до повеќе убиства и честопати тоа е симптом на влошување и распаѓање на законите и судските системи. Исто така, неказнивоста неизбежно води кон самоцензура, го ограничува просторот за слободни медиуми и ја прави професијата непривлечна за младите.

Регионалната платформа на Западен Балкан за застапување во слободата на медиумите и безбедноста на новинарите апелира до јавноста, граѓаните и политичките партии дека новинарите не треба да бидат напаѓани за извршување на својата работа. Институциите, а  пред сè судството треба да ги процесира нападите врз новинарите што е можно поскоро, сè  со цел да се заштити демократијата во земјите од Западен Балкан. Во текот на изминатите пет години, Платформата регистрираше 570 напади и закани врз новинари, но сепак, многу малку од нив се решени од надлежните институции.

Платформата силно ги поддржува новинарите како и напорите на новинарските организации за заштита на новинарите и слободата на говорот, како и нивните напори во борбата против неказнивоста на злосторства против новинарите. Секој напад врз новинарите се смета за напад врз јавниот интерес, демократијата и правата на сите граѓани.

Скопје – Белград – Подгорица – Приштина – Сараево – Загреб (02.11.2019)

SKOPJE, 01.11.2019 – The Association of Journalists of Macedonia today in Skopje organized an event marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The President of AJM, Mladen Chadikovski sent two important messages for reducing the level of impunity in the country. “The first message is for the public, the citizens and for the political parties that journalists should not and must not be attacked for doing their job. The second message is for the institutions of North Macedonia and above all for the judiciary that the attacks on journalists must be processed as soon as possible in order to protect the democracy in our country,” said Chadikovski.

According to Chadikovski, impunity inevitably leads to self-censorship, limits the space for free media and makes the profession unattractive for young people. He added that in co-operation with SSNM and the Ministry of Justice, they work to amend the Criminal Code so that attacks on journalists are considered as attacks on officials.

During the event a Draft Protocol on relations between police officials and media workers for improving the safety of journalists and cameramen was presented. “This document demonstrates the joint efforts to continue cooperation between journalists and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Only then we can be sure that in case of journalist attack, the institutions will react in a way to find the perpetrators and then they will be sanctioned, “said Chadikovski.

The representative of Reporters Without Borders, Erol Onderoglu was guest at the event. He praised the co-operation between journalists and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for improving the safety of journalists. “By increasing the safety of journalists and by implementing the media laws, North Macedonia can advance in the world index for Freedom of Press of Reporters without Borders,” said Onderoglu. He wished that the country should work to return to the position on the list together with developed democracies.

The event was organized within the framework of the project “Safe Journalists for Credible Information in North Macedonia” and is also a continuation of the cooperation of AJM with the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

(Photo: MIA)

SARAJEVO, 31.10.2019. – By the end of October 2019, the Free Media Help Line (FMHL), which operates within the BH Journalists Association, registered a total of 48 cases of violations of journalistic rights and media freedoms.

As it was pointed out during the seventh regular session of the Steering Committee of BH Journalists held in Sarajevo today, out of the total number of registered cases, there were four court verdicts with a positive outcome for journalists and the same number of cases with a negative outcome.

– The number of attacks on journalists from January to the end of October this year is increasing compared to the same period last year. This is of particular concern given that last year was an election year, and these are the periods when FMHL usually registers the highest number of cases – said the Secretary General of the BH Journalists Association, Borka Rudic.

According to Sinisa Vukelic, President of the Club of Journalists of Banja Luka and a member of the Steering Committee of BH Journalists, the activities of the Free Media Help Line are extremely important support for the work of journalists from all over the country, especially in cases of attacks, lawsuits or any violations of their professional and labor rights. Through this line they can get free legal aid.

– The Free Media Help Line is a very concrete support for colleagues who can contact us in any situation when they feel they need it. I think this is especially important at a time when the number of attacks on journalists and violations of journalistic rights and freedoms, unfortunately, is constantly increasing – said Vukelic.

BH Journalists have initiated activities with partners to develop a unique methodology for monitoring and recording cases of attacks against journalists and other forms of violation of journalistic rights and media freedoms. The project also monitors 14 selected cases of the trials involving journalists, where lawyers of the FMHL monitor, among other things, the professional conduct of lawyers and judges in cases against journalists in accordance with the standards of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Defamation lawsuits continue to represent the largest number of lawsuits filed against journalists and media outlets in BiH. Paying lawyers’ fees and court proceedings, as well as damages when they lose a case, places a heavy financial burden on the media.

Therefore, the Steering Committee of BH Journalists invites journalists and other media professionals to use the Free Media Help Line tools, especially the free services of a network of lawyers working for the FMHL.

BEOGRAD, 01.11.2019.-  Suđenje bivšem predsedniku Opštine Grocka Dragoljubu Simonoviću i još trojici za paljenje kuće novinara Milana Jovanovića danas je ponovo odloženo jer se okrivljeni Igor Novaković nije pojavio zbog bolesti. Odbrana uverava da se ne radi o opstrukciji suđenja, iako je od četiri zakazana ročišta ovo drugo koje se otkazuje.

Kako je rekao Novakovićev advokat Goran Pejić, Novaković mu je jutros javio da je hospitalizovan na infektivnom odeljenju Kliničkog centra Srbije, a doneo je i medicinsku dokumentaciju kao dokaz.

„Neki rezultati su mu katastrofalni, doktori istražuju šta se događa“, naveo je Pejić.

Nakon što je sudija Slavko Žugić konstatovao da zbog njegovog odsustva nema uslova da se pretres održi, zamenik tužioca je tražio da se pretres u odnosu na Novakovića razdvoji, a da ostali danas počnu sa iznošenjem odbrane.

Tome su se jednoglasno usprotivili advokati odbrane, tvrdeći da su okrivljeni „činjenično povezani optužnicom” i da je veoma važno da svi budu tu.

Kako su naveli, svi su spremni da iznesu odbranu i svima bi značilo da se pretres održi, ali su uprkos tome insistirali da se to danas ne dogodi. Ipak, tvrde da nema ni govora ni o kakvoj opstrukciji.

Novinar Milan Jovanović, kome je decembra prošle godine zapaljena kuća, sa druge strane kaže da je ubeđen da je upravo reč o opstrukciji.

„I sledeći put neko opet neće doći, opet će neko biti bolestan, i ovo će ići u nedogled, dok god sudija ne prelomi i ne razdvoji postupak. Postupak bi trebalo da se razdvoji i da se svako zasebno izjasni o svojoj odbrani. Videćemo do kada će sudija da dozvoljava ovakvo ponašanje“, naveo je Jovanović.

Suđenje će biti nastavljeno 12. decembra u 9 sati.

Slično današnjem bilo je i suđenje u julu kada se iz nepoznatih razloga nije pojavio četvrtookrivljeni Aleksandar Marinković, kao ni trojica advokata odbrane zbog godišnjih odmora, pa je ročište otkazano, a advokati kažnjeni sa po 80.000 dinara.

Suđenje je počelo u maju, dosad je pročitana optužnica, advokati su izneli uvodne reči, a o krivici su se izjasnili i okrivljeni. Trojica okrivljenih su priznala krivicu „delimično“, dok je Simonović u potpunosti negirao optužbe.

1.500 evra za paljenje kuće novinara

Bivši predsednik Opštine Grocka Dragoljub Simonović uhapšen je u januaru zbog sumnje da je naručio paljenje Jovanovićeve kuće, sa kojim je imao višegodišnji sukob i navodno hteo da ga zaplaši.

Prema dokumentima koje je prikupilo Raskrikavanje, Simonović je u oktobru 2018. godine od policajca Vladimira Mihailovića zatražio da nađe nekog ko bi to uradio i obećao mu 1.500 evra nakon obavljenog posla.

U optužnici piše i da je Mihailović kontaktirao svog čoveka od poverenja Igora Novakovića iz Vrčina i rekao mu šta treba da se uradi, a ovaj se dalje obratio lokalnom dileru Aleksandru Marinkoviću koji mu je dugovao 350 evra.

Marinković je, kako je Raskrikavanje ranije otkrilo, 2012 .godine bio uhapšen sa 19 kesica marihuane u džepu zbog čega je osuđen na tri godine. Iz zatvora je izašao 2017. godine.

Novaković mu je ponudio da mu otpiše dug i da mu preko toga plati još 500 evra ukoliko zapali Jovanovićev automobil, što je za Marinkovića bila dobra pogodba.

Njega je blizu Jovanovićeve kuće tokom noći 12. decembra prošle godine dovezla prijateljica i pevačica iz Vrčina Bojana Šijački Cvetković. Marinković je potom otišao do garaže u kojoj je bio parkiran Jovanovićev mercedes, ciglom razbio staklo na ulaznim vratima garaže, ubacio Molotovljev koktel i pobegao kolima sa Šijački.

Garaža je izgorela, a vatra je brzo počela da se širi na prizemlje i sprat kuće.

Nakon što ju je probudilo pucanje stakla i šištanje vatre, Jovanovićeva žena je sišla u prizemlje i zatekla supruga koji se već gušio od nagutanog dima. Uspeli su, na sreću, da pobegnu, dok je kuća nestala u plamenu. Šteta je procenjena na oko 50.000 evra.

Portal Žiginfo, za koji je radio Milan Jovanović, objavljivao je tokom godina seriju tekstova o korupciji u ovoj opštini, o stranačkom i rodbinskom zapošljavanju, malverzacijama pri gasifikaciji i kriminalu. Kako je Jovanović izjavio za N1, prethodnih šest godina je dostavljao policiji i tužilaštvima dokaze o kršenju zakona u opštini, ali se sa tim ništa nije desilo.