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Novinarstvo na ivici ponora

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BEOGRAD, 16.7.05.2018. – Podaci novinarskih udruženja u Srbiji pokazuju da je od početka ove godine zabeleženo više od 30 napada i pritisaka na novinare, a na listi medijskih sloboda Reportera bez granica, Srbija je pala na 76. mesto u 2018. godini, dok su druge zemlje regiona napredovale. Učesnici debate “Ko brani novinare – novinari između pritisaka i integriteta”, koja je u utorak uveče održana u Novom Sadu, složili su se da u takvoj atmosferi nije bezbedno baviti se tim poslom.

Na pitanje kakvi su to pritisci na koje se novinari u Srbiji žale, programski direktor Nezavisnog društva novinara Vojvodine (NDNV) Dinko Gruhonjić odgovorio je listom stvari – neregulisano medijsko tržište i nelojalna konkurencija, korišćenje poluga države poput poreskih inspekcija za finansijsko iscrpljivanje nezavisnih medija, kriminalna dodela državnog novca na konkursima, a zatim i fizički napadi, uz stalna zastrašivanja, praćenja i ucene.

“Atmosfera u društvu je takva da su neki ljudi, a sada govorim o nama svima koji sedimo za ovim stolom, izabrani kao legitimne mete. Nažalost, u Srbiji imamo iskustva sa tim šta se dešava kada vas proglase za legitimnu metu. Tako da se mi nalazimo na samoj granici ponora, neprestano. I to je ta strašna psihička presija koju verovatno neki ljudi ne mogu izdržati i pristanu na pakt sa đavolom”, kazao je Gruhonjić.

Ko u takvoj atmosferi štiti novinare? Urednik dnevnog lista Danas Dragoljub Petrović smatra da to danas u Srbiji ne može niko, pa čak ni međunarodni faktori, navodeći primer napada na novinare na inauguraciji predsednika Srbije Aleksandra Vučića.

 “Prosto, nezaštićen si. Može neko da te davi pred kamerama, a zamisli kako može da te davi tek u haustoru. Može da te razvali. I ko može da te zaštiti tu? Pa niko. I ovi ambasadori koji nam dolaze u redakciju Danasa, kada im pomenemo slobodu medija, oni nam odgovore da se gospodin Han zalaže za vladavinu prava i slobodu medija”, pojasnio je Petrović.

Urednik istraživačkog portala KRIK Stevan Dojčinović rešenje problema medijske blokade u Srbiji vidi u javnom servisu. Prema njegovim rečima, istraživanja su pokazala da u Srbiji građani prosečno gledaju televiziju oko pet sati dnevno, te da je baš taj medij najdominantniji, pa bi Radio-televizija Srbija mogla da odigra jaku ulogu u formiranju javnosti.

“Ja mislim da ono što može skroz da promeni situaciju je oslobađanje RTS-a. Za razliku od Pinka recimo, to je javni servis, finansira se iz budžeta i novcem građana. Mislim da praktično oslobađanjem javnih servisa stvari mogu da se promene. Ja mislim da to mora da se uradi na ‘politički način’, jer neće se tamo ništa samo promeniti”, kaže Dojčinović.

Nekadašnji programski direktor u pokrajinskom javnom servisu Radio-televiziji Vojvodine Slobodan Arežina, složio se da promene mogu poći iz javnog sektora, ali tek uz podršku javnosti. Podsetio je da je nakon političkih smena posle promene vlasti u Vojvodini 2016. godine, oko 5.000 ljudi izašlo na ulice da brani tu medijsku kuću.

“Malo je nedostajalo da dođe do popuštanja. Da je održan još jedan miting te snage koja je bila na prvom okupljanju, mislim da bi vlast rekla – sedite da pričamo. Gotovo sam siguran. Postoji jedna zdrava snaga javnosti u ovoj državi, i nemojte da je se odričemo”, naglasio je Arežina, koji je nezakonito i po političkim željama smenjen sa mesta programskog direktora 2016. godine, a nakon prve tužbe, u decembru 2017. Apelacioni sud u Novom Sadu naložio je Radio-televiziji Vojvodine (RTV) da ga vrati na istu poziciju.

On je protiv tog javnog servisa podneo još jednu tužbu i kako je dodao na tribini, boriće se do kraja.

“Ja hoću da pokažem da se to ne može tako. Da se to ne sme tako. Da postoje zakoni, ne zato da bi nas Han tapšao po leđima i glavi. Daj da se borimo! Nekada je borba važnija od rezultata.”

Problemi medijske scene u Srbiji ne jenjavaju, profesionalna udruženja novinara napuštaju komisije u Ministarstvu informisanja, a ranije i Radnu grupu za izradu medijske strategije Srbije. Kritike stižu i na Mehanizam nastao kroz Sporazum o saradnji, koji su krajem 2016. potpisali Republičko javno tužilaštvo, MUP i novinarska i medijska udruženja, jer nije doneo rešenja slučajeva napada.

Better working conditions for the Radio Berane

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PODGORICA 16.05.2018. – Representatives of the Trade union of Media of Montenegro met today with the management of the Berane municipality to discuss the issues of functioning of Local Public Broadcasting Radio Berane, the settlement of arrears and the current financial situation.

Representatives of the Municipality convey the fact that the planned level of transfers for 2018 for Local Public Broadcasting Radio Berane is about 170.000 euros and that the funds will be regularly settled each month in the amount of one twelfth of the total anticipated amount.

It was noted that these funds provide the salaries of the Local Public Broadcaster to be paid, thus bringing the backlog level to four remaining arrears as of December 2018.

Local government expressed the readiness that in the future period, Radio Berane will be assisted by the Local Public Broadcasting Service in order to improve the technical equipment of the radio. This would improve the quality of the program content, and thus the profitable functioning of the Local Public Broadcasters. The revenues will also be increased.

The possibility of applying for public funds was also discussed on the meeting. This will provide donations from foreign and domestic donors, in order to improve the conditions and technical equipment of the Local Public Broadcasting Radio Berane.

Predstavnici Sindikata medija Crne Gore razgovarali sa rukovodstvom Opštine Berane

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PODGORICA 16.05.2018. – Predstavnici Sindikata medija Crne Gore sastali su se danas sa rukovodstvom Opštine Berane, kako bi razmatrali pitanja funkcionisanja D.O.O. ,,Lokalni javni emiter Radio Berane“, izmirivanja zaostalih zarada i trenutne finansijske situacije.

Predstavnici Opšine prisutne su upoznali sa činjenicom da planirani nivo transfera za 2018.godinu za D.O.O. ,,Lokalni javni emiter Radio Berane“  iznosi oko 170 000 eura i da će se sredstva uredno izmirivati svakog mjeseca  u iznosu od jedne dvanaestine od ukupnog predviđenog iznosa.

Na sastanku je konstatovano da ovaj iznos sredstava obezbjeđuje izmirenje zarada Lokalnom javnom emiteru, čime bi se dosadašnji nivo zaostataka sveo na četiri zaostale zarade zaključno sa decembrom mjesecom 2018. godine.

Izražena je spremnost lokalne samouprave da u budućem periodu Lokalnom javnom emiteru Radio Berane pruži pomoć u cilju poboljšanja tehničke opremljenosti radija, čime bi se poboljšao kvalitet programskog sadržaja , a samim tim se kalitetnijim funkcionisanjem Lokalanog javnog emitera povećali i prihodi.

Na sastanku razmatrana je i  mogućnost apliciranja na javne pozive, u cilju obezbjeđivanja donacija od stranih i domaćih donatora, kako bi se unaprijedili uslovi i tehnička opremljenost Lokalnog javnog emitera Radio Berane.

Sastanku su ispred Sindikata medija Crne Gore, prisustvovali Marijana Camović, presjednica, Nevenka Ćirović, potpredsjednica, Radomir Kračković, potpredsjednik, kao i Raško Ličina, novinar Radio Berana i član Izvršnog odbora Sindikalne organizacije Radio Berane i Svetlana Marsenić, predsjednica Sindikalne organizacije Radio Berane.

Sastanku su u ime Opštine prisustvovali potpredsjednik Opštine Berane Rade Kljajić i v.d. sekretara Sekretarijata za opštu upravu i društvene djelatnosti Danijela Danka Marković.

 

Journalists ethics forgotten: media help institutions in spreding xenophobia towards refugees and migrants in BiH

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SARAJEVO, BANJA LUKA, TUZLA, BIJELJINA, 09.05.2018. – “Considering the media impact in forming public opinion, it is important media reports to be in accordance with professional and ethical principles , to respect two sides of the story and not to lead to further marginalization of those who are certainly in an extremely unfavorable social position”, stated besides other in the public announcement of the Coalition for Fighting Hate Speech and Hate Crime, published on the occasion of Victory Day Against Fascism. 

The institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been unprepared to see an increase in the inflow of migrants and refugees in our country, which directly affected the conditions in which these people are located. Reports of volunteers who work daily with people in BiH seeking protection from persecution in their countries, or going through to country on their way to EU states, say that foreign accommodation centers are crowded, lacking in food, and are unconstitutional for dignity life of people.

Institutions of BiH, especially Department of Foreign Affairs BiH and Ministry of Safety BiH, in the past period they did not inform BiH citizens about their work in this field, nor did they make public information on the number of foreigners, their countries of origin, the conditions in which they were accommodated, as well as the number of submitted or approved asylum and refugee status in BiH.

The leaders of these institutions are, on the contrary, based on persuading the public that they are “false migrants”, people who go through BH and who have come to our country to “relax”, “various opiates and narcotics” “Health risk” and “do not want to be placed in existing accommodation, but want accommodation in the center of Sarajevo”. To spreading this xenophobia and racism additionally contributes unethical reporting of bh. media, all in order to atract readers. The media transmit sensationalist statements without looking at the problems, without interviewing refugees, volunteers working there, without visiting accommodation centers, and without posing specific issues to BiH institutions about their work with migrants and refugees, number of submitted and granted asylum applications, the receipt of these requirements, the provision of accommodation, food, clothing, health and social protection which they have under the laws of BiH and international standards are eligible in our country. According to the volunteers not only do BiH institutions fail to fulfill their duties, but are also working to prevent and hamper the submission of asylum applications, and there is also the practice of illegal push back of migrants from bh. borders, which the media have so far failed to report.

 

On 09.05. which is marked as the Day of Victory over Fascism, the Coalition for Fighting Hate Speech and Hate Crimes warns that sensational media texts only contribute to the creation of a hostile environment for refugees and migrants and favor the development of violence motivated by xenophobia and racism.

The members of the Coalition appeal to officials, representatives of institutions and the media to refrain from postponing inaccurate, discriminatory, profiling and stereotyping statements that do not contribute to understanding and solving the current situation of increased foreign inflows in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Please note that people currently in our country, according to international conventions and laws of BiH, have the right to protection, we remind officials and representatives of the institutions of responsibility and duty they have assumed by taking up their duties, and emphasize that the focus of solving and responding to the current the primacy situation must be human rights and the protection of these persons.

Considering the media impact in forming public opinion, it is important media reports to be in accordance with professional and ethical principles , to respect two sides of the story and not to lead to further marginalization of those who are certainly in an extremely unfavorable social position.

Members of The Coalition for Fighting Hate Speech and Hate Crime

Asocijacija za demokratske inicijative

Youth centre KVART

Civil Rights Defenders

Fondation CURE

Foundation Media centre Sarajevo

Youth Initiative for Human Rights BiH

Otaharin

Youth Journalists Association (ONA)

Sarajevo Open Centre

Tuzla Open Centre

BH Journalists Association

Press Council BiH

Women in the media industry of BiH are under-represented in the governance structures, meanwhile they are targets of gender-motivated violence

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SARAJEVO, 16.05.2018. – Female jorunalists in Bosnia and Herzegovinaare often a target of gender-motivated and other forms of harassment and threats while performing professional tasks. Besides, researches confirmed gender disbalance, especially in the media management and editorial positions, as announced at a two-day conference on “Position and Protection of Female Journalists in Bosnia-Herzegovina Media”, which started today in Sarajevo.

Problem female journalists face with in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not question only freedom of expression and media but also gender equality, wherefore a need for networking female journalists and increasing solidarity as category exists.

„Journalists are often the targets of harassment and threats in online and offline spheres. These issues need to be addressed in public, “said OSCE Head of Mission in BiH Bruce Berton, and expressed the readiness of this organization to contribute to the protection of journalist rights in BiH.

„A large number of gender-motivated attacks on journalists, registered ba Free Media Help Line, are just a part of the reason for considering the idea of establishing a network of female journalists as a platform for solidarity and a struggle for their freedom and protection“, said Swedish Ambassador to BiH Anders Hagelberg.

Ena Bavčić, program officer of Civil Right Defenders, pointed out that even though the attacks on honor, reputation and physical integrity of journalists do not treat them seriously as life threats, they continue to cause significant and damaging consequences of professional and personal nature.

„I believe that it is time to start thinking about the position of women not only within the profession of journalism but also in the realization of civil and political rights. Journalists need to be empowered to report such attacks, apropos  the private way of confronting journalists, to switch to the public sphere and to work more thoroughly“, said Bavčić.

Besima Borić, gender equality activists, pointed out that BiH has an enviable legal and institutional framework for gender equality, including constitutional guarantees.

„Gender Equality Policy implies a devoted work to ensuring a unequivocal shift in power and resources. We consider equality as a high democratic achievement and it is clear that both men and women must strive for it. Partnership is built with high awareness of its need“, said Borić.

On the conference in Sarajevo results of the research from BHJA were presented „Women and media: employees and management structures“. Author of the analysis Amer Džihana, emphasized three basic problems that exist in the context of women and media, which are the absence of women from the most serious informative content, the way women are represented in the media, and the employment and promotion of women within the media industry.

„The share of women in positions of director in the media in BiH is 25.3 percent, and men 74.7. The worst gender structure is in the leadership positions in the television sector, where women occupy only 15.8 percent of the polling stations“, said Džihana and added that most women in the positions of the chief and responsible editor work in the radio sector (44.7%), and the least in online media, where women make up 21.7 percent of those nominated in these positions.

Professor on Faculty of Philosophy in East Sarajevo,  Zlatiborka Popov Momčinović presented the results of the analysis„Pressures, threats and safety endangerment of female journalists in BiH“ that was contucted based on the data of Free Media Help Line.

„Attacks on female journalists in BiH are characteristic because they occur within the ethnically and partially divided public sphere“, said Momčinović  and added that politician are the main initiators of attacks and freedom endangerment of female journalists

Still, as concluded today, getting the legislative framework for gender equality, together with the highly expressed enthusiasm of women for education, provide hope for the media sector to be regulated on the principles of gender equality.

The conference „Position and Protection of Female Journalists in Bosnia-Herzegovina Media” was organized by BHJA in cooperation with the OSCE Mission in BiH and Civil Right Defenders.

Are Serbia’s tax inspections being used as a tool to curb the press?

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BELGRADE, 16.05.2018. – It’s been six months since Južne Vesti, the most popular news website in southern Serbia, was subject to severe and inexplicably long tax inspections. This was their fifth such investigation in five years. Their clients and advertisers have also been pressured, and their family members harassed and intimidated. These frequent, months-long visits are exhausting for employees, keeping them away from their regular day-to-day work. Inspectors have never established any irregularities nor has the website ever been penalised. Nonetheless, controls have intensified.

“It’s difficult for me to believe that the motives behind so many frequent and intense inspections are anything but political,” Predrag Blagojević, editor-in-chief of Južne Vesti told Mapping Media Freedom. But what was the trigger?

The first tax inspector knocked on Južne Vesti’s door in December 2013, right after the portal ran a story about Zoran Perišić, then mayor of the city of Niš, who hid his salary from anti-corruption investigators, Blagojević explained. Perišić asked the portal not to run the piece. “Why don’t you reveal incomes of Južne Vesti?” he asked. Blagojević let Perišić know that all the data was publicly available through the Business Registers Agency website. A few days later, after an anonymous tip, tax inspectors came looking for documents related to Južne Vesti’s incomes. Four months later, the website was told that “there were no irregularities found”. This was just the first in a series of inspections.

In an interview, Blagojević said state pressure on the media — like in the similar case of the weekly Vranjske which was forced to shut down — is dangerous and deceitful because the government can always justify it as “the rule of law”. There are few witnesses willing to publicly testify about the pressures they’re exposed to because people fear challenging the Tax Administration.

“They are chasing away our clients and by doing so, cutting our incomes, killing us financially in a way that even well-informed citizens can’t notice,” Blagojević said. “And if we give up in the end, our prime minister will say — just like in the case of Vranjske newspaper — that ‘they didn’t survive the market game’.”

After Južne Vesti informed the public about extensive audits followed by threats and intimidation of their clients and their family members, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) issued a strong condemnation, demanding prime minister Ana Brnabić end the campaign of government pressure on Južne Vesti. The same letter was sent to the European Commission, the European Federation of Journalists and other international organisations.

The OSCE representative on freedom of the media Harlem Désir, who visited Serbia to discuss media freedom issues with Serbia’s highest officials — president Vučić and prime minister  Brnabić — and media representatives, was also told about the problems and pressures that Južne Vesti has been struggling with.

Following the meetings with Désir, Brnabić stated that she asked the director of tax administration to “stop the controls if they are not needed”. At the time, there was only one tax inspector working on the case. On the very next day, Južne Vesti counted at least 14 new inspectors visiting their advertisers and business partners.

The president of NUNS, Slaviša Lekić, told Mapping Media Freedom that their public appeal to the prime minister and her conversation with tax authorities happened to coincide with intensified and extended inspection of Južne Vesti. “I want to believe it was a coincidence.”

Blagojević thinks that the real message is that Brnabić’s statement on the inspections actually conveys that there is no rule of law in Serbia. “How can a prime minister ask for the dismissal of tax controls? It means that she can make similar demands for other companies or individuals,” the editor explained. Blagojević also said he wonders if the prime minister knows that the tax administration is conducting investigations where none are needed.

The Serbian state secretary for media, Aleksandar Gajović, invited Južne Vesti to contact him in writing regarding their case. But Blagojević believes if Gajović really wanted to help, he would have contacted the management of the website himself instead of publicly inviting them to write to him. “These kinds of statements stultify all currently existing legal forms, and state  secretary’s engagement in the production of new documents, such as Serbia’s new media strategy, clearly suspend everything that was achieved so far.”

NUNS strongly opposed the draft of Serbia’s new media strategy, which has yet to be released to the public. The union demanded a new strategy document be drafted because the first has been, according to NUNS, based on the interests of government officials and not the public’s right to information. “It is completely unacceptable,” Lekić said. “If it gets passed, it means that the state is coming back to the media and position of journalists and media organisations will be far worse than today, although that seems unthinkable now.”

If renationalisation of the media is the goal of Serbia’s government, the strategy that would run counter to the country’s media reform and privatisation laws.

Other media organisations and associations have also criticised the draft document. Many resigned from the working group that had been established to prepare the draft strategy. Representatives of those groups said they believe that the new document will only worsen the already worrying condition of media freedom in Serbia.

In the wake of Désir’s visit to the country, Brnabić announced on 24 April that the government’s media strategy would be put on hold because the working group that created the first draft was “illegitimate” due to the absence of relevant media associations’ representatives. It is unclear what the next steps in the development of the strategy will be or who will devise it.

The latest Serbia Human Rights report issued by the US department of state said that “while independent media organisations generally were active and expressed a wide range of views, there were reports that the government pressured media by withholding advertising, abusing tax audits, and restricting access to public information”.

But Južne Vesti is not the only organisation to face financial losses due to pressure from tax authorities. One of the consequences of intensive inspections into the publication and its business partners is that they paid 600,000 dinars (€5,079) less taxes for the first quarter of 2018. “We simply couldn’t deliver some services because we have to deal with nonsense,” Blagojević said.

Despite the near-constant pressures, Južne Vesti gained support from colleagues, citizens and civic activists who got in touch, asking how to help, offering expert advice and legal aid. “There is not much we can do. We are sure that everything is clear on our side and we have no concerns about that,” Blagojević says.

Južne Vesti never asked inspectors to end their investigations, but rather demanded they do not overstep their legal authorisation, that they stop intimidating their clients, advertisers and suppliers. The editor-in-chief said he is worried that the tax administration is ceasing to be an institution that works in the public interest and becoming a weapon in the hands of authorities.

Lekić notes that the “virus of fear”, which was thought to have been eradicated or suppressed, has infected almost all of Serbia’s journalists. “And that is dangerous for our society, especially when common citizens mostly expect journalists to be what the citizens themselves are not: truthful, brave and to represent the public interest.”

“Media freedom is deeply related with media sustainability, which means the situation is catastrophic,” Blagojević said. For the last three years, Serbia’s IREX global Media Sustainability Index is lower than it was in 2000, the last year of Milošević’s dictatorship, when it had been considered to be the worst possible. “I think it illustrates best the condition of media freedom in Serbia.”

OSCE supports investigations on crimes against murdered journalists in Kosovo

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PRISTINA, 16.05.2018 – The OSCE Mission in Kosovo will support efforts to find the perpetrators of the 14 murdered and missing journalists in Kosovo.

This was announced by the chief of the mission, Ambassador Jan Braathu during the discovery of a memorial plaque for two Serb reporters who went missing since 1999.

“They were doing a very important job to inform people about what really happened in the conflict zone and that’s why our insistence is to find out what’s happened,” Braathu added.

He called on the institutions to work on clearing cases against journalists during the recent war in Kosovo.

“It is very important that we continue to insist that the institutions work to find the perpetrators of these crimes. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo will insist more on this issue in the future, “he said.

The memorial plaque for the two missing journalists in 1999, Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic, was established by the Association of Serbian Journalists in Kosovo. This plate is rising for the seventh time, following consecutive damages.

“This plaque that UNS is putting on for the seventh time is evidence of how interested institutions are to work in these cases, even to find out who is destroying this plaque,” said Budimir Nicic, president of the Association of Serbian Journalists in Kosovo.

He criticized the work of the EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, saying that this mission did nothing to shine the case of murdered journalists.

“We do not know this, but we know what our job is and we will continue to work, which is to talk, ask and ask where our colleagues are and who is responsible for the killings of our other colleagues,” said Nicic.

The murdered and missing journalists are: Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic of Radio Prishtina missing on August 21, 1998; Afrim Maliqi, murdered on 2 December 1998, Enver Maloku, killed on 11 January 1999, Ljubomir Knezevic disappeared on 6 May 1999, Milo Buljevic disappeared on 25 June 1999, Aleksandar Simovic, killed on 21 August 1999, killed Krist Gegaj on 12 September 1999, Momir Stokuca, killed on 21 September 1999, Marjan Melonasi, missing on 9 September 2000, Shefki Popova, killed on 10 September 2000, Xhemajl Mustafa, killed on 23 November 2000, Bekim Kastrati, killed on 19 October 2001, and Bardhyl Ajeti killed on 28 June 2005.

Lerut: Napad na Lakićevu podseća na ubistva Galicije i Kucijaka

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PODGORICA, 15.05.2018. – Predsednik Međunarodne federacije novinara (IFJ) Filip Lerut oštro je osudio napad na novinarku „Vijesti“ Oliveru Lakić u Podgorici i najavio da će tražiti da ta organizacija pošalje protestno pismo crnogorskim vlastima.

„Pročitao sam Vaše pismo sa velikom indignacijom i zabrinutošću zato što me ovaj napad na Oliveru Lakić neizbežno podsetio na ubistva novinarke Dafne Karuane Galicije na Malti i novinara Jana Kucijaka i njegove devojke u Slovačkoj“, kazao je Lerut u odgovoru na pismo zabrinutosti koje mu je, povodom napada na Lakićevu, uputila Regionalna platforma Zapadnog Balkana za zagovaranje slobode medija i bezbednosti novinara.

Lerut je kazao i da je trenutno u Tajpeju, na Tajvanu, gde se održava sednica Izvršnog odbora IFJ na kojoj će tražiti da ta organizacija napravi formalan korak i pošalje pismo crnogorskim vlastima u kojem će oštro protestovati zbog ovog neprihvatljivog čina.

Olivera Lakić napadnuta je 8. maja oko 21h u Podgorici, kada je nepoznati muškarac pucao u nju ispred zgrade u kojoj živi. Lakićeva je ranjena u nogu i nakon 2 dana u bolnici otpuštena je na kućno lečenje. Ona je i ranije bila meta napada i pretnji zbog svojih tekstova u kojima se bavila švercom cigareta u Crnoj Gori.

Leruth: Attack on Lakic is reminiscent of Galicia and Kuciak murders

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PODGORICA 14.05.2018. – Philippe Leruth, president of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemned the attack on Olivera Lakic, journalist of Montenegrin daily “Vijesti” in Podgorica. Leruth announced that he will request of IFJ to send a letter of protest to the Montenegrin authorities. 

“I read your email with great indignation and concern as this assault against Olivera Lakić reminds me inevitably on the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galicia in Malta, and Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend in Slovakia” said Leruth in a response to a letter of concern sent by the the Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety.

Leruth said that he is currently in Taipei, Taiwan, where the IFJ Executive Committee convenes this week, and added that he will ask for the vote of a formal motion and a letter to the Montenegro authorities to protest strongly this unacceptable fact.

Olivera Lakic was attacked on May 8, at about 9 p.m. in Podgorica. An unknown man shot her in front of the building where he lives. Lakic was wounded in the leg and after 2 days in the hospital was sent home for treatment. She had already been the target of the attacks and threats earlier because of her reporting about cigarette smuggling in Montenegro.