The District Public Prosecutor’s Office of Banja Luka rejected the appeal of the editor-in-chief of the eTrafika portal, Vanja Stokić, and thus confirmed the order to suspend the investigation against Goran Živanović. To remind, in May this year, Goran Živanović threatened to cut off Vanja Stokić’s head.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Vanja Stokić by lawyer Aleksandar Jokić, who stated that the prosecutor analyzed only the facts and circumstances attached to the report by the RS Ministry of the Interior and did not undertake other investigative actions and analyze the suspect’s identity to determine whether he has been reported and sanctiond. The decision, signed by the Chief Prosecutor Želimir Lepir, states that Živanović, in his message to Stokić, made a series of insults and vulgarities, but that this could not be the subject of criminal proceedings.
“Namely, in this particular case, it is a comment made by the suspect via the social network Facebook on the announcement of the injured party, in which, it is true, he makes insulting and vulgar words, but that can never be the subject of criminal, but rather other proceedings. Considering that the order to suspend the investigation was issued on the grounds that the act committed by the suspect was not a criminal offense, it is clear that the prosecution had a sufficient number of facts, stated in the report of PS Obilićevo with attachments”, the decision reads.
This appeal of the decision came after the prosecutor Tatjana Ninković suspended the investigation against Živanović and characterized the threat he made to Stokić as an expression of dissatisfaction and personal opinion.
“His threats were addressed to an unspecified person, so that the actions of the suspect Goran Živanović did not achieve the characteristics of the criminal offense of Endangering Security and Encouraging Violence and Hatred under Article 150, paragraph 1 of the RS Criminal Code, nor the criminal offense of Public Incitement and Encouragement of Violence and Hatred under Article 359, paragraph 1 of the RS Criminal Code, considering that the suspect did not publicly call for incite or encouraged violence and hatred,” reads the decision of the Prosecutor’s Office.
We remind you that Goran Živanović threatened Stokić under a photo on Facebook where she is on the move with two people. Then, on May 23, he wrote that he would behead her, migrants and all moralists.
Shortly afterwards, the editorial board of the eTrafika portal received information about the large police file that Živanović has in the police. Namely, he is known to almost every police officer in Bratunac, and a source from the police told our portal that he is not a harmless person whose threats should be ignored.
Vanja Stokić’s death threats were also condemned by numerous international organizations, as well as the Association “BH Journalists”, which demanded an urgent investigation of this case, and the news about this event spread throughout the region. The OSCE and the EUSR also responded. Due to failure to act in this case, the RS Ministry of the Interior punished crime inspector Petar Mirković.