PODGORICA 07/10/2018. – Zdravko Gojkovic from Podgorica said that he did not want to jeopardize the safety of “Vijesti” journalist Jelena Jovanovic. He also denied that he threatened to her at the end of March this year in the office of the daily newspaper “Vijesti”.
This is the way the trial for endangering the safety of the journalist started in Basic court in Podgorica.
Having said that, Gojkovic renounced the admission of the criminal offense he had previously given, trying to settle the prosecution. Basic prosecutor Biljana Medenica had previously rejected Gojkovic’s offer of admission of guilt, which included three months of house arrest and 2,000 euros paid for charity.
Gojkovic said yesterday that “his honor and dignity would never allow him to endanger a woman”, and that he had two sisters, one of whom is a journalist.
He did not admit that he told to Jovanovic “to look after herself” and that he “would differ with her”, but claimed that he had only requested that the article “Two years of conflicts for 200 euros” be removed from the web site of Daily.
Answering to the lawyer Damir Lekic, Gojkovic said that he thought that other articles about him were written also by Jovanovic.
“The reason I have not denied the earlier articles is that this most recent one was a drop that spilled the glass, because it was full of untruths”, he said.
He added that when the journalist went out, he caught him by the hand and told him to go out, alleging that it would not be done by a person who felt threatened.
Jovanovic, but also the witnesses, denied that the journalist grabbed him by the hand, but they said that, after being threatened, she showed where the exit from the editorial office was.
Gojkovic was arrested at the end of March after threatening journalists in a daily newspaper office.
He was charged that, after the journalist told him that he could not remove the article from the web site, but had the right to react or deny claims from the text, he pushed the papers off the table and said, “I will act differently with you, I know how” , telling her to look after her.
For a criminal offense of endangering security, a fine or imprisonment of up to one year is prescribed.