PODGORICA, 04.08.2020. – At the time of frequent harassment of media representatives, when a lot of previous attacks on journalists remain unsolved, and when three journalists were arrested for publishing false news, the Commission for Monitoring Investigations of Attacks on Journalists recommended that the competent state authorities provide conditions for media workers, where they are treated with dignity.
After the statement of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin and the Director of the Police Directorate Veselin Veljović at the round table in the Assembly, as well as the statement of the police leader at the session of the Committee for European Integration on omissions in investigations of certain attacks on journalists, the Commission sent a letter whether there are omissions in the investigations of the attack on Tufik Softić and the murder of Duško Jovanović, and, if so, what are those omissions and whose. The Commission did not receive a response to this letter either.
The report specifically analyzed the case of the injury of journalist Olivera Lakić. It was stated that Lakić first time gave a statement on November 6, 2019 in the case Kti.br. 18/19, formed by merging the case for illegal possession of weapons, the aggravated murder of Miodrag Kruščić with the case of Olivera Lakić. It is stated that with that order, the prosecution gave up the qualification of attempted murder to the detriment of Lakić and qualified the act as a criminal association, which aimed, among other things, to inflict severe bodily injuries on Olivera Lakić.
It was recommended to ask for an explanation why the legal deadlines for completing the investigation into the attack on Olivera Lakić were broken, even though the regular legal deadline is six months, and more than 12 months have passed so far. Also, it is recommended to review the actions of police officials who, on February 19, 2019, first confirmed that they knew who shot at Olivera Lakić, and later denied that.
It was pointed out that her newspaper articles should be taken as a possible direction in finding the attackers and the perpetrators, in which she mentioned the names of people who were connected to the tobacco business and their possible connection with people from the top of the government. The report states that on June 21, 2019, the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office responded to the Commission’s request to submit complete case files on the wounding of journalist Olivera Lakić, but that in over 1,500 pages of documentation, Olivera Lakić and the criminal offense to her detriment, are mentioned in only one paragraph. As it was stated, no order for the investigation against the suspects in connection with the criminal offense to the detriment of Olivera Lakić was submitted to the Commission, while, as they explain, the criminal offense to the detriment of the journalist is not mentioned in any document submitted to the Commission, except in the cover letter.
The conclusions of the Commission stated that the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office submitted incomplete files of cases formed in 2019 against Filip Bešović and other defendants, concerning the wounding of Olivera Lakić on May 8, 2018. It is stated that the Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to Olivera Lakić’s requests for months to provide her with an insight into the copy of the case file formed on the occasion of the event from May 8, 2018.
Indiscriminately submit all documents
The Higher Prosecutor’s Office was recommended to indiscriminately submit to the Commission all case files related to a specific criminal offense to the detriment of Olivera Lakić, while the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office was suggested to control the legality and expediency of the actions of the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office, head Vesna Jovićević and acting prosecutors Miloš Šoškić and Tatjana Begović in cases concerning the events of May 8, 2018 committed to the detriment of Olivera Lakić, with special emphasis on the attitude of the prosecution towards the injured party, in terms of denying the case file, not inviting hem to attend evidence except one, and not hearing her as the injured party.
Commission formed for another two years
At the last session, the government made a decision on the establishment of the Commission for monitoring the actions of the competent bodies in the investigation of cases of threats, violence, murders of journalists and attacks on media property. According to Article 2, the Commission consists of: President Nikola Markovic, Assistant Editor-in-Chief of the daily “Dan”, members Mihailo Jovovic (“Vijesti”), Marijana Camovic (TUMM), Ranko Vujovic (MSS), Dragoljub Dusko Vukovic (journalist and media expert), Aneta Spaić (Prosecutorial Council), Milan Adžić (Ministry of Interior Affairs), Aleksandra Samardžić (National Protection Agency) and Dalibor Tomović (NGO).
