For almost two decades, the prosecution and the police are unable or unwilling to find out who ordered the killers to draw their guns and fire shots in Duško Jovanović, as well as who shot the editor-in-chief of "Dana" with a machine gun.
The journalist and former member of parliament was killed on this day in 2004 - by shots from an automatic weapon, when he left the editorial office of the daily paper he owned.
So far, only a man from Podgorica has been convicted of participating in the murder Damir Mandic, who was upheld by the Court of Appeal in April 2017 for complicity and sentenced to 19 years in prison.
In addition to the perpetrators and orderers of that murder, those who conducted the investigation so that the truth is never established escape justice. It has not been determined who is responsible for the fact that there have been no serious results for almost two decades.
"There was no desire to solve it"
President of the Commission for Monitoring Investigations of Attacks on Journalists and Media Property Mihailo Jovovic he told Vijesti yesterday that his impression was that from the beginning there was no genuine desire at the top of the state to fully solve the murder of Jovanović and reach the perpetrators and those who ordered it:
"Precisely because probably those who ordered it were close to the top of the government at the time, despite the efforts of a small number of individuals in the police. My experience as a journalist and working in the Commission tells me that almost every unsolved case of attacks on journalists has something to do with the government or people close to the government, be they criminals or suspicious businessmen. And the rest are solved quickly - just look at the results in solving attacks in the last two years".
He explained that he thinks that on the political level, although politics should not affect whether the prosecution will do its job or not, the prosecution in Montenegro has never been independent from politics - now there is a sincere will to solve the Jovanović case, but it is not within the purview of politics.
"The Montenegrin prosecutor's office, which is still intertwined with various relatives, godfathers, friends and other ties, definitely needs 'airing out' at many instances, especially in leadership positions in higher and basic prosecutor's offices, honor exceptions, and the key is to elect the supreme state prosecutor prosecutor in full term. Something similar to the arrival of a new special prosecutor should happen there, so only then can we hope for the results that the Special State Prosecutor's Office, with several new people, has achieved so far," he said.
Pavićević: May Duško finally find peace
The sister of the murdered Jovanovic, Danijela Pavićević, she said with Vijesti that they are replacing the chief special prosecutor Milivoj Katnić and by choice Vladimir Novović acquired formal prerequisites, and hopefully essential ones - to finally finish the investigation into her brother's murder:
"By that I mean that everything should be revealed - the criminal who shot, his helpers, accomplices, and what is most important for us, the mastermind".
She also pointed out that the review of the entire case, which the prosecution could initiate, would surely provide some new information and expose those who were a hindrance in the investigation.
"Suggestion to the Prosecutor's Office that they must find a way to disable a significant number of individuals, and perhaps groups in their ranks, who would relativize each new piece of evidence, or worse, warn those who are 'under the scrutiny' of that body. I believe that this is the time for brave and honorable people who are ready to take on that task, aware of the importance of the moment in which Montenegro is, and they must also see the magnitude and importance of the task entrusted to them. In my opinion, this is a time that does not tolerate the weak and the one who accepts the position should also deliver the result. The state must show its power", said Pavićević.
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She says that the elucidation of that crime will show a lot in Montenegro:
"It will be a new image of the country, after which nothing will be the same again. I hope that this is the last anniversary that is marked with the same question - when will the crime be brought to light, and that each subsequent one will be marked only with candles and memories with wishes that our Duško will finally find his peace, after his executioners are adequately punished ", she said.
The NGO Center for Civic Education announced yesterday that every May 27 serves as a warning to public officials and politicians to move from words to actions:
"And to stop instrumentalizing this case for particular purposes. Without a complete solution to this murder, there will be no functional rule of law in Montenegro".
Fatigue, notes, carelessness...
Although, he used to be the first policeman Veselin Veljović in mid-September 2019, he said that the fatigue of the competent prosecutor on the night of the liquidation was the reason that the case of the murder of the owner of "Dana" has not been fully resolved to this day and that the case was irretrievably lost, the prosecutors never answered for it.
It is still unknown to the public and on what basis Veljović, at the closed session of the Security Committee, as they claimed, announced that the murder of Jovanović was operationally solved, that is, that the police know who did it, but that there is no material evidence.
I hope that this is the last anniversary that is marked with the same question - when will the crime be brought to light, and that each subsequent one will be marked only with candles and memories with wishes that our Duško will finally find his peace, after his executioners are adequately punished ", said the sister of the murdered Jovanovic, Danijela Pavićević
Former head of the Podgorica police Milan Vujanovic, earlier in the show "Načisto" he said that all information regarding the murder of Jovanović was passed on to the prosecutor.
"I personally submitted the official note Vesni Medenici i Stojanki Radović. I get a notification that the prosecutor will arrive in half an hour. It's 12 in the evening. The prosecutor came at three in the afternoon tomorrow. If I have to draw someone what it means to participate in the commission of a criminal offense and how to defend yourself. I would defend myself like him. The lawyers advised him to defend himself by remaining silent and end the story. Whether or not there was a gross influence on the competent prosecutors..." said Vujanović.
The Commission's recommendations traveled, it is not known whether they were implemented
In December of last year, the commission adopted a report, which included a set of recommendations, for the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office - that in order to intensify the investigation into the murder of Jovanović, high-ranking police officials at the time of that crime, Veselin Veljović, Tihomir Gačević, Branislav Živković, Milan Vujanović, then prosecutor Ljiljana Klikovac and judge Radomir Ivanović. They also recommended the questioning of Ivan Đukić, Veselin Vučeljić and Uroš Marchetić on the circumstances of the sale and tinting of the windows at "golf 3", from which Jovanović was shot. By the beginning of May, however, this had not been done.
Answering a question from Vijesta to comment on the two-month "journey" of the recommendations from the Commission to the Prosecutor's Office, Jovović said that the Government adopted their report in December, part of which included very specific recommendations for the investigation, verified its conclusions in January after the holidays, and that it is possible that he reached the VDT only in February, as they were told at the meeting with the Prime Minister.
"But it is not clear to me whether our recommendations from February to May reached the prosecutor who is leading the investigation into the murder of Duško Jovanović, and if they did not, why they did not, and if they did, it is not clear to me why nothing was done according to them. As it is not clear to me why nothing has been done for more than a year, since that prosecutor took over the case. In any case, the prosecution did not inform the Commission that anything was done according to our recommendations for that and many other cases, from this and most reports from 2013 until today".
He particularly emphasized their recommendations that the heads of the prosecutor's offices use their legal powers not to allow investigations to be ineffective and take a long time, such as the one in the case of Jovanović's murder:
"And of course to determine the responsibility of the prosecutors and the leadership of the MUP and the Police Directorate and the responsibility of the police officers in such investigations," said Jovović.
He also said that, after a meeting in a closed room with the prime minister, ministers and representatives of the police, the National Security Agency and the prosecution and his subsequent meeting with the acting supreme state prosecutor - he has the impression that there is a readiness in the prosecution to move things from a standstill:
"Although I am not optimistic that the case will be solved in the foreseeable future, given the current course of the investigation, which is still under the jurisdiction of the same prosecutor's office."
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