For more than two years, Jelena Jovanović, a journalist for "Vijesti", wakes up, spends her days and goes to bed accompanied by police security.
Jovanović has been following organized crime for a long time and her job is almost daily connected with risks to her safety.
In an interview with Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) he points out that there are no "usual dangers" for those who investigate organized crime and corruption, because the moment he discovers information concerning the dubious affairs of high-ranking individuals in organized crime or politicians, the journalist becomes a threat. for the interests of powerful groups or individuals deeply involved in criminal activities or corruption.
"From that moment, and there were many such in my work, nothing is normal or accidental anymore. As I get closer to the truth, the threats become more concrete and instead of 'well-intentioned' advice to give up, there are attempts at intimidation. In the last few years, it also happens that with hateful comments on social networks, or attempts to criminalize and discredit, they try to stop the research. In my opinion, these are the turning points in which, due to unbearable pressure, the journalist realizes that his safety is seriously threatened and is faced with a kind of choice: whether to give up or continue to risk his life in order to discover the truth," explains Jovanović.
To what extent has your personal and professional life changed since you got security?
"My lifestyle has changed significantly since the moment when I was first assigned physical security at the end of 2018. Fortunately, that period was shorter than this one now, which has been in varying degrees of security since August 2021. I had to change my habits , to deny myself trips, partially also to reduce trips to hiking, sports events, concerts, to the theater... Simply, for almost two and a half years now, I have forgotten about all those places that people go to every day, because it is no longer for me safe. That speaks volumes for the changes in my personal and professional life."
Do you think that the security services, apart from physical security, took all measures to remove the causes and protect you from those who threaten your life?
"The fact that I am answering the questions today shows that they are. However, I know that no service in the world can guarantee absolute security to anyone, and that was especially not possible in Montenegro, where dozens of officers of the Police Administration were in a tight embrace with organized It was devastating to read in the transcripts from the Sky application how the police chiefs forward my questions to the leaders of organized criminal groups and agree on answers with them, how in the conversation with them they draw a target on my forehead almost every day or promise them that they will to "explain" something, and in that context explanation means a lot, but nothing nice. Nevertheless, it had a sobering effect on me and strengthened my opinion that in this kind of society it is more dangerous to remain silent and be a silent observer than to talk loudly about the anomalies we are witnessing".
How much does physical security make it difficult for you to do journalism?
To a significant extent, because some sources do not want to see me due to distrust in the police and the fear that the policemen, who also physically protect my life, are actually just recording who I see. However, my daily work shows that I manage to manage.
In general, how safe are journalists in Montenegro?
"It is inappropriate to talk about the safety of journalists in a country where it is not known for twenty years who ordered the murder of Duško Jovanović. In a country where it has not been discovered who brutally beat Mladen Stojović, Tufik Softić, wounded Olivera Lakić, threw a bomb under the office of the editor-in-chief of Vijesti Mihaila Jovović... In a country where a series of attacks on journalists and media property is not covered, in a country that is deeply divided in all segments and in which the media is polarized. In such a country, those who do this job properly are under attack almost every day of various ill-intentioned structures and persons associated with them. Those who, unfortunately, have survived in our beautiful profession, and who tarnish it with their texts or articles that are anything but a search for the truth, are significantly safer, but I believe that, unlike of these others, the conscience is significantly more restless, if they have one, because they also know that the truth is like water and that sooner or later it finds a way".
Do you feel protected in addition to security?
"The police officers who are in charge of my security are professional and highly trained people in whom I really have full confidence and to whom I am infinitely grateful for being by my side every moment. However, no one in the world has the luxury of feeling absolutely safe, including me. But I don't even feel fear, and that's much more important than whether I feel threatened or not. My family, friends, colleagues, and an army of good people who support my work make a significant contribution to that."
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