Society of Professional Journalists: Urgently determine who is behind the campaign against Jelena Jovanović

The Association of Professional Journalists of Montenegro (DPNCG) has called on the State Prosecutor's Office and the Police Directorate to determine who is behind, as they stated, the constant online campaign against "Vijesti" journalist Jelena Jovanović.

The DPNCG requested that the authorities inform the public whether the latest threats were sent from Montenegro or from abroad, as well as whether there are obstacles to identifying people hiding behind fake profiles.

"Once again, we condemn the campaign of targeting, threats, insults and public lynching to which our colleague Jelena Jovanović has been exposed because of her work," reads the statement signed by DPNCG Vice President Dragana Šćepanović.

The association called on the Ministry of Justice, the Government, and the Parliament to adopt amendments to the Criminal Code as soon as possible, so that gender-based hate speech against female journalists would be punished as a criminal offense.

The DPNCG reminds that they previously initiated such a proposal precisely because of the increase in gender-based hate speech against female journalists, which, as they state, is now mostly punished with misdemeanors, that is, fines.

"An organized discrediting campaign has been waged against colleague Jovanović for years, during which serious and unsubstantiated accusations have been made, offensive and misogynistic expressions have been used, and messages that can incite hatred and violence have been promoted," the statement said.

The DPNCG said that it is particularly concerning that a significant part of the attack on Jovanović contains elements of gender-based violence.

"Misogyny's insults, sexist belittling and attempts to discredit her based on her gender are not only aimed at her professional integrity, but also represent an attempt to intimidate, silence and suppress women from the public sphere," the DPNCG said.

They add that, combined with years of targeting, accusations that she is responsible for the deaths of other people, labeling her as a "traitor" and "enemy", as well as open calls for a showdown, such a campaign creates an extremely dangerous environment that could seriously jeopardize Jovanović's safety.

The DPNCG says that such messages cannot be viewed as individual comments on social media, but rather as part of a continuous pattern of behavior that can have serious consequences for the physical safety of the journalist and her family.

"Particular concern is the fact that colleague Jovanović has previously been assessed as a high level of security risk and has been granted police protection. In such circumstances, every new wave of threats, hate speech and public targeting must be treated with the utmost seriousness," the DPNCG stated.

They assessed that ignoring or relativizing such phenomena may further encourage individuals prone to violence to turn verbal threats into concrete actions.

The DPNCG expects an urgent and decisive reaction from the competent institutions in order, as they said, to prevent possible consequences and protect the life, safety and dignity of Jovanović.

"Freedom of expression includes the right to criticize the work of journalists and the media, but it does not include the right to defame, threaten, dehumanize, and target individuals. When a journalist is systematically presented as an enemy of the state, a criminal, or a person responsible for other people's accidents and deaths, the boundary of legitimate public debate is crossed and the area of ​​serious security threats is entered," the statement reads.

The DPNCG reminded that the role of journalists in a democratic society is to investigate topics of public interest, including organized crime, corruption, and abuse of power.

"Therefore, they must not be exposed to intimidation campaigns aimed at silencing them or deterring them from their professional work," the association said.

They called on the Police Directorate and the Prosecutor's Office to urgently, thoroughly and efficiently investigate all reported cases of threats, hate speech and public targeting.

DPNCG also called on political actors, public officials, social media users and the entire public to contribute to creating a social environment in which disagreements will be expressed through arguments, and not through threats, insults and campaigns against individuals.

"The Society of Professional Journalists of Montenegro expresses full solidarity with my colleague Jelena Jovanović, as well as with all journalists who suffer pressure, threats and attempts at intimidation due to their professional engagement," the statement concludes.