Tadić Mijović: Instead of investigating allegations of possible illegalities in the ANB, the prosecution is questioning journalists

The Editor-in-Chief of the Center for Investigative Reporting of Montenegro (CIN-CG), Milka Tadić Mijović, today, at the request of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office, gave a statement at the Security Center Podgorica regarding the criminal charges filed by the Director of the National Security Agency (ANB) Ivica Janović against CIN-CG journalists Đurđa Radulović and Andrea Perišić.

The report was filed in early June due to the CIN-CG article: "Security checks in the ANB: Are hirings more at the behest of the powerful?" The statement was taken from Milka Tadić Mijović in the presence of lawyer Siniša Gazivoda.

Tadić Mijović emphasized in her statement that it is a precedent that a criminal report was filed because the name of an ANB employee was published in the article, assessing that such a case has not been recorded in previous practice. She pointed out that the media had been publishing the names of ANB employees for years, including, for example, Zoran Lazović and Duško Golubović, but that criminal reports had never been filed against journalists or media outlets for this reason. It was precisely the media reports on these cases that were later one of the reasons for initiating proceedings against these individuals, which confirms that reporting on the work of the security sector, when there is a public interest in doing so, is an important part of democratic control of institutions.

"It is unacceptable that there is now an attempt to criminalize the work of female journalists for publishing the identities of ANB officers in an investigative article that raises the issue of possible violations of laws and procedures during employment. Such a practice represents serious pressure on investigative journalism and may have a deterrent effect on media outlets reporting on the work of institutions of public importance," said Tadić Mijović.

She reminded that CIN-CG checked all information from multiple independent sources before publishing the article, and that almost all names of employees obtained by the journalists were anonymized. The only published name refers to an officer employed by the ANB, despite the fact that proceedings were being conducted against him at the Ministry of Defense, which the editorial office confirmed with official information from that state body.

According to her, the publication of this information was in the undoubted public interest. The National Security Agency should be the backbone of the state's security system, and therefore its personnel policy must be based on the consistent application of the law and the strictest security standards. It is particularly worrying if the ANB employs persons against whom proceedings are being conducted in other state bodies or persons who, according to available information, would not be able to pass security checks if they were carried out in accordance with the law, as CIN-CG has just reported.

Tadić Mijović emphasized that the aim of the research was precisely to point out possible shortcomings in the work of an institution of exceptional importance for state security. "All information was published after thorough verification, with respect for the highest professional and ethical standards and solely because of their undoubted public interest," she stated.

At the same time, she assessed that the competent state authorities should investigate the allegations from the CIN-CG research and determine whether there were any violations of laws and procedures during the employment at the ANB, instead of spending judicial resources on criminal prosecution of journalists who informed the public about these suspicions.

Tadić Mijović took full editorial responsibility for publishing the text, emphasizing that journalists Đurđa Radulović and Andrea Perišić, against whom criminal charges have been filed, should not bear responsibility.

Finally, she reminded that, in accordance with the Media Law, journalistic sources are protected and that CIN-CG will not reveal the identity of its sources, as this is one of the fundamental principles on which media freedom is based.