Attacks on journalists in Montenegro insulted and devalued democracy and seriously damaged the principle of the public's right to know and to be informed in a timely and objective manner, announced the non-governmental organization "35mm" on the occasion of May 3 - World Press Freedom Day.
They said that the bearers of the public word, after a short-term association for the sake of the public interest in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, "were met with a series of verbal and physical attacks, most often motivated by disagreement and often unreasonable hatred towards the work of journalists or the editorial policy of the company, as a sobering slap in recent months." for which he works."
"When the public's right to know is threatened, all other civil rights are blackened. If we add to the increasingly frequent attacks on media workers and media property the 'rules' of the houses where they work, self-censorship, pressure from officials and owners, it seems that "media workers welcome this day not only humiliated and scared, but also with salaries that can barely make it through the month, because they are below the national average," the NGO "35mm" points out.
They estimate that the state of media freedom in Montenegro in recent months is at the level of the worst years behind us, because, as they said, everything resembles the time when numerous journalists faced physical and verbal attacks, threats, insults and humiliation, most often because what they do and who they work for.
"Hatred towards individual journalists also moved to social networks, so they were often a training ground for a series of insults against public speakers, and online chauvinism, misogyny and violence became a special problem. All this contributed to the journalistic profession and continues to be caught between low incomes and the fact that each of us "overnight" can become a target of dissidents, who now do not shy away from "reckoning" with our colleagues at any time of the day, in front of any number of people, and even during the performance of the work task," the statement added.
The NGO "35mm" points out that, in their condemnations of attacks on journalists, they noted that it is necessary for the state to show the power of institutions and reveal the circumstances of all attacks, and to adequately punish the perpetrators.
"Until the next commemoration of this date, when journalists will receive the status of official persons in Montenegro, when we will know who killed Duško Jovanović, who tried to kill Olivera Lakić and Tufik Softić, when the wholesome government 'experts' will be punished who insult journalists and hooligans who attack colleagues during heated political celebrations, and whose behavior is silenced and cynically defended by politicians and some expert ministers. Until the predators on the streets die - we have nothing left but to collect the little dignity we have all that is left is to persevere firmly in defending freedom of speech. All this is possible only with civic conscience and personal courage so that, despite all the pressures, we do not hesitate to reveal abuses, malfeasance, fraud and to stand up for the protection of the common good, just like those who NGO 35mm was recently awarded at the final event of the campaign 'CUJ SE!' which we organized on the occasion of whistleblower month. Otherwise, we are afraid that we will all lose our patience, because attacks on journalists will become a cherished tradition of all governments until now, and we will become prisoners of heated passions on the Montenegrin political scene," concludes announcement.
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