The executive director of the Action for Human Rights (HRA), Tea Gorjanc Prelevic, filed a lawsuit against the Serbian tabloid "Informer" after, as she claims, "a coordinated and primitive campaign of smearing", which followed due to the legal argumentation that HRA sent to the Government on the subject of the Basic Treaty with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).
That campaign, as stated by Gorjanc Prelević, was followed by portals from Montenegro: IN4S, Press, Borba and Adria.
He announces the lawsuit against Informer as the first in a series in which he will defend the integrity of HRA and the right to freedom of expression for the purpose of the rule of law.
"The business activities of her husband, who is a co-owner of a building plot with the SPC in Belgrade with seven other people, are legal and public, and apparently had no influence on the actions of Tee Gorjanc Prelevic, which were and remain selfless and impartial. A bitter impression remains that the interest of the SPC is being defended by the echelon of quasi-media and special journalists, who tried to discredit HRA and its director with lies and disparagement," the HRA press release states.
IMCG condemned the smear campaign
The Media Institute of Montenegro (IMCG) expresses its solidarity with Gorjanc Prelevic and the employees of Action for Human Rights and, as they announced, strongly condemns the slander campaign carried out by part of the media in Serbia and Montenegro.
"We are clearly opposed to the attempt to abuse free journalism to target dissidents. An ad hominem attack due to a publicly stated position - which is also thoroughly legally argued and extremely constructive, is not protected by freedom of the media and does not belong to freedom of expression," the IMCG statement states.
They add that free journalism has an obligation to protect the personal rights of individuals in every case, especially when it is not about public officials, and that instead, "through a series of texts, an attempt was made to destroy the reputation, honor and privacy of the HRA director, who is not in a position of power but only participant in the public debate."
"By the fact that Gorjan Prelevic is untruthfully characterized as a "rabid Serb hater", in charge of "implementing Serbophobia" and with "obvious evil intentions", and that behind her is "provincial chauvinism nurtured on budget money", that she hates Serbia and the Serbian Church, that is "penthouse committee" and "Milo's expertise", etc. ethical standards of the media were violated. The texts are not based on verified facts, but their aim is to humiliate and discredit Gorjanc Prelevic," IMCG said.
Besides, as concluded by the Media Institute, Gorjan Prelevic's human rights were violated, texts like these try to "suppress dialogue, space for public action and participation in the creation of public policies, by instilling fear in anyone who has a different opinion."
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