Several non-governmental organizations condemned the death threats to the editor of the M portal Danica Nikolić. On Saturday, several emails with threatening content were sent to the email address of the editor-in-chief of the M portal.
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Juventas: Journalists must be protected
The NGO Juventas, condemning the threats, called on the prosecutor's office and the police to urgently take all measures and actions within their jurisdiction in order to discover the perpetrator.
"Juventas expresses its concern and strongly condemns the death threats addressed to the editor of the M portal, Danica Nikolić. We call on the prosecution and the police to urgently take all measures and actions within their jurisdiction in order to discover the sender of the death threats, but also to provide adequate protection to the journalist Nikolić." in the statement.
They said that lately there have been more frequent attacks on journalists and television crews, name-calling addressed to the media and journalists from political positions.
"Until this last one, in which the death threat was addressed to the journalist and indirectly to numerous other journalists, politicians and representatives of the civil sector and activists," Juventas state.
From that NGO, they state that at the same time, there is not a strong enough response from the institutions or condemnation of the biggest political authorities in the country.
"The death threats to the editor of the M portal, Danica Nikolić, are the latest in a series of threats to journalists, representatives of the civil sector and civil activists in a country where previous fatal attacks on journalists and editors, as well as on media property, have not been brought to light. ", the announcement states.
It is added that the institutions must react to every slightest threat to freedom of expression.
"Even though we are in a turbulent political time, we must not allow that and everything related to it to create media content, but we must allow journalists to express their position in an objective way", Juventas believe.
According to them, journalists and the media are in a difficult financial situation, they perform one of the key social tasks, and they must be fully protected from political pressure, intimidation and attacks.
"Freedom of expression, media independence and open discussion are the key principles on which modern democracy rests. It will enable us to stop the control of the distribution of information and overcome the great challenges we are facing as a society," Juventas said.
CGO: Abazović to handle his position responsibly
CGO, condemning the death threats, said that the hate speech addressed to the editor of the M portal is a reflection of the deep division of society, but also of a collapsed value system, in which women are increasingly targeted.
"We call on the Prime Minister in the technical mandate, Dritan Abazović, to handle his position responsibly, because his intolerant attitudes towards the media, which have a critical attitude towards the Government and him personally, can be interpreted as pressure and lead to the endangerment of those media and journalists," the CGO pointed out. .
They added that it is the government's duty to reduce tensions, not to create an atmosphere in which dissidents become targets of the government.
"Just like the DPS had this obligation when it was in power, which the CGO pointed out then - now it is the new Government, its members and the parties from which they come. Bearing in mind the sensitive socio-political moment, we also invite all the media in Montenegro that, regardless of their editorial policies, they protect the integrity of the profession and report professionally in the interest of the public," said the CGE.
NGO 35mm: Government representatives should not be silent
The NGO "35mm" condemned the "heinous threats" to Danica Nikolić. They said that they expect the competent authorities to urgently take all measures to protect Nikolić and discover the perpetrator who "tried to threaten her with death, because he does not agree with her editorial policy".
"We also call on the representatives of the authorities not to be silent about such events, because colleague Nikolić is only one in a long line of journalists who are in fear for their lives because of what they report on, in a heated political time. Due to the fact that after numerous attacks, safety and dignity of media workers lowered to the level that they are constantly exposed to attacks and hate speech, we appeal to the decision-makers to enable our colleagues as soon as possible to enjoy working conditions in which there will be no fear that what they report on will be legitimate the target of dissidents," the statement said.
Free media and active civil society should not be suffocated by any attempts at intimidation, because they, as observers of political life, are the pillars on which every democratic society should rest, concludes the NGO "35 mm".
GA: Disagreement with the editorial policy must not give anyone the right to threaten security
The Civic Alliance also condemned the threats directed at journalist Danica Nikolić and called on the competent institutions to react in accordance with the law.
The non-governmental organization states that threats and attacks on journalists are becoming more frequent and that this must be stopped once and for all.
They point out that the institutions must show determination in preventing such cases and severely sanctioning the perpetrators of these acts.
"Disagreement with the editorial policy of any media or the work of journalists should not give anyone the right to threaten their safety in any way, especially considering the many examples of attacks on journalists in the past, some of which, unfortunately, ended tragically." , according to their statement.
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