It was only in February that the proposal of the Commission for Monitoring Proceedings in Investigations into Attacks on Journalists from December last year was submitted to the Higher State Prosecutor's Office - that in the investigation into the murder of the owner and editor of "Dana" Duško Jovanović they are re-interviewing certain witnesses, but also some that the investigators did not invite for almost two decades to share with them their possible knowledge about that crime.
"Vijesti" has learned that the proposal only reached them in February, the representatives of the prosecutor's office informed the leaders of the executive power and representatives of the Commission at a meeting yesterday.
With the multi-decade burden of the murder of Jovanović, and despite progress on the World Media Freedom Index, Montenegro, as he said Pavol Salaj from the organization "Reporters without Borders", remains in the second half among European countries.
World Press Freedom Day was celebrated across the planet yesterday.
The new prosecutor in the case of the murder of Duško Jovanović
After the meeting in the so-called deaf room, the Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic he told the journalists that the case of Jovanović's murder was assigned to the new prosecutor - Danka Ivanović Djerić.
Congratulating all media workers on Media Freedom Day, Abazović pointed out that this case is a priority for the Government, saying that they will do everything to shed light on the murder.
"If there is even a percentage of the possibility to find out the full truth, to get to it, because both the family of the murdered Jovanović and the entire Montenegrin public have the right to know, not only who committed the murder, but also who ordered it," announced the Prime Minister after meeting with representatives of the prosecution organization, the police, the National Security Agency and the Commission.
He repeated that since the day of the murder in 2004, huge obstacles have been put in place to prevent finding out who killed Jovanović, stressing that it is now much more difficult for the acting prosecutor to act in that case, because some of the witnesses are not among the living.
He asserted that the key reason for the obstruction was not to reach the perpetrators of the murder.
Responding to "Vijesti", he said that it was not explained to them why they had not heard the witnesses until now, which was proposed by the Commission at the end of last year.
Prosecutor Ivanović Đerić said that she will intensify her work in this case with the aim of collecting evidence and prosecuting the perpetrators and possibly those who ordered this murder.
However, she did not specify when she was in charge of that case, or whether she eventually received it because one of her predecessors did not act carefully in that investigation.
Minister Zoran Miljanic he said that this murder is a stone around the neck of the rule of law and that without an epilogue it is difficult to talk about the rule of law and the rule of law in Montenegro.
Minister of Interior Affairs Filip Adzic he said that everything must be done to bring this investigation to an end and to determine, in addition to the perpetrators and the orderers, who has been obstructing all these years so that this murder does not receive a final judicial epilogue.
The meeting was also attended by the Acting Supreme State Prosecutor Tatjana Begović, director of the Police Administration Nikola Terzic, director of the National Security Agency Boris Milić, head of the Special Police Department Predrag Šuković, the plaintiff Jelena Gialetić, prosecutor Miroslav Turković and the president of the Commission for Monitoring Proceedings in Investigations of Attacks on Journalists Mihailo Jovovic.
Jovanović was killed on May 27, 2004, and so far only Podgoricanin has been convicted Damir Mandic, and for co-perpetration.
The principals, organizers and perpetrators remain unknown. According to the commission, the existence of an official note that was created during the hearing of Mandić - when he was first arrested, and whose existence has been disputed for a long time - is particularly interesting.
The Government's Commission for Monitoring the Actions of Competent Authorities in Investigations of Attacks on Journalists has recommended that investigative authorities re-interrogate the former Podgorica police chief as part of the investigation into the murder of the editor of "Dana". Milan Vujanović, in order to determine what happened to that official note, which describes how the crime was committed.
Vujanović confirmed in front of the cameras in August 2021 that the official note was made during the interrogation of Mandić shortly after the murder of Jovanović, but also that he informed the then Supreme State Prosecutor about all this Vesna Medenica which, according to him, did not react in the right way.
Salaj: The release of Jov Martinović contributed to a better position
According to the latest RSF report, Montenegro has made significant progress - from 63rd position to 39th place on the list of 180 countries.
"Also, it must be taken into account that it is in a position, the result of which is with very small differences between countries, which, for this very reason, is a zone prone to volatility," explained Salaj, who is in the organization, in a statement to "Vijesti" Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in charge of the European Union (EU) and the Western Balkans.
According to him, Montenegro is between two other Balkan countries, North Macedonia (38) and Croatia (42), and belongs to a group that has shown potential for improvement.
"In the political sense, Montenegro has come a long way, but it has a long way to go. The pressure on the media of the party of former president Milo Đukanović gradually eased as he lost power. The government is preparing a new media strategy. However, political attacks and pressure on journalists continue to occur," Salaj emphasized.
He also assessed that it was a case of releasing journalists Jova Martinović, after several years of criminal prosecution, contributed to a better positioning of Montenegro on the World Index.
"Despite impunity related to older crimes against journalists, law enforcement institutions are more mobilized in the prosecution of more recent crimes. Although progress has been made, journalism is still waiting for systemic measures to strengthen the right to information and the independence of the public broadcaster and media regulator," concluded Salaj.
According to the RSF report, attacks on journalists have somewhat decreased after the departure of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) from power in 2020. They warn, however, that the new government is trying to control certain media and journalists.
The report also states that there is concern that "foreign owners of some media will influence the editorial policy to serve the interests of other governments (Serbian, for example) or the interests of their local political favorites."
The government, on the other hand, sees Montenegro's progress on the World Media Freedom Index as its own "concrete results".
"By passing a set of media laws and a new media strategy, which are in the final stage, and their quality implementation, the Government will confirm its determination to fundamentally improve media freedom," said the head of the Ministry of European Affairs. Ana Novaković Đurović, adding that a lot of challenges remain for improving the environment for media work, but also that freedom of expression and media are important for the EU accession process, and that reforms in that area form the backbone of Chapter 23.
Head of the OSCE Mission in Montenegro Dominic Wag she said that "the ability of independent and pluralistic media to investigate and publish the results of their investigations without fear of reprisal or impunity plays an important role in all democracies, in order to encourage public debate and call public institutions to account."
"That's why all those who are responsible for crimes, attacks or harassment of journalists, including in the online sphere, should be brought to justice and convicted," said Vag, during a meeting with the president of the Commission for Monitoring the Actions of Competent Authorities in Investigations of Cases of Threats and violence against journalists, murders of journalists and attacks on media property by Mihail Jovović.
Jovović, as reported by the OSCE, said that freedom of the media also includes the freedom of journalists to carry out their tasks responsibly without any pressure, let alone insults, threats and violence in the physical and virtual world.
Outgoing President Milo Djukanovic he said that the free speech of all media is of vital importance for the preservation and development of democracy and a society of justice.
Media regulatory agencies, the civil sector, media unions and professional associations agree that journalists in Montenegro work in difficult conditions, are not adequately paid and suffer pressure from political and other power centers, editors, owners and part of the public.
President of the Media Union (SMCG) Radomir Krackovic he said that the organization "will not allow journalists and media workers to remain at the back of the standard".
As he said, the negotiations on the branch collective agreement, which should regulate the media industry in Montenegro, are not progressing according to the desired dynamics, because a large part of the proposal of SMCG was rejected.
Kračković called on all media workers to urgently start negotiations with employers on salary increases.
"There has been an increase in the number of verbal and threats via social networks, and during the last year also physical attacks", he said and added that the state authorities reacted faster than before.
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