The Supreme State Prosecutor's Office has not submitted files since the beginning of last year, and it cannot be clearly determined from their tables whether the acting prosecutors did everything possible to shed light on the facts regarding cases of attacks on journalists.
The Commission for Monitoring Investigations into Attacks on Journalists informed the Government of Montenegro about this in its report.
The report was adopted at yesterday's Government session. The Commission also reminded the executive branch that it had not received a response to a letter to the General Secretariat since November last year, in which it requested information on the status of the implementation of the recommendation that the Government announce a cash reward of at least one million euros to a person or persons for providing information that could help or lead to the clarification of the murder. Duško Jovanović.
"The Commission repeated the request to the General Secretariat, but by the date of conclusion of the report, a response had not been submitted," the report states for the period from December 1 last year to the end of March this year.
Statistics instead of records
The report states that the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (SPO) responded promptly to recommendations, but since January 2024, there have been no responses to the Commission's inquiries requesting documents on the handling of cases of attacks on journalists.
"...So the Commission could only work efficiently on cases for which it had documentation submitted in the previous period," the document specifies.
It is emphasized that for this reason the President of the Commission Mihailo Jovovic met with the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković.
"The position was expressed at the meeting that the Supreme Prosecutor's Office cannot submit files to the Commission, bearing in mind that this is not provided for in the Criminal Procedure Code, which prescribes to whom files can be submitted. This is the position of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office regarding this issue, but according to Marković, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office remains open to cooperation with the Commission, so in this regard, among other things, the possibility was proposed that the Commission invite prosecutors, including him, to provide information on the work on individual case(s), present it in writing or provide it orally before the Commission," the report specified.
The document states that Marković also informed Jovović that cooperation would continue through the submission of prosecutors' reports, case balance tables, and statements on the recommendations from the Commission's report.
"The Commission notes that the position of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, which was presented by the Supreme State Prosecutor, represents an interruption of the practice that implied that the Supreme or other prosecutor's offices submit documentation (partial or complete) to the Commission. The interruption of this practice prevents the Commission from gaining access to the files on the basis of which it compiled reports on how the competent authorities acted and formulated recommendations and conclusions, and the above will significantly disable the Commission's previous work method," the Commission concluded, recalling that this body was established, among other things, with the task of, based on the information received and the circumstances considered, compiling an overview of the course of investigations conducted so far, as well as preparing an opinion and proposing specific measures on an effective way to improve the situation.
The document states that after adopting the conclusion, the Commission addressed the Supreme Prosecutor's Office with requests for information in which it would present the chronology of all actions taken and proceedings in cases of attacks on journalists and their property, and provide a detailed interpretation of the content of the evidence, as well as all other official documents that are an integral part of the file according to the chronology of their receipt or compilation.
"The VDP then submitted a response in the form of a table, with data on the cases. The Commission appreciates the VDP's timely response, but, in the Commission's opinion, the data submitted do not enable the Commission to determine all the facts and other circumstances related to the investigations, nor to form a quality opinion on an effective way in which the conduct of the investigation could be improved or possibly propose measures that should be taken," the report emphasized.
Jovović told "Vijesti" that the Commission is "very satisfied with the cooperation with the State Prosecutor's Office, except for the part of submitting documentation."
"Mr. Marković also issued mandatory Instructions for all prosecutors' offices and prosecutors in conducting investigations of attacks based on the Commission's recommendations, and cooperation with the Commission has been significantly improved. The resolution of attack cases has also improved significantly in recent years, their number has increased, but there have been no cases of serious injuries to journalists, nor serious attacks on media property. Mr. Marković believes that the Commission does not have the right to receive documents from the prosecutor's office, and that is his interpretation of the law. This is not within the Commission's domain, but may be a matter for the Government to decide if it forms a new Commission, because the mandate of this convocation expires at the beginning of June, although I do not know how the Government can order the prosecutor's office to do anything," said Jovović.
General descriptions
Regarding the Jovanović murder case, the Commission notes that “the part of the report dedicated to this case consists of general descriptions of the actions taken by the prosecution”.
"...Without stating which witnesses were heard and under what circumstances, whether they included the witnesses specifically mentioned in the Commission's recommendations, nor what activities were undertaken, who submitted which official note and what it says, what is discussed in the SKY correspondence, what instructions the prosecutor gave to police officers 'for acting in a specific case'... So, everything is general, given in the form of statistics, without any specification and description of the actions, and without submitting documents, minutes and other things to which the aforementioned generally described events specifically refer," the report emphasizes.
Such information, the Commission says, calls into question the purpose of that body's work.
"...Whose task is certainly not to deal with statistics on the work of the prosecution, without any specifics regarding the work of the prosecution and the events and cases on which the prosecution worked, and it concerns the cases on which the Commission is working, which is why this Commission was formed," the report states.
The Commission also notes that in November last year, a decision was made to dismiss the complaint against an unidentified person for the criminal offense of causing general danger in connection with the planting of explosives on the premises of the Independent Daily "Vijesti" in November 2013. It is stated that the absolute statute of limitations began at the end of December 2023.
When the action is lost in the table
Regarding the case of the TV Vijesti correspondent from Bijelo Polje Alise Hajderpašić, which was prevented from filming the search of the family home of a former security sector official in April last year Zoran Lazović, the Commission points out that the acting prosecutor "initially determined that there were no elements of a criminal offense that was prosecuted ex officio."
“…After the journalist’s letter, it declared that it would take all measures and actions within its jurisdiction. After that, it dismissed the criminal complaint, and after the journalist’s complaint, the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office returned the case for reconsideration,” the Commission states, specifying that “it is necessary to obtain documentation from the prosecutor’s office in order to gain a complete insight into the proceedings in this case and to make clear conclusions and recommendations.”
Mr. Marković also issued mandatory Instructions for all prosecutors and prosecutors in conducting investigations of attacks based on the recommendations of the Commission, and cooperation with the Commission has been significantly improved. The resolution of attack cases has also improved significantly in recent years, their number has increased, but there have been no cases of serious injuries to journalists, nor serious attacks on media property. Mr. Marković believes that the Commission does not have the right to receive documents from the prosecutor's office, and that is his interpretation of the law. This is not within the Commission's domain, but may be a matter for the Government to decide if it forms a new Commission, because the mandate of this convocation expires at the beginning of June, although I do not know how the Government can order the prosecutor's office to do anything," said Jovović.
The Commission emphasizes that it cannot fulfill its tasks properly, because it does not know what the documents listed in the prosecution's table contain, even when it comes to the attack on a businessman. Zoran Bećirović and his bodyguard Mladena Mijatovic to a journalist from the newspaper "Pobjeda" Anu Raickovic.
The documentation was not submitted to that body in connection with the reported threats to TVE from February last year. It concerns documentation on the actions of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bar.
The Commission also emphasizes that an important question arises: given that the reported person threatened the reporting person with explosives, was the reported person and the premises in which he resides or stays, his means of transportation, and was it checked in the police records whether he has any registered weapons?
Regarding the attack on the journalist Natasha Baranin from January last year, the Commission notes that the initial motive was not her job, but that it continued even after she introduced herself. It is noted that she was threatened by at least two people, and that the police detained only one person after ten days...
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