The Media Institute of Montenegro (IMCG) announced today that it is calling on the State Prosecutor's Office and the Police Directorate to dismiss the complaint against journalist Vesna Rajković Nenadić, filed against her by Danijela Mujović, the wife of the mayor of Podgorica, because, as they said, the complaint is unfounded and threatens freedom of speech.
"We are surprised by the fact that the report was not dismissed even before today's hearing of Rajković Nenadić at the police, despite the legal argumentation that was previously pointed out to the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković and the Director of the Police Administration Lazar Šćepanović. Let us recall that Vesna Rajković Nenadić sarcastically pointed out the expensive slippers of the public official's wife in a Facebook post and on that occasion uploaded a photo from Danijela Mujović's Instagram profile, which is public and open," the IMCG statement states.
The statement added that Rajković Nenadić was questioned at the police station today, where she was told that the police were acting on the orders of the Basic State Prosecutor in Kotor.
"According to the police, Mujović stated in her report that Rajković 'tried to portray her as arrogant', denied her right to download photos from her Instagram profile and stated that she felt 'threatened' because of all this. Rajković stated in her statement to the police that she had downloaded the photo from Mujović's profile on the social network, which she herself had published, that her statement contained no hate speech or calls for violence, that Ms. Mujović is the wife of a public official, and that she should have a greater degree of tolerance for criticism and public interest in her life compared to other citizens," the statement reads.
IMCG said that they believe that the competent state authorities went too far by lightly accepting Danijela Mujović's report and caused justified concern among a part of the public regarding respect for freedom of speech, the right to provocation, criticism, and satire.
"Reaching for the repressive apparatus in a post that is not hate speech and does not call for aggression is a suppression of freedom of speech. A social network is not a media outlet that is obliged to seek the consent of the profile owner when downloading photos and is subject to editorial responsibility. Danijela Mujović herself published the photo on a profile that is open and public," said IMCG.
They appeal to the prosecutor's office and the police not to resort to repressive mechanisms lightly, because the Constitution and laws protect the right of citizens to speak freely.
"In addition, Montenegro has committed to full respect for the Convention for Human Rights and Freedoms and the application of the practice of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. We fully support the well-founded argumentation of the Human Rights Action (HRA) from addresses "We are writing to the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković and the Director of the Police Directorate and calling on them to dismiss the complaint as unfounded," said IMCG.
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