Diametrically opposed court conclusions on what constitutes the criminal act of coercion and how punishable the act is undoubtedly send confusing signals about the principles of the distribution of justice, said the Media Council for Self-Regulation.
They reacted to "drastically different court outcomes in cases concerning the same event" - the attacks on Vijesti and Pobjeda photojournalists Boris Pejović and Stevo Vasiljević during the removal of the monument to Chetnik duke Pavle Đurišić in Gornji Zaostr on August 8, 2025, expressing concern.
"While the Basic Court in Berane acquitted Danko Femić, despite his own admission that he had taken the cameras and demanded that the photos be deleted, the same court a day later sentenced Nikola Raičević and Milić Ralević to six months of house arrest for an identical criminal offense: coercion to the detriment of photojournalist Pejović. The diametrically opposed court conclusions on what constitutes the criminal offense of coercion and how punishable that offense is undoubtedly send confusing signals about the principles of the administration of justice," they said.
As they add, such a legal inconsistency is not only a procedural oversight, but can also shake public trust in the judiciary and send the message that the protection of journalists depends on chance, not the rule of law.
"Montenegro is in the final phase of negotiations on accession to the European Union. Chapters 23 and 24, which cover the rule of law, freedom of expression and the protection of fundamental rights, represent the core of that process and are the subject of the most intensive European monitoring. The European Commission and relevant EU institutions consistently emphasize that measurable results in the area of the safety of journalists and the prosecution of attacks on media workers are not a recommendation, but one of the main conditions," they said.
As they point out, in this context, the outcome in the Femić case is not just a "domestic" judicial problem - but a visible signal to Brussels about how capable and willing Montenegrin institutions are to protect media freedom, noting that the European Commission's annual reports on Montenegro have for years recorded concerns about impunity in cases of attacks on journalists.
"Media freedom is not a peripheral topic in the European integration process. Press freedom indices, which European institutions closely monitor, measure precisely these outcomes - whether attackers of journalists are held accountable in court, whether prosecutors prosecute decisively, whether institutions protect or passively observe," they said.
The Media Council particularly draws attention to several aspects that remain without an adequate institutional response.
"The trial in the Raičević–Ralević case was marked by a series of delays due to the absence of the accused and their defense attorneys, as well as requests for the judge's disqualification. This pattern must be the subject of a systemic response from the prosecution and the courts, not tolerance," they remind.
They add that the journalists' statements before the court indicate that they were working legally and without any formal ban on taking photographs, and that the clergy they approached to calm the situation were unwilling to intervene.
"The question of the responsibility of those who legitimized the violence through the atmosphere remains open, and which, it seems, was not the subject of a serious investigation," they point out.
They also recall that three journalists testified that two plainclothes police officers were present throughout the incident and took no action - and that this dimension of the case remains institutionally unexplained and unexplained.
"The Media Self-Regulation Council calls on the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Berane to consider all available legal mechanisms in the Femić case, including an appeal against the acquittal. We call on the Supreme State Prosecutor to look into the systematic pattern of prosecuting attacks on journalists. We call on the Judicial Council to seriously address the issue of consistency in the application of the law in cases concerning media freedom," they said.
"Montenegro cannot simultaneously demonstrate commitment to European values and tolerate an environment in which journalists are physically attacked while performing their work of public interest, and their attackers remain without adequate legal sanctions," they conclude.
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