Serbia: 17 years since the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija

murder of journalist

Journalists and citizens of Serbia mark 17 years of the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija on 11 April by gathering at murder site, in front of Ćuruvija’s home in Belgrade.

Ćuruvija was the editor and owner of daily newspaper „Daily Telegraph“ (Dnevni Telegraf), murdered during the regime of Slobodan Milošević in 1999.

Members of the former State Security Service are being trialed for the murder, but those who ordered the murder have not been identified.

Journalists’ Association of Serbia notes that the key progress in the investigation of the murder was made owing to years long efforts of journalists and Slavko Ćuruvija’s family, and mainly by establishing the Commission for investigating murders of journalists.

The Association expects that the trial will prove who were the perpetrators of the murder and those who ordered it and that they will be punished.

Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation (SĆF) issued a statement demanding revealing of truth and punishing those responsible for the murder.

„17 years after two masked murderers approached Slavko Ćuruvija at the entrance of the building where he lived in Belgrade and fired multiple bullets in his back, we are finally in a position to say ’the trial is ongoing’“, SĆF said in the statement.

“Will that be enough to find out the truth about perpetrators, but also about those who ordered the murder? Will the ’public secret’ that Slavko Ćuruvija was one of the last victims of the Slobodan Milošević’s monstrous regime finally get a form of undeniable judicial truth? We do not know, but as the Serbian public we have a right and obligation to demand revealing of every, even the smallest part of mosaic of this horrible crime, as well as just punishments for those who designed and executed it“, the statement reads.

On this day the Serbian media remember unsolved murders of other journalist:

Radislava Dada Vujasinović was murdered on 8 April 1994. During 22 years that passed since it was only established that she did not commit suicide, but that she was murdered. However, the murderers and those who ordered the murder are still unknown.

Milan Pantić was murdered on 11 June 2001. The investigation has not been concluded to this day. The perpetrators and those who ordered the murder have not been found.

The majority of assaults on journalists in Serbia never get a closure in court. Among the most drastic ones are the bomb attack on the home of journalist of weekly ’Vreme’, Dejan Anastasijević, in 2007, and beating of the editor of news agency FoNet, Davor Pašalić, in 2014, none of which have been resolved.

Several journalists in Serbia live with police protection, among them prominent investigative journalist Brankica Stanković, who has lived with 24 h security since 2009.