MCCM
RESILIENCE
OUR MEDIA
Twenty two years ago, on 8 April, journalist Radislava Dada Vujasinovic was found murdered in her apartment. Recalling her death every year, a series of article emerges, followed by the recall of murder of Slavko Curuvija on 11 April, and after that the murder of Milan Pantic. In the meantime, there is no efficient way of protecting journalists in Serbia.
The article was originally published by Insajder.net.
It is a known fact that some journalists still live under police protection while nothing is being done to eliminate the danger due to which the protection exists in the first place. In addition to the murders of journalists, there are cases of serious attacks that never got resolved. Associations of journalists have recorded numerous attacks, but the problem is that most of them are never reported to the police. In that kind of situation, it is clear that the system does not work.
Action plan – solution on the paper
With Serbia approaching the EU and with opening of the chapters about Law and Fundamental Rights, the question of free media and efficient processing of those who threat and attack journalists must be solved. On the paper, Serbia seems ready to do it. Willingness to solve the problem is stated in the Action Plan for the chapter 23, which is supposed to be opened in June.
In the recommendation of the European Commission it is stated that it is necessary to improve the system of preventive measures in order to protect the journalists, as well as to give the priority to investigations of threats and violence against journalists, so that the punishment of perpetrators would be more efficient.
Deadlines for certain actions that the state has to conduct are very interesting. By the end of 2015, an agreement was supposed to be signed between the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, where the priority would be given to the investigation of threats and violence against journalists. It never happened, and it is highly unlikely that it would happen soon, considering the fact that Serbia is having the elections by the end of the month.
It is also stated that every year 21.000 Euros from the public budget would be earmarked for the risk analysis of danger to journalists, to be done in collaboration with journalists’ associations. Furthermore, quarterly reports on the state of the media would be made in order to determine the risks to journalists’ safety. This part of the plan should have been implemented as of July 2015.
Memorandum without signature
At the end of 2015, initiated by the Prosecutor Office, there was a meeting with the representatives of journalists’ associations and the police, as well as representatives of the Commission for the truth about murders of journalists. After the meeting, a memorandum was made, which was supposed to be signed by all the three sides. Insajder.net had an insight into the draft of this document that should have shown willingness, among other things, to form a special working group that would monitor the cases of the attacks on journalist attacks and the efficiency of the legal processing of the cases.
The idea was to form a body that journalists could turn to in case they are being threatened or attacked just because they are doing their job. Although there was a positive reaction at first, the memorandum has never been signed. The Independent Journalists’ Association of of Serbia (NUNS) demanded from the Prosecutor’s Office to do the analysis based on their data. The Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina and the Asociation of Online Media have refused to sign the memorandum.
According to the Insajder.net information, the Prosecutor’s Office is working on the analysis of the attacks on journalists based on the NUNS database, to be completed soon. The question remains as to how many cases were actually reported, what happened with those that were reported, and what the outcomes are of possible court cases.
The police and the Prosecutor’s Office do not have a plan of priority response to the attacks on journalists. On the other hand, journalists’ associations should do everything in order to protect the colleagues from the attacks, as well as insist on greater efficiency of the system. It is a fact that the memorandum is not a binding document, but it shows the willingness of all sides to speed up the reaction. However, this document never advanced from the starting point and almost four months later – it is still not signed.
Serbia made a firm commitment to protect journalists more efficiently
“According to the documents related to the EU accession process, the European Union will be interested in more efficient prosecution of attacks on journalists”, Maja Stojanovic, Executive Director of Civic Initiatives, said to Insajder.net.
The memorandum that should have been signed primarily by the prosecution and the police, and was also offered to journalists’ associations, was initiated precisely due to the obligations that Serbia has undertaken in joining the EU. However, the problem is that all the activities are late.
“We are late with all the obligations that we have undertaken regarding the protection of journalists – the obligations that are stated in the action plan. The recommendations should have been implemented by the end of last year, but we are now already in the second quarter of 2016 and nothing has been done”, says Stojanovic.
According to Stojanovic’s assessment, the only hope to establish an efficient mechanism for the protection of journalists is in the fact that Serbia undertook the obligations towards the European Union.
Dada Vujasinovic case
It’s been 22 years since the violent death of Radoslava Dada Vujasinovic, the journalist of weekly newspaper Duga. Until today, not even the way she had died has been resolved. For a decision on the further work on this case, the Superior Public Prosecutor’s Office is waiting for the findings of experts from the Hague. These findings should provide the answer to the key question – whether Dada was murdered or she killed herself from the rifle. The rifle and bullet casings that were found in the body of Dada Vujasinovic were sent to the Hague.
Dada Vujasinovic was found dead in her apartment in Belgrade on April 8th, 1994. This case was immediately declared a suicide.
The parents of Dada Vujasinovic had led a parallel investigation for 15 years proving that she had not committed suicide. Only in 2008 the official version about suicide was rejected and the prosecution initiated preliminary criminal investigation in 2009.
The case of Dada Vujasinovic is within the mandate of the Commission for the truth about murdered journalists, founded in 2013. This Commission has made the greatest advancement in the investigation of the murder of Slavko Curuvija, the owner and editor-in-chief of newspaper Dnevni telegraf. In less than a year since the Commission has began to work, the investigation was launched against the leaders of DB [State Security Service], who are now on trial for the murder of Curuvija.
Nine years since the bomb attack: The case still undergoing expertise
Bomb attack on the apartment of Dejan Anastasijević on 14 April 2007 is one of the most serious attacks on journalists in the past ten years and it remains unsolved to this day. A bomb was thrown to the window of the apartment of Dejan Anastasijević during the night between 13 and 14 April 2007. Luckily no one was hurt although a part of the explosive device ended up several centimeters above the bed of Anastasijević and his wife who were already asleep. Their daughter was returning home from a birthday party at the time.
Asked by Insajder.net how far the investigation has progressed in nine years, the Superior Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that “the case related to this event is undergoing expertise”.
Immediately following the attack, the Police director Milorad Veljović came to the crime scene; prime minister Vojislav Koštunica issued a strong statement; director of the Security Information Agency, Rade Bulatović, made a phone call to Dejan Anastasijević; and minister of interior, Dragan Jočić, called the newsroom of the weekly “Vreme” [that Anastasijević worked for].
President of Serbia, Boris Tadić, came to the “Vreme” newsroom and stated that the event was “an attack on the state”, announcing that he would “require investigation and action at the highest level”. The investigation has not been completed to this day.
Prior to the attack Anastasijević received several threat calls, and unknown persons called the “Vreme” newsroom asking about him. It was considered that the motives of the bomb attack on the journalist were linked to his public statements about the [war crime] case “Scorpions” or with the fact that he had been a witness at the Hague Tribunal. The real reason for the attack has never been established.
