The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) is taken aback by the verdict of the Higher Misdemeanour Court in Bijelo Polje in the case concerning the attack on Vijesti photojournalist Boris Pejović, Pobjeda photojournalist Stevo Vasiljević, and Vijesti journalist Balša Rudović, who were reporting on the unlawful erection of a monument to war criminal Pavle Đurišić in Gornje Zaostro near Berane. The Court acquitted all defendants charged with the attack on the journalists and photojournalists.
CCE recalls that attacks on media professionals are not isolated incidents without broader implications, but rather a direct blow to the public’s right to be informed and to fundamental democratic standards. It is particularly concerning when such attacks occur in the context of heightened tensions and events that generate significant public attention. The presence of journalists and photojournalists in such circumstances is essential for documenting facts and preventing manipulation.
Attacks that remain without an adequate judicial outcome pose an additional risk of intimidation. In this way, media professionals are effectively confronted with informal boundaries regarding what may or may not be recorded and published, outside the criteria of public interest, which inevitably has a discouraging effect on their work.
When society does not receive a clear message that an attack on a journalist is unacceptable and will be sanctioned, the sense of insecurity within the profession increases, along with the risk of self-censorship. This is particularly dangerous in smaller media communities, where the consequences of pressure are felt more quickly and more deeply. In the long term, such practice reduces the willingness to report on sensitive topics, weakens investigative journalism, and deprives the public of verified information.
CCE points out that the media in Montenegro already operate in a complex and demanding environment, burdened by security risks, political and economic pressures, as well as the structural vulnerability of the profession. In such an environment, every case of violence against media professionals, and especially institutional outcomes that may be perceived as insufficiently deterrent, further worsens the overall climate and sends a negative message both to the media community and to the public.
In their reports on Montenegro, EU institutions consistently emphasise the need for uniform application of standards in the field of freedom of expression, with the safety of journalists remaining one of the key indicators of genuine progress in the rule of law. Otherwise, conditions are created in which violence becomes an accepted tactic of pressure, and professional reporting is treated as provocation rather than as the exercise of the public interest.
CCE calls on the competent institutions to affirm a policy of zero tolerance towards violence against the mediathrough further strengthening of the system for the protection of media professionals, more efficient and timely action upon complaints, improved risk assessment, and consistent application of standards that guarantee the safe work of the media.
CCE will continue to monitor cases of attacks and pressure against media professionals, as well as institutional handling of such cases, insisting that safe and dignified media work be recognised and treated as a priority of public interest.
Nikola Obradović, Programme Associate