In celebration of 30th anniversary of the World Press Freedom Day, Dominique Waag, Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, met with Mihailo Jovović, President of the Commission for Monitoring the Actions of Competent Authorities in Investigations of Cases of Threats and Violence against Journalists, Murders of Journalists and Attacks on Media Property.
During today's meeting, they discussed the work of the Commission and challenges it faces, its co-operation with state authorities, as well as Mission's support to the Commission.
"The ability of independent and pluralistic media to investigate, and to publish the results of their investigations without fear of reprisal or fear of a culture of impunity, plays an important role in democracies, in order to foster public debate and to hold public institutions accountable. It is also journalists' role to report on criminal schemes. This is part of freedom of information. Therefore all those responsible for crimes, attacks or harassment against journalists, including online, should be brought to justice and sentenced," said Ambassador Waag.
The OSCE recommends that governments take effective measures to ensure safety of journalists and prevent future attacks (Ministerial Council decision, Milan, 2018).
President of the Commission Jovović said that media freedom also includes the freedom of journalists to be able to fulfill their assignments responsibly without any pressure, let alone insults, threats and violence in the physical and virtual worlds. "I am glad Montenegro has seen less insults, threats and violence in recent months, but I am concerned about the fact that almost nothing materialized to find and punish those responsible for the most serious attacks on journalists in recent years," said Jovović.
He added that at the end of last year, the Commission made a series of recommendations for further action regarding investigation into the murder of the late editor-in-chief and founder of Dan, Duško Jovanović. "It is not clear to me why the police and the prosecution did not act at least according to specific recommendations for individual cases, including into the investigation of the murder of Duško Jovanović," he added.
Jovović thanked the Mission for supporting the development of an electronic database for the Commission, which will further facilitate its work and enable a more comprehensive analysis and reporting of attacks on journalists.
Celebrated every 3 May, this year marks the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.
