Because of the acquittal of the accused for the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, several journalist and media associations have scheduled a protest in front of the Court of Appeal in Belgrade in Nemanja Street for Monday at 14 p.m. Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, NUNS, NDNV, Media Association, AOM, Local Press, KUM Nezavisnost, ANEM, and UNS invited to the potest
The Court of Appeal in Belgrade announced on Friday that he acquitted four former members of the State Security from charges of participation in the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija in 1999.
"We are gathering at a protest because for 25 years the state has not been able to solve a terrible murder that speaks vividly of the times we live in." The message of the Court of Appeal is very scary for future generations as well, because we obviously did not have the strength to change this country for the better. Again, there are many who do not give up, and that is why we want to gather tomorrow and show that we are there, that we will continue to fight for justice. And that we will never give up, that we will continue to defend our profession and insist that journalists cannot be killed with impunity, and in Serbia not a single murder of a journalist has been resolved. And that's what worries us, who deal with this work and those who will step into it at some point, but also all citizens," NUNS president Željko Bodrožić told "Vreme".
The court, by accepting the appeals of the defense and partially accepting the appeal of the Prosecutor's Office, changed the first-instance verdict and acquitted the defendant Radomir Marković of having committed the criminal offense of aggravated murder in incitement, and the defendants Milan Radonjić, Miroslav Kurak and Ratko Romić of having, as co-perpetrators, committed a criminal offense aggravated murder.
On February 2, it was announced on the court's website that "there is no direct or indirect evidence that would reliably confirm that Marković, Radonjić, Kurak and Romić are the perpetrators of this criminal act."
There is no right of appeal against this decision.
For Slavko. For those of us who took our breath away.
❗️ After 10 months of hiding from the public, the Court of Appeal announced on Friday the decision acquitting four former members of the State Security Department of the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija.
🔴 25 years after the murder that... pic.twitter.com/2rKYp2h2UK
— Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation (@scfondacija) February 4, 2024
"After 10 months of hiding from the public, the Court of Appeal announced on Friday the decision acquitting four former members of the State Security Department of the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija. 25 years after the murder ordered and organized by the state and nine years since the start of the trial, the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija remains an unpunished crime, and the citizens of Serbia remain without justice. They took our breath away. We are speechless. There are no more words that we can address to the judiciary that has surrendered to force. Let's show them that. On Monday, February 5, at 14 p.m. in front of the Court of Appeal at Nemanjina 9 in Belgrade. Come, bring your friends and relatives, and bring a mirror - let's show the judiciary our own reflection", announced the Slavko Ćuruvuja Foundation.
An acquittal was issued numerous reactions from fellow journalists and lawyers. Not only are they disgusted by it, but they also express their doubts about the fact that the court's decision was waited for as long as ten months. Now that it has arrived, it is seen as proof that the 1990s are not the past and that the same dark forces still rule this country.
"I think that, unfortunately, in our country, there is a certain timing for everything and that a certain news, in this case a verdict, is announced for a certain reason and in a certain way at a certain time. "Unfortunately, this is not just news, this is a huge matter that will affect judicial practice tomorrow," says Rade Đurić, a lawyer from NUNS.
KRIK journalist Marija Vučić, who followed the trial for the murder of Ćuruvija, says that she was not aware of such a practice in the Serbian judiciary until now:
"Whether they were waiting for the elections to pass or something else was planned, I really cannot speculate." Waiting is suspicious, ten months is disputed, problematic, strange, why was there a wait? You have to see what they did in those ten months. However, what is more indicative to me, what speaks more about the judiciary, is the verdict itself."
Of the representatives of the authorities, only the technical Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has spoken: "Am I sorry for this? Endless. Am I still looking for justice, not as Prime Minister, but as a citizen of the Republic of Serbia? Yes".
A group of individuals has created two websites where public procurement of the Telecom and IT sectors can be searched and compared. They invite the media, experts and citizens to review the documentation and submit reasoned observations
Very soon it could become obvious whether Milan Radoičić has left Serbia or not
The hospital formed a commission for an extraordinary expert check and informed the health inspection. Cases of death during childbirth in Serbia rarely receive a judicial epilogue.
Two unions of public services supported the request of FDU students for information about RTS employees, since claims appeared in the public that it was a request for "files". The students say they are looking for "public truth about public service."
Among those pardoned is the man who attacked a citizen who came to ask about the street in the office of the mayor of Kosjerić in April. The pardon applies only to one of the two offenses, and the injured party announces a constitutional appeal.
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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