Reactions on the Assassination of Dusko Jovanovic, the Editor-in-chief of Podgorica daily DAN

The editors of daily press, the association of journalists, political parties’ leaders and representatives of international organizationsl strongly condemned the assassination of Dusko Jovanovic and asked from the investigative authorities to discover and apprehend the gunmen. Dusko Jovanovic Jovanovic was murdered last night, around midnight, when the attackers fired a burst of automatic fire as he was entering his automobile. Jovanovic received urgent medical assistance, but he succumbed to the wounds early this morning, in spite of the several surgical operations to stop the internal bleeding and extract the bullets. President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, “strongly condemned” the assassination of Jovanovic and expressed his condolences to his family and to the editorial board of Dan daily. “I am convinced that the proper authorities will be efficient in the investigation of this act”, and will apprehend the attackers and bring them to justice,” said Vujanovic in his release to the public. The Editor-in-chief of Blic daily, Veselin Simonovic, said that he was appalled by the assassination of Dusko Jovanovic. In his mind, the murder shows that the security of journalists in Serbia and Montenegro is “at the level of least developed countries.” Aleksandar Tijanic, the Director General of the Radio Television Serbia, said for Beta agency that “every regime has its own Curuvija,” reminding everybody of the assassination of Belgrade journalist Slavko Curuvija, murdered in cold blood five years ago. The Curuvija case is still open and the police is yet to conclude the case and discover the gunmen. Grujica Spasovic, from Danas daily says that the assassination of Jovanovic is “the most horrible action against journalism since the assassination of Curuvija.” Spasovic also said that the last night’s murder demonstrates how far SCG is from becoming a secure state that guarantees the freedom of the media. The cowardly assassination of Dusko Jovanovic is yet another attack on the long endangered security of all the citizens of Montenegro, said the leaders of the opposition political parties in a joint statement. They also announced memorial services and a protest walk for tomorrow, which will be organized to commemorate the assassinated journalist and to express the protest against the increasing criminalization of Montenegrin society. The protesters will start the walk at the Republic Square at 19:30, and will end at the spot at which Jovanovic was ambushed last night. The participants in the protest walk will lay wreaths of flowers and lights candles at the site. Prime Minister Djukanovic "The tragic death of the Editor in Chief of Podgorica daily Dan is a serious warning that the aftermath of the violence we experienced for more than a decade still remains and still poses a threat. This is not only a tragedy for the Jovanovic family and the editorial staff of the daily Dan. This is also an attack on public peace and stability of Montenegro and a threat to its citizens. It is, therefore, extremely important to carry out a thorough investigation of who could have a motive to send us that kind of message by committing this terrible crime.”, said Prime minister Milo Djukanovic. The leadership of the Liberal Union of Montenegro, together with the leaders of the other opposition parties, Socialist People’s Party (SNP), Serb National Party (SNP), People’s Party (Narodna Stranka) and the Democratic Serbian Party (DSP) laid wreaths of flowers and lit candles at the site of the assassination at 14:00 hours. The Democratic Party of the Socialists strongly condemns the assassination and said that this “cowardly act” should remain unpunished. “We expect from the authorities to find and apprehend the perpetrators and solve this case,” states the press release by the DPS. The Information Service of the Social-Democratic Party says that the quick arrests of the gunmen and the persons behind the assassasination will be of little comfort for the family of Jovanovic, but that the Montenegrin society and institutions ought to demonstrated efficiency in the investigation, havind in mind that the crime was committed against a public personnae. Dusko Jovanovic was killed on somebody else’s orders, said the Editor of Vijesti daily Slavoljub Scekic. “This is a monstrous crime which has left me shaken and in disbelief that something of this sort could happen in Montenegro. There were unsolved murders, there were monstrous murders, there were contracted murders before. This is the first time that a journalist, moreover, Editor in Chief of a daily newspaper was killed,” said Scekic for Radio Antena M from Podgorica. “As a human being and journalist, I will insist, with all my capacities, that this case is solved. If, however, it is not solved and if the police fails to find the perpetrators and the persons who ordered the crime – in my mind, it is beyond doubts that this was a contract shooting – I shall stop to think that the police is incapable but that they have reasons of their own not to act in the proper manner,” said Scekic. The shots at Jovanovic that came from the darkness of the night is a shot in the very heart of the idea of free press, estimates Esad Kocan from the Podgorica weekly Monitor. In his words, the worst outcome would be if the perpetrators are not found, both for the Jovanovic’s family and for the journalistic profession, but also for the overall social environment in Montenegro. “Personally, I would be more surprised if the perpetrators were found and arrested that if they were not. However, even is the assassin is found and brought to justice, the message will remain that some issues should remain taboo for the press and shouldn’t be covered. The journalists themselves will have an important role in overcoming that situation,” said Kocan for Mina Agency. Investigative Judge Radomir Ivanovic said for BETA Agency that several persons, suspected of involvement in the shooting of Jovanovic were detained and were being questions by the investigation authorities. Lidija Bozovic, the Lawyer of Dan daily said that Jovanovic might be still alive if the Montenegrin Police and the Judiciary did their work. She said that Jovanovic received many threats, that was attacked physically before, but the Police took no action to protect him. She added that the paper was under attack by the Government of Montenegro for its coverage of the Women Trafficking affair and the international tobacco smuggling operations, and that over 30 lawsuits for slander and libel were filed against the paper. Maurizio Massari, OSCE OSCE Mission to SCG and the European Commission Commissariat for Foreign Relasions condemned the slaying of Dusko Jovanovic. Maurizio Massari, the Head of OSCE Mission, expressed his condolences to the family and friend of Jovanovic and demanded from the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. “There is no free society without free media. There is no free media if the reporters have to work in a climate of violence and fear,” said Massari. Emma Adwin, the Spokesperson of the EC Commissariat said for MINA Agency that the European Commission was shocked by the news of the assassination, and expressed the EC condolences. "We have very little information about the tragic act, but I can only say that we believe that the Police and the Judiciary of Montenegro will investigate the murder and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.” Jovanovic will be buried on Sunday, May 30, at the “Cepurci” Cemetary in Podgorica. The editorial office of Dan daily and the National Socialiast Party, which was founded by Jovanovic, will organize memorial services, and another memorial service will be organized by the Association of Journalists of Montenegro.