By In October, Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM) recorded two new incidents in the SafeJournalists database – one threat against the life and physical safety of journalists and one other threat to journalists.
On October 12, Jasmina Muminović, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of the news portal Standard, filed a criminal complaint to the police, after receiving a threat on the outlet’s Facebook page. Under a post sharing an article “Selective Actions of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office: Prosecuting Editors More Important Than 100 Kalashnikovs Prepared for the Serbian Church.”, the Facebook user wrote: “Standard, how about I pay you a visit at home?” Muminović perceives the comment as a personal threat to herself, the editorial team, and the journalists. “Especially in the context of recent events in which the Special State Prosecutor’s Office targeted our portal”, she added.
On October 10, Vijesti’s Journalist Jelena Jovanović reported unknown individuals to the police for stalking, endangering her safety, obstruction in the performance of her professional duties, and inciting racial and religious intolerance. Facebook account “Niko Kater” had previously posted her photograph, which was taken without her permission from her social media, along with a claim that Jovanović had been arrested. On the same day, she received multiple threatening messages, including insults such as “Traitor, get lost” and comments targeting her nationality. For the past six years, she had been receiving similar messages on social media.
Tials against the attackers on PhotoJournalists
On October 13, the trial against Danko Femić began at the Basic Court in Berane. He is accused of committing the criminal offense of coercion against Vijesti and Pobjeda photojournalists Boris Pejović and Stevo Vasiljević on August 8 in Donje Zaostro. Femić admitted that he had “taken” the cameras from the photojournalists and “asked them to delete the photos”, but denied threatening Pejović and Vasiljević. The day after the trial began, he was released from the detention facility. Also, in Berane, on October 27, a misdemeanor proceeding began before the Misdemeanor Court against five individuals suspected of participating in the incident.
Protocol on the Protection of Journalists, Collective Agreement in RTV Pljevlja
Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM) organized the conference where representatives of the judiciary, relevant ministries, and media outlets signed a Protocol on the Protection of Journalists. This document is a key step toward establishing a Mechanism for the Safety of Journalists, that will strengthen the institutional framework for the protection of media workers.
TUMM welcomed the signing of the Collective Agreement at the level of the local public broadcaster Radio-Television Pljevlja. “This is an encouragement for other local public broadcasters where we have trade union organizations. We hope this example will inspire them to improve the position of their employees through collective bargaining”, they said.
TUMM, together with the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia and the Italian Journalists’ Association, was cited as an example of good practice in a report by the European Federation of Journalists and The Self-Investigation organization. The report mentioned psychological support service for media workers that TUMM established with the support of the Fojo Media Institute.
