Tragic news coverage in “Vijesti”, the most influential daily newspaper in Montenegro, has been empty for months, since the journalist Olivera Lakić was attacked in front of her home in Podgorica in May, after writing about illegal smuggling of cigarettes," it is said in the article by Freedom House.
This, as they recall, is not the first time Lakić was attacked because of her work.
"In 2012, she was beaten up at the same location after a number of threats. While the attacker was eventually accused, the case was only partially resolved, as the perpetrator who ordered the attack was never identified. The shooting investigation in May had so far been unsatisfactory: despite the initial promises of rapid action by the authorities and the strong words of condemnation by the international community, no suspects have yet been appointed," writes Freedom House.
They point out that journalist attacks are part of life in Montenegro. Since 2004, media freedom organizations have reported 76 cases, most of which remain unresolved.
A month before the attack on Lakić, as reminded by the Freedom House, a bomb exploded near a house of another research journalist, Sead Sadikovic.
Five years earlier, they add, an explosive device was set up at the editorial building and was clearly intended to the editor-in-chief MIhail Jovovic.
"Also in 2013, the attackers threw an explosive device in the yard of the journalist from the newspaper “Monitor” Tufik Softić, and the murder of Duško Jovanovic, the chief and responsible editor of the daily paper “Dan”, has not been resolved even after 14 years," they add.
As noted by Freedom House another constant in Montenegro is the President Milo Djukanovic.
They recall that his party, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), has been ruling for almost three decades and that Djukanovic was most of that time at the positions of the prime minister or president of the state with several short-term "retirements". Djukanovic, as they said, has never hidden hostility towards the media and that he accused “Vijesti” of promoting "fascist" ideas just before the presidential elections in April, arguing that the critics of the events in the country and the civil sector function as a political opposition to the elected government.
The media environment in Montenegro is, as they add from Freedom House, really polarized, with deep divisions between those who criticize and those media which endorse of what the government does.
"Of the four daily newspapers in the country, two (“Vijesti” and “Dan”) are considered as opposing, while the other two (“Pobjeda” and “Dnevne novine”) are considered government’s supporters. The fact is that the small market is so overpopulated - according to the latest report of IREKS there are three weekly papers, 30 monthly journals, 53 radio stations and 17 television stations in the country of just 600,000 people - leaving some media vulnerable to political and economic pressures that could affect the quality and independence of their reporting. The payment of public funds is non-transparent and mostly unregulated and the advertising market is fond of and gives a significant advantage to those who support the government," the article states.
Freedom House writes that the Public Service, RTCG, tries to free itself from the political bias after its board appointed a new director in 2017.
"She had a fair understanding of the role of public broadcasters in a democratic society, and her appointment made the changes that had to come to terms with the earlier public service reports on the work of the government. But the change did not last long, and the new leadership and the board came under significant pressure a few months later and two members of the board were replaced at the end of 2017 due to the alleged conflict of interest. The public service takeover was completed in June 2018, when the director and chairman of the Board were dismissed," the article writes.
As the negotiations on EU accession are progressing, things get worse
Freedom House also points out that the European Commission has criticized the effects of Montenegro in chapters 23 and 24 - those dealing with justice and fundamental rights - in its latest annual report on the country's progress towards the EU membership. In the report, they point out, is specifically mentioning layoffs in RTCG and journalist attacks as issues that Montenegro has to devote to. EU officials also reminded Freedom House of threatening to suspend financial aid for pre-accession aid - totaling $315 million between 2014 and 2020 - if the government does not take responsibility for criminal offenses against journalists facing justice.
"The attacks are often linked to organized crime, which has been a problem for a number of years in the country, but the situation has worsened recently due to the conflict between the two rival criminal groups in Boka Bay. The lack of progress in investigating the attack on journalists may reflect the real incapacity of the state to overcome these groups, and it certainly sends a message that it will not be disclosed. Some reporters are wondering how the situation could worsen in relation to the start of negotiations ten years ago. There are still a lot of good reports, the public perceives the attacks and government pressures with apathy, while many of the younger generations are skeptical that things might be different because they have never seen a shift of power through elections," the article states.
Freedom House also stated the evaluation by Milka Tadic Mijovic, president of the Center for Investigative Journalism, who considers that "the biggest problem in Montenegro is political elites that follow their interests rather than the public interest". And this is, as Freedom House concludes, the problem that the subordinate media sector can only be further set back.
Text by Vijesti, read more at Vijesti
