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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Working Group for Security, Protection of Journalists holds meeting

Belgrade, 28 December 2021

The Working Group for Security and Protection of Journalists held an extraordinary online meeting on the decision of the Court of Appeals to overturn the first instance verdict against Dragoljub Simonovic, Vladimir Mihailovic and Aleksandar Marinkovic.

This is a case in which the injured party is the journalist Milan Jovanovic from Grocka, which the Working Group, as well as the entire public, followed in detail.

The members of the Working Group pointed to the fact that the decision of the Court of Appeals was made at the end of November and expressed dissatisfaction that it was not delivered to all parties to the proceedings on time. They also appealed to judicial institutions to deliver decisions to interested parties in a timely manner and without delay.

It was pointed out at the meeting that it is necessary to reach a final verdict in this case as soon as possible, and that efficiency in the repeated procedure is extremely important bearing in mind the current course of the case and the duration.

The Working Group expressed the expectation that the repeated part of the proceedings will be completed as soon as possible, in accordance with the law.

The officials also discussed ways in which journalist Milan Jovanovic can be concretely helped and supported.

The working group supported the initiative to organise a solidarity action in which, in the next month, the necessary RSD 2.5 million will be collected for the renovation of the burned house of Jovanovic.

The funds to help journalist Jovanovic can be paid into the following gyro accounts:

- For dinar funds 265-1100310006448-08

- For foreign currency 265-1000000017731-14

Payments will be received until the goal of RSD 2.5 million is reached, and once the goal is reached, the dedicated account will not accept new payments.

All additional information about this solidarity action can also be obtained through the SOS hotline for reporting attacks on journalists (0800 100115), which has just started as a result of an agreement within the Working Group for Security and Protection of Journalists and the Association of Independent Electronic Media.

The working group proposed, and the Ministry of the Interior accepted, a security assessment for Milan Jovanovic.

The working group will consider and propose to the government of Serbia the way in which funds would be provided in the coming period that would be available to journalists whose property was damaged by committing a crime and that would be returned after compensation proceedings by perpetrators.

It was agreed that this would be a topic at the next meeting of the Working Group, in order to find a permanent mechanism for similar situations.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the OSCE Mission, the EU Delegation to Serbia, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.