Serbian authorities have failed to render justice to investigative journalist Milan Jovanovic whose house was set on fire in 2018, according to media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
A previous conviction for those accused of torching his home was overturned in a Belgrade appeal court on Christmas Eve. The decision was taken in November, but the reasoning published almost a month later states the lower court failed to justify its verdict adequately. It called for a new trial for the accused instigator and two perpetrators who hurled Molotov cocktails at his home.
Serbian President Aleksander Vucic had previously promised that justice would be served. Prosecutors state that the attack was ordered by Dragoljub Simonovic, the former mayor of a Belgrade suburb and a senior official in Vucic’s party. The order allegedly came after Jovanovic reported financial mismanagement during Simonovic’s time as mayor.
In April 2021, the prosecutor in charge of the case was removed against his will and Jovanovic’s police protection was then released in August. No explanation was given for either decision.
“After being the target of an arson attack, journalist Milan Jovanovic is now the victim of the Serbian state’s inability to render justice,” said Pavol Szalai, the head of RSF’s European Union and Balkans desk.
“The authorities must organise a new trial as a matter of urgency and must renew Jovanovic’s police protection. We also call on the government to provide him with material assistance now that the criminal proceedings are being prolonged.”
As there is now no final verdict, Jovanovic will not receive compensation that would allow him to rebuild his home. The journalist is now in his 70s and is struggling not only with finding a place to live but being the target of continued intimidation.
Following the arson attack, Jovanovic and his wife were victims of an intruder in accommodation supplied to them by the state.
Simonovic even threatened the prosecutor during the trial and said he would be removed from his position.
RSF called on the European Union to take note of the Serbian states inability to defend press freedom which it says is “now emblematic of impunity for crimes against journalists in the Western Balkans.”
