21. 10. 2005

PANTIC MURDER ALLEGATIONS MUST BE INVESTIGATED

Jagodina journalist Milan Pantic was murdered on June 11, 2001. Media recently carried a statement by Aleksandar Petkanic, who is currently serving a prison sentence and claims he is a former police officer. The statement includes a detailed description of the attack on Pantic, the name of a person who allegedly killed him and the name of the people who allegedly paid for this execution. Police Minister Dragan Jocic described the statement as coming from a man who is in prison because of 55 criminal acts involving false pretences. He added that the police have conducted a detailed investigation of the murder of Pantic and established that there is not a single significant fact which would indicate any particular person being responsible. ANEM believes that all statements indicating the possible involvement of anyone in ordering or carrying out the murder of Milan Pantic must be examined. This also applies to statements made by people with a criminal background or those who have been convicted of various crimes. The unsolved murders of journalists Milan Pantic and Slavko Curuvija have already hung over the social and political situation in this country for many years. They are also a burden on relations between journalists, media and the state. Because of this, it is imperative that the appropriate state bodies seriously and carefully review any new evidence which could point to the murderers and those who issued orders to them. Slobodan Stojsic, Chairman of ANEM Managing Board