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21. 02. 2014

MURDERS OF JOURNALISTS WITHOUT EPILOGUE

Belgrade, 21.02.2014 (B92, Beta) - From 1991 to 2001, 39 journalists from Serbia were killed, went missing or were kidnapped, but in most cases no investigative and judicial proceedings were initiated.

At the meeting "Murders of journalists: War Crime or Professional Hazard", held in Belgrade, it was indicated that during said time in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina around 100 journalists have been killed, that for the vast majority of those killed perpetrators remain unknown today, and that for some even burial locations remain unknown.

The event was organized by the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), which has recently collected data on the killed and kidnapped colleagues and published them in the "Dossier".

UNS journalist Jelena Spasic said at the meeting that the "Dossier" contains information about the murder of 37 journalists, but in the meantime the disappearance of Sima Kljaic from Gospic in 1991, and Mile Vuljevic, who was kidnapped by the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo in 1999, were uncovered.

"I hope that these meetings and our investigation will help to move along these cases, to initiate (criminal) investigations and to discover the killers of our colleagues," said Jelena Spasic.

UNS reminded of the murder of four journalists of RTS (Radio Television of Serbia) on the road Petrinja - Glina in Croatia, for which no police or prosecutorial investigation was initiated, and who were killed with 300 armor-piercing bullets. It also reminded of the murder of Milan Zegarac, "Vecernje Novosti " correspondent, in 1991 in Vukovar.

The War Crimes Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Jasna Sarcevic Jankovic said that the Zegarac murder case is part of a broader preliminary investigation, which is secret, and this is why she cannot give more details.

She pointed out that the Prosecutor's Office has knowledge of the list of 37 killed journalists and cited three other murder cases that are subject to prosecution. According to her, the killing of Ljubomir Knezevic at Vucitrn is part of the Likovac case, and the murder of journalist Sinisa Glavasevic was processed in the Ovcara case.

She pointed out that the remains of Aleksandar Simovic were discovered, who was kidnapped in front of the cafe "Picasso" in 1999 in Pristina.

Veran Matic, President of the Commission for the Truth about the Murder of Journalists, said that there were "very many omissions" in the past during the proceedings for murders of journalists , especially those who have been killed in armed conflict, in order to "destroy the witnesses of crimes."

"We must do everything to uncover the killers of journalists, we need to constantly apply pressure to resolve this, because if we do not do it, nobody will. This is the responsibility of us from the profession, but also our duty because of elementary justice," he said.

Veran Matic added that no one else will do this if people from the profession do not keep the pressure and continue to keep the issue in the public eye. The situation is similar in the region.

The meeting was addressed via video link by the president of the Croatian Association of Journalists Zdenko Duka and the president of the Assembly of B-H Journalists Associations Mladen Bosnjak, who said that during the war 14 Croat and 17 Bosnian journalists were killed.

They also noted that in most cases no investigations were initiated and that it is not known who is responsible for these murders.