23. 03. 2014

NEW THREATS AGAINST EDITOR OF “JUŽNE VESTI“

23. 03. 2014 (Južne vesti; By B.G.) - Citing high officials of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), one of the members of the party directed serious threats at the journalist and the editor of "Južne vesti" Predrag Blagojevic. Bojan Marinković aka Bojzi (36), owner of the local football club and a restaurant, phoned Blagojević on Friday afternoon and "warned him" to no longer report on the director of the waterworks Dejan Andrejević and his associates.

- Do not even consider writing something again about Andrejević, otherwise you're going to have to deal with me. Hold your tongue before it`s too late - this can be heard, among other things, on the recording of the telephone conversation.

In the telephone conversation, the recording of which was given to the police at the request of the Municipal Prosecutor's Office, Marinković refers to his political connections in the Serbian Progressive Party and mentions that his brother is one of the ministers.

The assumption is that he was referring to the minister for local self-government and the SNS official Igor Mirović, whose photograph he has used on his Facebook page as his own profile photo. Marinković has a series of photos taken of himself and Mirović together during the election campaign. He identifies Mirović in the photos as his brother.

Police was informed about the threat, and "Juzne vesti" has learned that police interviewed Marinković last night.

This is the second time in less than one year that Blagojević was threatened by senior SNS officials form Niš, who were unhappy about the coverage by "Juzne vesti" of the abuses by members of that party.

Because of these threats the prosecution has indicted the director of the heating plant and two more people. Two trials were held so far, and the next is scheduled for 3 April.

Predrag Blagojević is editor-in-chief of "Južne vesti" and the commissioner of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia for Niš . He is the winner of the Award for Ethics and Courage "Dušan Bogavac" for 2013.

Bulatović Distances Himself from Accusations

Darko Bulatović, a senior SNS official in Niš whose name was cited by Bojan Marinković, confirms that Marinković is the party member, but that neither he nor the party are behind these actions.

- I know who he is and this is not the first time that he is citing my name, but I have absolutely nothing to do with him - said Bulatovic.