01. 12. 2003

Prosecution drops charges against politician

BELGRADE, December 1, 2003 – Belgrade's First Municipal Prosecution has declined to press charges against New Serbia leader for assault, reports B92. Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanja Djuric said that a complaint laid by Novi Sad's TV Apolo after Ilic kicked a journalist during an interview had been dismissed because there were no indictable elements of enforcement, breach of security or obstruction of a television broadcast. She added, however, that Ilic's behaviour could be defined as libellous. TV Apolo editor Slavisa Grujic said later that the prosecutor had noted that the television footage of the incident in question did not show Ilic kicking the journalist, but only hitting his clipboard. The president of the Independent Association of Serbian Journalists, Milica Lucic-Cavic, told B92 that she was appalled by the decision. "The prosecution says it was a clipboard. It doesn't matter what it was," she said, adding that interview subjects who become aggressive and intolerant over questions they don't like should be held responsible for their behaviour. The victim of the alleged assault, Vladimir Jesic, told media today that he has a medical report stating that Ilic's attack had caused a haematoma on his knee, and that he also had a visible footprint on his trousers. "But the prosecution hasn't asked me for these pieces of evidence, so it's not clear to me what they based their decision on," he added. During the recording of an interview for TV Apolo, Ilic kicked Jesic in the knee and the clipboard he was holding, and stormed off camera swearing at and insulting him.