The prosecutor in Vranje assessed ANEM's objections as valid, ordering the separation of proceedings.
The Chief Public Prosecutor and contact point of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists at the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Vranje, Danijela Trajković, assessed the comments of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) regarding the proceedings in the case of the attack on journalist Jelena Stojković as justified and ordered a separation.
More than six months ago, let us recall, in front of numerous witnesses, while performing journalistic duties and reporting on a fire outside the Meteris landfill near Vranje, the director of JKP "Komrad," Zoran Dimitrijević, physically assaulted journalist Jelena Stojković from Večernje novosti by grabbing her arm and seizing her mobile phone with which she was recording the event. The attack on the journalist was reported to the competent prosecutor's office.
ANEM has pointed out that the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Vranje is delaying the proceedings and is combining the case against the suspected assailant with his complaint against the journalist. This has, without legal justification, merged two different proceedings – a criminal complaint for physical assault and a complaint for insult filed by the suspected attacker – with an apparent intention to dilute and prolong the process.
Veran Matić, the president of the ANEM Board, a member of the Permanent Working Group for Journalist Safety, and a contact point representing journalists' associations, has requested from the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Vranje, Danijela Trajković, to oversee the work of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in this case, citing violations of the General Mandatory Instruction of the Supreme Public Prosecutor in cases where the safety of journalists is at risk, as well as non-compliance with the Rules of Procedure in Public Prosecutor's Offices, especially regarding the urgency of action and efficiency of work.
In a letter from Prosecutor Trajković, which arrived the following day, it is stated that she has instructed the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Vranje to separate the proceedings concerning the complaint of journalist Jelena Stojković from Vranje against Zoran Dimitrijević for the criminal act of Violent Behavior from the proceedings concerning the complaint filed by Zoran Dimitrijević from Vranje against Nemanja Nuhijević, Jelena Stojković, and others for the criminal act of Violent Behavior.
The same letter also indicates the need for the Chief Public Prosecutor to investigate the grounds for potentially initiating disciplinary proceedings against the public prosecutor handling the case, due to non-compliance with the provisions of the Mandatory Instruction.
“We are pleased with the quick response from Chief Public Prosecutor Danijela Trajković. We hope that the attack on journalist Jelena Stojković, the correspondent for Večernje novosti, will be prosecuted swiftly both by the prosecutor's office and in court, and that an appropriate verdict will follow,” stated Veran Matić.
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
The project "System for the Prevention of Violence and Protection of Journalists" is being implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insider TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union.
