Veran Matić: The Commission for Investigating the Murders of Journalists supports the request of Jelena Ćuruvija.

The errors in the verdict are such that they cannot be justified by negligence. The reasoning of the verdict appears to be tailored to "support" the outcome that was intended to be achieved. In this regard, a legitimate assumption arises that extreme negligence is not the only sin in its issuance, but that it is possible that a criminal act, the elements of which can be recognized, is at play. Whatever the reasons may be, the consequences are numerous. One of them is the damage inflicted on the budget. Let us remind that the defendants will be awarded compensation, which would not be a bad idea to be refunded to the judges through some other process, with good faith that they will then take better care of both their attention and their responsibility.

We also support the initiative to initiate proceedings for the assessment of the constitutionality of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code submitted by Jelena Ćuruvija to the Constitutional Court. The Supreme Court ruling established that the Court of Appeals violated the law by committing essential violations of procedural rules in favor of the defendants for the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija in the ruling by which they were definitively acquitted, but despite this court's ruling, it is not possible to appeal against the acquittal.

"In this way, the Criminal Procedure Code favors the defendants and prevents the fulfillment of the state's obligations arising from the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights regarding the right to life and the right to an effective legal remedy, which has directly affected both the Ćuruvija case and the rights of Jelena Ćuruvija as a victim in this matter. According to the established practice of the European Court of Human Rights, the provisions governing criminal proceedings as a whole must be suitable for leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible for violations of the right to life, and the finality of a verdict must not be an obstacle to reopening the case in the event of establishing significant violations that could have affected the outcome of the criminal proceedings. Due to the violations of rights, Jelena Ćuruvija will submit a constitutional appeal against the ruling of the Supreme Court in the coming days, which, apart from being declarative, has no significant value in the concluded proceedings," states the announcement from the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation.

It is unacceptable that the rights of victims are violated in such a drastic manner and that the pursuit of truth and justice is obstructed.

Veran Matić

President of the Commission for Investigating the Murders of Journalists