The judge Vukcevic - Jovanovic faces many hooligan graffiti on the way to her home every day, which is certainly not easy; Brankica Stankovic is in the same situation. The aggravating circumstance in passing the sentence to the members of the “Alkatraz“ group is the fact that the judge is the daughter of War Crime Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcević, Coordinator of the Action team for cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, in other words the person in charge of catching of Ratko Mladic, an idol of Patizan and other football fans.
That is most certainly not an ornamental detail in the obscure case.

The shocking fact that one Serbian journalist is constantly escorted by two bodyguards, more precisely members of the Personal protection service within Serbian Ministry of the Interior is recurring in the end of August.: judge Vladana Vukcevic-Jovanovic has been receiving anonymous death threats for sentencing Milos Radisavljevic Kimi, the leader of a dangerous hooligan group "Alkatraz" to 16 months in prison for endangerment of safety of journalist Brankica Stankovic. The B92 TV and radio station journalist is protected by official persons since she started receiving threats from the poorly educated young people declaring themselves as “Partizan“ football fans after her show on embezzlement in Serbian football.

Judge Vukcevic - Jovanovic sentenced Radisavljevic to, according to the Serbian public brave, but still minimal sentence of 16 months in prison for criminal act endangerment of safety. The maximum possible sentence for this crime is up to 8 years. In December 2008 Partizan supporters, later joined by Partizan basketball players and led by Radosavljevic, sang „Otrovna si kao zmija proći ćeš k’o Ćuruvija” ("You are as poisonous as a snake, and you'll end up just like Curuvija") while celebrating the victory over Shakhtar, throwing around a rubber doll which represented Brankica Stankovic. The doll was ritually destroyed in the end, which was an obvious call for her murder. The obscure show was a clear sign that the participants were well aware of their acts. Slavko Curuvija, the founder and editor of the "Dnevni telegraf“ and "Evropljanin" was killed in front of his apartment building on April 12, 1999.

The First Basic Court in Belgrade sentenced Radisavljevic to one year and four months of imprisonment after establishing that he had committed the criminal acts of endangerment of safety and violent behavior. We believe that, despite the confronting threats, the judge reached a decision based on her conscientiousness and clear evidence. Thus, it is necessary to be courageous in Serbia to sentence a hooligan who calls for a murder of a journalist. There is one more proof for that: judge Jelena Milinovic from the First Basic Court dismissed a case against six maniacs charged for the same criminal act stating that the singing of the song “Proći ćeš k’o Ćuruvija” was not a threat but an insult, therefore mocking both the democratic public and journalists.

The judge Vukcevic - Jovanovic faces many hooligan graffiti on the way to her home every day, which is certainly not easy; Brankica Stankovic is in the same situation. The aggravating circumstance in passing the sentence to the members of the “Alkatraz“ group is the fact that the judge is the daughter of War Crime Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcević, Coordinator of the Action team for cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, in other words the person in charge of catching of Ratko Mladic, an idol of Patizan and other football fans. That is most certainly not an ornamental detail in the obscure case.

The journalist of “Vreme” weekly Teofil Pancic was attacked and hurt with a metal bar by two members of a fascistic organization in a bus on June 26. The culprits were found and questioned and said to their defense that the journalist “was not a good Serb “, “supported gay rights “, “spoke in various TV shows against the Serbian Orthodox church", “supported anti-Serbs positions". The attackers, aged 19 and 18, said to the police that Pancic wrote and spoke what "no Serb should say", and that Pancic’s beliefs “did not match their “policy orientation". This last statement of one of the culprits is definitely true, but that statement that Pancic spoke what no Serb should say is not. If these young people had read Pancic's texts twenty years ago, they might have had different "policy orientation". However, they could not have possibly done it, as they were just children neglected in their later years by their parents. The fact that they were located and arrested on August 2 is encouraging. Now, it is up to the frightened judicial system to sanction this criminal act despite numerous messages "Justice for Zuza" (one of the culprits) sent away by their organiztaions. No, may justice be for journalists and normal people.

The attackers on Pancic were found, but Serbia, where bodyguards protect a journalist who was doing both her and state job, has still not found murderers of Radislava Dada Vujasinović, journalist of “Duga” whose death was finally proclaimed a murder after a decade and a half. The murder of Slavko Ćuruvija is known to have been a state job that could have only been ordered by the President of the Republic and surviving members of the Department of State Security and their followers still keep secrets. The murder of Milan Pantic, who was killed in 2001, is still not solved. What remained is a story that he had known a lot about tycoon privatization in Jagodina and was prepared to publish it. More than three years ago, a bomb went off on the window of “Vreme” weekly journalist Dejan Anastasijevic. It is reasonable to suspect that it was ordered from the Hague. For obvious reasons, he now lives abroad. The answer of the police that they are still pursuing their investigations is satisfying to no one but to the culprits and people from their setting.

The democratic public or whatever is meant by this phrase, safe and sound, requires journalists to investigate. However, journalists still ask for minimum protection while they do their job. The police and justice system have not been able to protect them. That is the face of Serbia.

Bojan Toncic

About the authors

MC Newsletter, August 27, 2010