The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) has condemned the attack on Montenegrin sports commentator and journalist Mladen Stojovic.
Stojovic, a journalist with the daily Danas and Belgrade correspondent of the Podgorica-based daily Vijesti, was assaulted Friday May 23, in his apartment in Bar. Heavy blows on his head caused amnesia, and Mladen Stojovic cannot remember exactly what happened, except that he woke up covered in blood in his apartment. During the assault, his cheek was pierced with a sharp object that was not found, and his jaw was broken in two places and he has many injuries all over his head.
Stojovic was the first journalist who dared to write about the fixing of football matches in the former Yugoslavia some ten years ago. He was also one of the guests in the "Insider" ("Insajder") investigative series of B92 Television programme, dedicated to the football mafia in Serbia and Montenegro.
The Montenegrin Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that an investigation of this incident was underway. Journalists were denied an answer as to whether the Montenegrin Police had provided any police protection for Stojovic, since the identity of the attackers was unknown to the Police and they were at large.
ANEM has appealed to all the relevant institutions and organisations in Montenegro to provide all the necessary guarantees of safety and security for Mladen Stojovic, and to immediately and without any procrastination investigate this assault, to inform the general public on the results of their investigation and to bring the attackers before the relevant court.
ANEM said in a statement that there are many other unsolved cases of threats and assaults against journalists and media professionals in this region, and especially against those journalists who are doing investigative work or who at least dare to speak publicly on the omnipresent criminalisation of society.
