The Media Council for Self-Regulation expresses serious concern about yesterday's summoning of the columnist Duško Kovačević to an informative interview with the police due to a published column and public criticism of state authorities, and warns that a pattern is increasingly being established in Montenegro in which the word of a journalist is viewed as a problem and not as the foundation of a democratic society.
The column is a space for free, personal and reasoned criticism. It is a genre in which journalists convey not only facts, but also attitudes, value judgments and warnings in the interest of the public. This is precisely why columns enjoy a high degree of protection of freedom of expression. Holders of public office, by the nature of their position, must be prepared to endure wider, harsher and more unpleasant criticism than ordinary citizens.
Of particular concern is the fact that in just a few days as many as three journalists and columnists were invited to give statements to the police and the prosecutor's office - in addition to Duško Kovačević, also the journalist and author of the tv show "Načisto" Petar Komnenić, as well as the editor and presenter Darko Šuković. To that should be added the earlier cases of Brano Mandić and Boban Batrićević, who were also called because of their columns and public views. When these cases are considered together, it is difficult to speak of coincidence.
The Media Council reminds that it has previously warned that by summoning journalists to the prosecution and the police because of their texts and public views, a systematic and direct attack on freedom of media and expression is being carried out, including cases in which journalists Tinka Đuranović, Jasmina Muminović and Draško Đuranović were summoned to the Special State Prosecutor's Office in the same case and on the same grounds as Darko Šuković, which represents a serious attack on democracy and the public's right to be informed.
International standards and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights also protect expressions that may be harsh, provocative or disturbing, if they are part of a discussion on issues of public interest. A criminal legal response to speech must be the exception, not the rule, and it can only be justified in situations such as hate speech or calls for violence.
In the case of Duško Kovačević, according to the press release of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office, it has already been established that there is no criminal offense. Nevertheless, the very act of calling the police leaves consequences - both for the author and for all those who deal with critical journalism. Such actions send the message that criticism can be "paid" by going to a hearing, which inevitably encourages fear and self-censorship.
The Media Council for Self-Regulation therefore calls on the police and the prosecutor's office to review their practice in such cases, as well as to conduct an internal control of the actions in the specific case, in order to determine why the journalists were summoned in the first place when it was already assessed that there were no elements of a criminal offense.
Also, we urge that the awareness of the role of the media and the importance of free criticism of the government in a democratic society be further strengthened within the institutions.
Free and brave journalists are not enemies of the state. They are its corrective. A society in which journalists are summoned to hearings because of their columns is not a society of secure institutions, but a society of insecure government.
Ranko Vujović
Executive secretary
Media Council for Self-Regulation
