30. 01. 2013

OSCE SUPPORT TO THE COMMISSION

Belgrade, January 30, 2013 (B92, Tanjug) - OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic has welcomed the establishment of a commission for unsolved murders of journalists in Serbia.

Mijatovic also said that the government needed to step up its own efforts to protect journalists.

"I fully support the new commission and I hope it will help to ensure that justice is served and will raise awareness of the issue of journalists' safety. The journalists' families and colleagues deserve justice and to know who was behind their deaths", said Mijatovic.

She however emphasized that the establishment of the Commission should in no way be perceived as relieving the government of this responsibility to investigate the murders and to ensure a safer working environment for media workers in general.

"There is still a long way to go to end the impunity of those who instigate violence against journalists, in Serbia and beyond", the OSCE representative said.

The initiative by the Serbian Government to establish an international Commission to assess the progress of the investigations into the killings of Dada Vujasinovic in 1994, Slavko Curuvija in 1999 and Milan Pantic in 2001 was the topic of discussion during Mijatovic's visit to Belgrade in 2012.

The Commission is established on January 24 and is headed by the Editor-in-Chief of TV network B92 Veran Matic. The other members of the Commission are UNS President Ljiljana Smajlovic, Branislav Jovanovic from Jagodina, Police Director Milorad Veljovic, UKP Chief Rodoljub Milovic, Slavica Softic (MUP), Zeljko Raseta, Ivica Petrovic and Nebojsa Vujicic from BIA.