24. 03. 2013

PRESSURE ON “PISTALJKA”

Belgrade, March 24, 2013 (Pistaljka) - Journalist of web portal "Pistaljka" Ivan Ninic refused to disclose the source of information he had used in the article about the suspicious public procurement at the Serbian Institute for Blood Transfusion.

Ninic was brought in for hearing on Friday, ordered by the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade in relation to the article published on December 29 last year, in which the journalist claimed that the company Yunycom d.o.o. had signed a contract on donation with the Institute before the tender was completed.

According to the contents of the complaint, Pistaljka released the information about the contract even before the Institute had officially responded to the request of the author to provide the copy of the agreement. Deputy Prosecutor of the First Prosecutor's Office requested that the police establish how the journalist got hold of the contentious agreement, namely who had given the agreement to him and under which conditions.

At the hearing carried out by Nikola Vuksanovic, higher police inspector, Ninic confirmed that he had obtained the contract before officially getting it from the Blood Transfusion Institute. However, he refused to disclose the source that had given the document to him, namely stating that he had obtained the contract anonimously.

Public Information Law does not oblige journalists to reveal the source of information and details in connection to it, unless the details are not in connection to the criminal offense, or the person committing a criminal offense punishable by the law with at least five years of imprisonment (Artcile 32). On the other hand, criminal offense abuse of office shall be pushished by the law with six months to five years in prison.

Filing such complaint is in fact an act of intimidation of journalists and workers of the Serbian Institute for Blood Transfusion, conveniently in the time when the Anti-Corruption Agency is examining, together with whistleblowers, whether there are elements of corruption in the business conduct of this health institution.