13. 05. 2003

Journalists engage in fisticuffs in Belgrade courtroom

BELGRADE, May 13, 2003 – Serbian journalists Aleksander Tijanic and Miodrag Vujovic exchanged blows during a hearing in Belgrade’s Fourth Municipal Court yesterday. According to daily Vecernje novosti, the fight broke out as the judge was preparing to make his ruling on the dispute between well-known Tijanic and TV Palma manager Vujovic. The legal case concerns Vujovic’s broadcasting of a montage clip showing Tijanic’s head superimposed onto a porn star’s body, and Tijanic’s reactionary feature in the now defunct Gradjanin, entitled “The Meaning of Palma”. The tussle began when Vujovic declared in open court “this cockroach is lying again”, and an enraged Tijanic charged at him and began punching. They were soon rolling on the floor, as though in a schoolyard scuffle. The trial was interrupted and postponed. The pair will both be charged