Vienna, 9 May 2018
European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) and South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) strongly condemn the attack on Vjiesti investigative journalist Olivera Lakić in Montenegro. This is the second attack in just over a month.
“There is a history of physical assaults on journalists in Montenegro, and this fact is unaccaptable. Impunity must stop, now,” says Lutz Kinkel, Managing Director of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF). “We demand of the Montenegrin administration a swift and thorough investigation of the assault on journalist Olivera Lakić. And we demand the same treatment of all the other attacks that are so far unresolved and unpunished.”
Olivera Lakić, who works for Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti, was shot and injured in the leg outside her home in the capital Podgorica. She was taken to hospital and her injury is not life-threatening. This is the second attack in just over a month. On 1 April, 2018, TV Vijesti journalist Sead Sakinović found a car being bombed just outside his house. He was not injured.
“This is not the first attack on Olivera Lakić and it’s one of many attacks on Vijesti staff members since the paper was founded. I am very alarmed about the developments in Montenegro”, says Oliver Vujović, Secretary General of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), which protects press freedom by helping journalists and media outlets in South East Europe. “Olivera is not only a great investigative journalist, she is also a friend of SEEMO, and I wish her all the best. After all that’s happened in Montenegro SEEMO will monitor all developments strongly and also organise an official visit to the country”, he added.
A wave of bombings and killings – believed to be connected to drug deals and some other criminal activities – has swept across Montenegro in recent weeks and years.