OSCE media freedom representative welcomes bringing perpetrators of Serbian journalist murder to justice

VIENNA, 14 January 2014 - OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the arrests made in the case of the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija in 1999.

“This is very good news. There must be no impunity for crimes committed against journalists. As we approach the 15th anniversary of Ćuruvija’s murder I am relieved that the investigation has identified a number of suspects including possible masterminds of this gruesome act,” Mijatović said.

Ćuruvija, the owner of Dnevni telegraf newspaper and Evropljanin weekly magazine, was gunned down outside his home in Belgrade on 11 April 1999. Today two former state security officials were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Ćuruvija. 

“Today’s arrests show that progress is only possible when there is clear political will and commitment by the authorities,” Mijatović said, adding that the Commission on unsolved murders of Serbian journalists established by the government last year made a key contribution to today’s arrests.

Mijatović reminded that the killings of journalists Dada Vujasinović in 1994 and Milan Pantić in 2001 remain unsolved and continue supporting the authorities and the Commission to continue in the search for the truth and to bring all those responsible to justice.