Colleagues hope case of murdered journalist will be solved

Colleagues hope case of murdered journalist will be solved

They gathered in the town of Jagodina on the 13th anniversary of the murder of the Večernje Novosti daily's correspondent. A memorial service was held at the cemetery, and later in the day flowers and wreaths were placed at a memorial plaque at the murder scene, and at a bust in the town's square that bears Pantić's name.

Pantić was killed on June 11, 2001, succumbing to what investigators said were multiple strikes to the head caused by a blunt object. He was attacked in the early evening at the entrance to the building where he lived with his family. His killer or killers and masterminds of this crime have not yet been found.

The commemoration at the cemetery was attended by his family, friends and fellow journalists from Jagodina and representatives of journalist associations - UNS General Secretary Nino Brajović, NUNS President Vukašin Obradović, acting editor-in-chief and director of Večernje Novosti, Ratko Dmitrović, Veran Matić, chairman of the Commission for Investigating Murders of Journalists, and commission members from Jagodina.

Matić later addressed those gathered in the square named after Pantić to say that this time last year, as the commission was beginning its work, none of the cases of murdered journalists in Serbia had been solved, while now the first indictment, in the Ćuruvija case, has been raised.

"The suspects are in custody, and I believe that the trial will begin in two months and that we will get a court epilogue to one of the biggest cases of murders of journalists. I am convinced that when we gather here next year we will be able to conclude that an indictment for the murder of our colleague Milan Pantić has also been raised," said Matić.

He added that "a lot of false clues have been checked, those have been eliminated and there are still several clues that are linked to, among other things, the brewery and the cement factory."

The commission has received all communication from the 064 network which has not been available, and this data will be cross-linked with that from the 063 and fixed telephony networks, he also revealed.

The team that successfully completed the case of Ćuruvije has been added to the working group that is working on the Pantić case, including nine MUP and BIA operatives, Matić said, expressing his hope that this activity will bear fruit "in several months' time."

Nino Brajović said that journalists and the media community have been fighting for the truth about the murders of Milan Pantić snd Slavko Ćuruvija all these years, and to clarify the circumstances of the death of Dada Vujasinović, and that public pressure has yielded results.

"I perceive the commission as a body that is constantly keeping the state authorities under attention and control and thanks to this the indictment for the murderers of Ćuruvija has been raised," said, adding that he believed the same would happen next year in the Pantić case.

In this way, says Brajović, journalists are not only "doing their job professionally" but are also "helping Serbia have the rule of law where justice will become the top value system."

Ratko Dmitrović expressed his hope that the case would be solved soon. "Unlike this day last year, we are closer to the solution of this case, of this mystery. That someone who is involved, both the direct perpetrator and the one who gave the order could relatively quickly feel the penalties for this heinous act," said Dmitrović.

Vukašin Obradović also expressed the hope that this was the last time that journalists gathered at the monument that honors Milan Pantić "while his killers and masterminds freely walk the streets."

"I am convinced that a big step has been made with the indictment in the case of Slavko Ćuruvija, I believe that the clues collected by the commission and the Ministry of the Interior will lead to the killer of Milan Pantić," Obradović said.

Solving this case, according Obradović, should be a comforting and encouraging sign not only to the victim's family, but also to reporters who work outside of Belgrade, and who," away from the lights of the metropolis, deal with corruption, thievery and other high-risk subjects on a daily basis."

Awards for journalistic courage have been established in memory of Pantić, and this year the recipients were Tanjug's photojournalist Nemanja Jovanović and Večernje Novosti correspondent from Kruševac Sofija Babović.