Commission: Court's controversial decision in Curuvija case

Commission: Court's controversial decision in Curuvija case

The Commission, while respecting the independence of the judiciary, "finds it unacceptable that judges Snezana Jovanovic, presiding the Council in the case of Curuvija, and Council’s members Vladimir Mesarovic and Dragan Milosevic, made decision to release two accused of serious murder, sending them home, moreover as Miroslav Kurak, accused of being executioner of this killing, is still on the run and is not reachable to the judicial authorities of the Republic of Serbia."

"In such a way, Council had enabled the accused to agree on the defense, given the evidence that was not yet fully presented. The Commission finds particularly concerning that some of the important witnesses are not interviewed yet. The mere fact that the accused for the serious crime are released, puts additional pressure on the witnesses. This is especially so for the witnesses who were already called to give their statements, but the Council had postponed their testimonies without any procedural reasons," a statement issued on Friday said.

"We want to remind the public that the Commission had expressed strong protest on several occasions due to the slowness of the proceedings in the case of Curuvija. It is highly cynical that trial chamber, which is most responsible for prolonging the procedure, now justifies the release of the accused from custody with its own inefficiency," the statement said, and concluded:

"The Commission is rather surprised with the elaboration of Snezana Jovanovic that the public will not be so much upset with the decision of terminating custody for the accused as more than 18 years have gone by since the murder of Slavko Curuvija. The Commission appeals to fellow journalists and to the public in Serbia to dismiss this cynical approach and to clearly express their standpoint that 18 years of impunity for the crimes against journalists is more, not less, disconcerting."