"MUP to blame for unsolved case"

Four months since the attempted murder of journalist Dejan Anastasijevic, the assailants remain unknown. Professional associations and colleagues have been unpleasantly surprised by the police’s lack of progress, and fear further attacks on journalists. "MUP to blame for unsolved case" And while the attackers are still at large, nobody with the Serbian police (MUP) wishes to comment on whether the investigation is making any headway. Four months have passed since unknown attackers detonated two hand grenades on the window-sill of the Anastasijevic family’s apartment in Belgrade. Even though the police and the authorities promised that the culprits would quickly be caught, no charges have yet been pressed. "I won’t be able to sleep peacefully at night until the attackers have been apprehended, as they could come back and try again," said the journalist. The Vreme weekly reporter added that he had not received any information regarding the investigation for months, nor had anyone from the police contacted him. He suspects that the police either do not want to or are unable to solve the case "for political reasons." "There have been no results, and if in two months’ time this is still the case, the minister of police will legitimately be held responsible for the failure of an investigation which all the leading people in the country deemed as having top priority,“ Anastasijevic said. The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) stated that the police’s slow response was sending a message to journalists that they could still be targeted for thier writing and that no basic security existed for them in performing their job. NUNS Deputy President Djordje Vlajic says that journalists’ expectations have been let down: "We were at least expecting that this would mark an end to the practice, that the state would outlaw attacks on journalists, and that it would show some form of zero tolerance towards such violence." Although the police claim to have some information on Anastasijevic’s attackers, and that they have even questioned around 100 people, taking into custody eight members of a now disbanded paramilitary formation known as the Scorpions, no charges have yet been pressed. The attack on Anastasijevic is thought to be linked to his appearance as a guest on B92’s radio show, Kaziprst, where he talked about crimes committed by the paramilitaries.

"MUP to blame for unsolved case"

And while the attackers are still at large, nobody with the Serbian police (MUP) wishes to comment on whether the investigation is making any headway.

Four months have passed since unknown attackers detonated two hand grenades on the window-sill of the Anastasijević family’s apartment in Belgrade. Even though the police and the authorities promised that the culprits would quickly be caught, no charges have yet been pressed.

"I won’t be able to sleep peacefully at night until the attackers have been apprehended, as they could come back and try again," said the journalist.

The Vreme weekly reporter added that he had not received any information regarding the investigation for months, nor had anyone from the police contacted him.

He suspects that the police either do not want to or are unable to solve the case "for political reasons."

"There have been no results, and if in two months’ time this is still the case, the minister of police will legitimately be held responsible for the failure of an investigation which all the leading people in the country deemed as having top priority,“ Anastasijević said.

The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) stated that the police’s slow response was sending a message to journalists that they could still be targeted for thier writing and that no basic security existed for them in performing their job.

NUNS Deputy President Đorđe Vlajić says that journalists’ expectations have been let down: "We were at least expecting that this would mark an end to the practice, that the state would outlaw attacks on journalists, and that it would show some form of zero tolerance towards such violence."

Although the police claim to have some information on Anastasijević’s attackers, and that they have even questioned around 100 people, taking into custody eight members of a now disbanded paramilitary formation known as the Scorpions, no charges have yet been pressed.

The attack on Anastasijević is thought to be linked to his appearance as a guest on B92’s radio show, Kažiprst, where he talked about crimes committed by the paramilitaries.