Journalistic Organizations, Parties: Appellate Court Ruling on Curuvija Murder Terrible Blow to Journalism in Serbia

Curuvija family's lawyer: Prosecutor to appeal sentence

Representatives of journalistic associations and political parties responded almost unanimously to an announcement that the Appellate Court had overturned convictions in the case of the murder of journalist, editor and published Slavko Curuvija 21 years ago.

Maja Sever, president of the European Federation of Journalists, said in a post on the X social media platform that "the acquittal of those accused of the murder of Slavko Curuvija is a terrible sign to journalists and the media, but also to democracy. "This is a complete breakdown of the system that sends the message that the murder of journalists remains unpunished," Sever wrote.

The attorney Rodoljub Sabic said in a post on the same platform that it had taken the state almost a quarter of a century to tell the people that "no one is guilty in the craven murder of Slavko Curuvija." Democratic Party president Zoran Lutovac said that after this ruling that, "The darkness is blacker than ever." President of the Free Citizens' Movement Pavle Grbovic said the ruling sends a message "to everyone who thinks differently."

On Feb. 2, the Appellate Court in Belgrade announced that it had overturned the Special Department for Organized Crime of the Higher Court in Belgrade's first-instance conviction and set free four defendants in the case of Slavko Curuvija's murder on April 11, 1999 -- Radomir Markovic, Milan Radonjic, Ratko Romic and Miroslav Kurak. The Special Department for Organized Crime had convicted the four members of the now defunct State Security Department twice before and sentenced them to a combined 100 years in prison.