Commission probing murders of journalist has broader tasks

This decision has been made in order to secure, through coordination of services of the Republic of Serbia and cooperation with journalists and similar institutions from the region, that the fight against the impunity for murders of journalists is continued, the government announced on Thursday.

In addition, this document has been adopted in order to contribute to the clearing up of murders of journalists in the conflicts in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the period from 1991 to 1995 and in the kidnappings and murders of journalists in Kosovo and Metohija in the period from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2000.

New members of the Commission who represent the Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes and the Service for War Crimes of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior have been appointed.

The president of the commission, Veran Matic, reacted to this by issuing a statement, saying the decision was very important in the fight against impunity for murders of journalists. The results of the work of the commission have been confirmed both domestically and internationally, he writes - by organizations such as the OSCE, UNESCO, the UN, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders.

"This decision is the answer to the data of the Association of Journalists of Serbia about over 40 killed and missing journalists from the territory of Serbia in the past period. Despite the fact that there are international agreements on investigations related to those killed and missing, there has been no progress in the detection of facts related to the killed and disappeared journalists and media workers in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija," Matic said, and added:

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