Montenegro Journalist Appeals Against ‘Unjust’ Jailing

Montenegro's Court of Appeal said on Thursday that it will respond within a month to Jovan Martinovic's appeal against his 18-month prison sentence, which has been described by media campaign groups as a blow to journalistic freedom in the country.

The Higher Court in Podgorica convicted Martinovic in January of drug trafficking and membership of a criminal organisation, but the journalist insists that his contacts with criminals came as part of legitimate reporting work for international media.

On Tuesday, Montenegrin and international press freedom organisations called for his acquittal.

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and nine other media freedom watchdogs said in a joint statement that "the lack of justice and protection for free and independent media in Montenegro is cause for great concern and must be addressed with utmost urgency and determination".

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a separate statement calling on Montenegro's judicial authorities not to contest Martinovic's appeal, saying he "was simply doing his job when he reported on issues of public interest".

"Jailing a journalist for his reporting creates a dangerous precedent and will have a chilling effect in Montenegrin media," said Gulnoza Said, the Committee to Protect Journalists' Europe and Central Asia programme coordinator in New York.

Martinovic has described the verdict as politically-motivated and not based on facts. There have also been claims that the prosecution pressurised another suspect in the case to falsely accuse him.

The journalist was arrested in October 2015 alongside 17 others from Montenegro in a joint operation conducted with Croatian police.

He spent almost a year and a half in custody before being...

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