Investigative Journalist Sentenced in Montenegro Expects ‘Fair’ Retrial

A new trial in Montenegro against the investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic for drug trafficking started on Thursday before the Higher Court in Podgorica.

The court jailed him for 18 months in January 2019 but the Appeal Court overturned the verdict in October as a result of which a retrial was ordered. 

Martinovic said he expected "a fair trial" this time. "I expect a fair trial, accurate entries in the minutes and to be allowed to present evidence in my favour, which was denied in the first trial," Martinovic told BIRN.

The Higher Court convicted him and other suspects of drug trafficking and of membership of a criminal organisation.

But the journalist insisted that he had made contacts with criminals only as part of his legitimate reporting work for the international media. 

Many media unions and rights groups described the 2019 verdict against Martinovic as a serious blow to journalistic freedom and freedom of expression in the country and 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".

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

He 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 released in January 2017 ahead of the trial.

He always insisted that his contacts with...