World Anti-Montenegrin Govt. Newspaper Bombed

  • Thread starter Thread starter LequteMan
  • Start date Start date
L

LequteMan

Guest
A bomb blast on Thursday night shook the offices of Montenegro's leading daily Vijesti.

The incident was the latest in the attack on a newspaper known for its criticism of the authorities under the country's long-term leader Milo Djukanovic.

No one was hurt in the blast, which appeared to target a room used by the Editor-in-Chief, Mihailo Jovovic.

It shattered windows and damaged the facade of the building in the capital, Podgorica, shortly before midnight.

Jovovic said he was in his office and another 15 people were in the building at the time.

Vijesti’s Director of News, Zeljko Ivanovic, said the attack was a murder attempt on the newspaper's editor.

It was not clear what kind of explosive device was used.

Vijesti said security cameras had captured a man in a black jacket planting a package in front of the building and leaving the site about a minute before the blast.

The Interior Ministry said it was looking for a man and a black Opel Corsa car in connection with the incident.

The attack follows a bomb blast in August outside the home of Vijesti journalist Tufik Softic.

The newspaper's offices were pelted with stones in October during tensions over Montenegro's first gay pride march.

Cars belonging to the paper were torched in 2011.

Vijesti is a fierce critic of Djukanovic - Montenegro's dominant figure since the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

The newspaper was also critical of the cosy political and business elite in the tiny Adriatic republic of some 660,000 persons.

It frequently reports on issues of high-level corruption and organised crime, major concerns for the EU as it tries to steer Montenegro through the reforms required to join the bloc.

“The fact that no one has been prosecuted for any of these attacks sends a message of impunity," said Dunja Mijatovic, media freedom representative for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

“Only a swift prosecution of all those responsible for these criminal acts can help to ensure that similar attacks will not be repeated," Mijatovic said in a statement
 
Back
Top