Montenegro is the only European country where today’s main news is not celebration of the triumph of democratic values, but a brutal attack on journalist Oliver Lakić, one of those recently marked by the government leaders as a legitimate target.
Attacks on journalists have become a common occurrence in Montenegro which no longer surprises anyone. The scenario is known in advance: the police will at best find executers, but not the ones who ordered it, while the officials use the usual empty words, without mentioning anyone’s responsibility.
The only mystery is: who’s next? And whether they will be killed, wounded or “just” beaten.
Anyone who dares to speak freely in a system like this can be a target because the orderers know they will not be held accountable. They are protected by the corrupt and captured institutions in alliance with the crime, and we all know that this relationship leads to the very top of the government. It is expected that, after Đukanović’s brutal verbal attacks on journalists and NGOs, criminal groups will strike precisely the journalists he marked as targets.
That is why Đukanović is the only one silent today and does not condemn the attack on a journalist who was cunningly ambushed and shot in front of her home. He is silent because he is personally responsible for this attack, for he has been creating a lynching atmosphere for decades, and clashing with everyone who has dared to speak about corruption and organized crime.
Vanja Ćalović Marković
MANS Executive Director
