OSCE media freedom representative condemns attack on journalist in Montenegro

VIENNA, 8 March 2012 – Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, today strongly condemned the attack on Olivera Lakić, a journalist with the daily newspaper Vijesti.

“This attack is not an isolated case. The Vijesti team and Lakić had been threatened before for their reporting about the Tara tobacco plant. Lakić had been warned that her family would be in danger if she did not refrain from reporting on this,” Mijatović said.

Lakić was attacked and brutally beaten by an unknown assailant last night in front of the building she lives in. She suffered a brain concussion and was hospitalized.

Last summer, vehicles belonging to Vijesti were set on fire on three occasions and a TV Vijesti crew was physically assaulted while working on an assignment in the town of Nikšić.

Mijatović welcomed the swift assurances from the police directorate that they would make every effort to identify the perpetrator.

“It is very concerning to see that in the OSCE region assaults against journalists are on the rise. These have to be treated as attacks against the society as a whole as they threaten independent journalism,” Mijatović said.