November 1, 2023
Vladimir Đukanović, an official and MP of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has sued Vuk Cvijić, journalist of weekly news magazine NIN, for mental anguish and is seeking compensation of almost 10,000 euros.
Cvijić is an award-winning journalist who has spent years investigating organised crime. Đukanović, who in his capacity as a lawyer has been engaged to defend Predrag Koluvija, the owner of the Jovanjica estate accused of possessing a marijuana plantation, filed his defamation lawsuit over a Cvijić article that included the publishing of the contents of an official note in which Slobodan Milenković, the police inspector who exposed the “Jovanjica” affair, states that it was Đukanović himself, together with a businessman, who used an intermediary to offer him a 100,000 euro bribe to cover up the whole case, which is still awaiting its conclusion in court.
The lawsuit was also filed in response to Cvijić’s television appearances in which he mentioned this official note.
Speaking for Cenzolovka, Cvijić said that the lawsuit represents pressure against him, but also his colleagues who do their work professionally. “This lawsuit is a kind of warning for them and for me personally, but I don’t believe that it will prove fruitful and that we will stop doing our job to the best of our ability,” said this NIN journalist.
