July 8, 2017.
Persons unknown broke into and ransacked the Belgrade apartment of Dragana Pećo, a journalist of the Network for Investigating Crime and Corruption (KRIK), yesterday.
According to KRIK editor-in-chief Stevan Dojčinovic, the flat was “turned on its head, with everything that exists in the apartment and wardrobes removed from their place and thrown all around, while the door’s cylinder lock was broken. However, nothing was stolen and that’s a little confusing”.
Ms Pećo was not in Belgrade during the time when her flat was being raided. The broken lock was found by her partner. Police conducted an investigation and announced that they would file a criminal charged against unknown persons.
Dojčinovic did not want to offer assumptions about whether the break in has anything to do with the fact that Pećo is an investigative journalist. She has worked simultaneously on some very sensitive issues, such as the work of Belgrade Mayor Siniša Mali and his involvement in the illegal demolition of houses in the Serbian capital.
“Cases involving journalists must be treated with the maximum seriousness, precisely because they can be related to their work. We work on stories related to crime and corruption; it is a fact that Pećo is an investigative journalist and she works on serious matters. That’s why this case should be investigated with maximum seriousness, whatever it is all about,” says the KRIK editor.
Pećo said she was shook up and scared, and that she expects the authorities to seriously devote themselves to this case and to discover the perpetrators as soon as possible.
Journalists’ and media associations in Serbia also reacted, expressing deep concern over the break in and the intrusion into the apartment of journalist Dragana Pećo. They demand that the police and the prosecution urgently shed light on all the circumstances of the case and present them to the public.
