June 16, 2023
A whopping 22 years after the murder of Jagodina-based Večernje Novosti journalist Milan Pantić, who was investigating corruption in the privatisation of the Novi Popovac cement plant, there is still no indication that this crime will be prosecuted.
It was back on 11th June 2001, in front of the entrance to the building where he lived, that Pantić was bludgeoned with a metal rod, sustaining fatal injuries. The individuals responsible for ordering and perpetrating this crime remain unknown to this day.
New developments over the past year have seen the case files finally transferred to the Office of the Prosecutor for Organised Crime in Belgrade, which announced that it is “considering the extensive documentation files” in order to “assess the basis to establish jurisdiction”. The prosecution’s decision is not subjected to any time restrictions.
According to Maja Sever, president of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the fact that there is still no justice for the murder of Milan Pantić sends “a message to the entire society that it is not safe and that murderers will not always answer for their crimes.”
Pantić’s murder is just one in a string of crimes that are suspected of involving politicians and that have never been cleared up. There is still no final, binding verdict for serious crimes or the murders of journalists in Serbia.
