September 71, 2023
Despite the Court of Appeal in Belgrade having concluded its inquest into the case of the murder of journalist and publisher Slavko Ćuruvija in late March this year, the court has yet to announce its decision.
Its absence has provided space for rumours to emerge from the most varied circles, according to which the judgement of this appellate court has acquitted each of the four accused former members of the State Security Service.
Unofficial revelations are also possessed by the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, with executive director Ivana Stevanović having told N1 television that the SĆF has been receiving information and rumours since May suggesting that the Court of Appeal has brought a decision and passed a verdict acquitting the defendants, who’ve twice received first instance convictions for murdering Ćuruvija and a combined sentence of 100 years in prison.
“The appeal concluded its part of the hearing back in March. This works like boiling a frog. Information is released that the verdict is an acquittal, as if public opinion is being prepared for a formal announcement,” stated Stevanović.
Veran Matić, a member of the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists and head of the Commission for Investigating Murders of Journalists, has said that he has repeatedly discussed information suggesting that an acquittal has been written and passed for the suspects in the Slavko Ćuruvija murder case. He notes that he did not receive confirmation of this information from the court itself, but rather from a state secretary.
