June 15, 2022
The city of Jagodina has marked the 21st anniversary of the murder of local journalist Milan Pantić, correspondent of national daily newspaper Večernje Novosti, on 11th June.
Pantić was attacked early on the morning of 11th June, 2001, in front of the entrance to the building where he lived, receiving blows to the head with a blunt object that led to his death.
This is one of three murders of journalists in Serbia over the past 30 years and – together with the 1994 murder of Duga journalist Dada Vujasinović – the second to remain unsolved to this day. When it comes to the 1999 murder of Slavko Ćuruvija, indictments have been filed and first-instance verdicts handed down, but we still await a binding court epilogue.
Police have information on who killed Pantić and why, but so far not enough for the prosecution service to file an indictment.
Members of the community of journalists in Serbia have long since demanded an end to journalists being murdered with impunity and for Pantić’s murderers to face justice, with those demands receiving the support of the International Federation of Journalists.
Journalists’ request that the investigation into Pantić’s murder be taken over by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime was recently supported by international organisation Reporters Without Borders, though this prosecutor’s office has refused to take over the case.
