Slavko Ćuruvija, journalist and publisher, founder of the newspapers "Dnevni Telegraf" and "Evropljanin" was murdered. He was shot from behind. One bullet hit him in the head. The second bullet hit him in the heart. In total, 17 bullets were fired at him. He was killed on Orthodox Easter Sunday, around 5 in the afternoon, in the center of the Serbian capital Belgrade, at the doorstep of the building where he lived.
Organized, planned and cruelly executed, a trap had been prepared in which Ćuruvija had no chance to survive, underlined Deputy Public Prosecutor for Organized Crime Milenko Mandić in front of the Court of Appeal.
In the last days of March 2023, the prosecutor, for the third and last time, gave the closing statement in the trial for the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, in which the first instance verdict previously had been passed twice and the four perpetrators sentenced twice to a total of 100 years in prison.
The first instance sentences had been passed for Radomir Marković, former head of the State Security Service (SDB), who has been in prison since 2001, convicted of other political murders, Milan Radonjić, former head of the Belgrade Department of State Security, Ratko Romić, former chief inspector of the Second Department of State Security Service and former State Security member Miroslav Kurak, according to the indictment, the person who pulled the trigger. Kurak remains at large.
"I believe that the defendants Radomir Marković, Milan Radonjić, Miroslav Kurak, as well as Ratko Romić took the life of Slavko Ćuruvija on Sunday, April 11, 1999, in the passageway at his doorstep, for lowly motives," said prosecutor Mandić and asked for maximum sentences of 40 years in prison for each of the defendants.
In the courtroom, none of the defendants showed even an iota of remorse. Members of the former State Security Service again spoke of the murdered journalist as an "object" they were following.
The defense insists that they are not guilty and contend that nowhere in the world is the head of the secret police tried before a court. At the same time, the first accused Radomir Marković, the black hand of the Milošević regime, is serving sentences for three cruel political murders and assassinations.
In the manner of the Serbian dark age of the 90s, and a quarter of a century later, the demons of Serbia's past were still determined and unrelenting in their gruesome attack. Defending himself in the courtroom, Marković attacked and targeted the president of the Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists in Serbia - Veran Matić.
The Commission was established by the Government of Serbia, but Marković in the courtroom, in keeping with the well-known pattern of the deep state, isolates Matić's name and wraps it up in a lie. The same lie that targeted Slavko Ćuruvija - only now, with this trial - Matić is accused of justifying the NATO bombing of Serbia through his determination to seek justice for the killing of Ćuruvija and other journalists.
Needless to say, even while the investigation and trial are ongoing, the insidious tentacles of the deep state, extend somewhere far from the eyes of the public at large, leftovers of the murderous Milošević regime. They are still active, and from the beginning they have sought to sabotage the court proceedings, among other things - through intimidation of witnesses, threats to investigators and even attacks against the government appointed head of the commission to investigate murders of journalists in the 1990’s.
Needless to say, those spoken words attacking Matić, apart from being a lie, have a special weight when they are said in the same month when the public of Serbia remembers the beginning of the NATO bombing, when it is particularly sensitive because the NATO bombing took many civilian victims, including children.
Targeting as a defense strategy
The Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists had a key role in the trial for the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija. When the indictment was filed, a new round of demonization of the victim began. This was followed by numerous obstructions in the work of the Deputy Public Prosecutor for Organized Crime Milenko Mandić, as well as of the Commission and the Working Group for Investigating the Murder of Slavko Ćuruvija.
Thus, the personal attacks in the courtroom are nothing new, except that this time they were more savage than before.
"There were serious threats to the safety and life of Chief Inspector Dragan Kecman that were not investigated or resolved. With a vile construction, the first defendant accuses me, the government of Serbia and President Aleksandar Vučić, that with this court case we all together want to cover up the truth about the bombing of Serbia. I do not feel comfortable when the defendants mention me as the main culprit for the trial and eventual verdict. I don't feel safe because the fourth defendant, Miroslav Kurak, is at large, and Radonjić and Romić are under house arrest. Members of the former State Security are still networked and protect each other in different ways", says Veran Matić, also underlining that "with this kind of defense, they only confirm a large part of the indictment and the motivation for the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija".
On the eve of the murder, a target was drawn upon Slavko Ćuruvija, with the newspaper article titled " Ćuruvija welcomes the bombs", a despicable lie that was supposed to justify the crime. In the last days of the trial, the court explained that it refuses to introduce into the files that shameful article published in 1999 in the daily newspaper "Politika", because, as they stated, it is about the author's subjective views, without significance for the final verdict.
The last stage
The Court of Appeal decided to accept as evidence as many as 80 statements from the investigation, which had previously been rejected by the first-instance court, including those explaining the role of the head of the secret police in ordering the murder.
"The testimonies of the key witnesses have been accepted", underlines Matić.
Perica Gunjić, editor-in-chief of Cenzolovka, a website on media freedom and part of the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, has not missed a single hearing in the nine years of the trial. He points out that even now, not all statements of important witnesses have been included, such as that of the duty chief of the Belgrade Department of State Security at the time of the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija, Cvijetin Milinković.
"He testified how atypical and unusual the surveillance of a journalist by 27 members of the service in the middle of the bombing of the NATO pact was. Milinković wrote in the on-duty diary that Chief Milan Radonjić stopped monitoring Ćuruvija immediately before the murder and said that "some other measures will be applied", explains Gunjić.
Unboxing the truth
The key evidence at the trial for the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija was data from mobile phone base stations. This crown evidence showed the movement of all the accused on the day of the murder and at the crime scene, thereby refuting the alleged alibis of the accused.
The defense did everything possible to exclude this evidence from the trial, even while claiming that such data did not exist. On the last day of the trial, the court accepted the proposal of Radomir Marković's defense to bring data tapes from the court evidence depository.
For almost an hour, 25-year-old DLT tapes on which telephone traffic data was stored, were removed from an old duct-taped brown box. When the box was open and 40 tapes were physically counted, the defense lawyers claimed that neither in number, nor in type, did they match those mentioned in the case file.
Showing no empathy for the family of Slavko Ćuruvija, the defense demanded that on the anniversary of the murder, on April 11, 2023, at the time when the crime was committed in 1999, a reconstruction of the crime should be conducted.
"The court rejected this nonsensical proposal, as well as most of the other defense proposals," Matić points out.
A mirror of the past
The murder happened in 1999. The trial started in 2015, the first verdict was pronounced in 2019. The defense and the accused constantly tried to compromise evidence and witnesses, and the public has seen the horrific face of the Lernaean Hydra of Milošević's 90s in Serbia.
"The most important thing is that the public was able to learn how parts of the Secret Service were unscrupulously abused during the Milošević regime, even for dealing with political opponents of the Milošević - Marković couple. We saw in detail how it was organized and how convinced they were and remain, that they will never be held accountable for crimes. The public was able to see the extent of the influence of parts of that Secret Service even today and how it affects the court process, how they threaten the police officers who professionally investigated the murder, how they tried to destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses, and through their media spin and twist the investigation by implicating alleged murderers from the criminal environment",PericaGunjić reminds, while adding:
"I cannot claim that the verdict will be a conviction. We will see how they will judge the members of the Secret Service who surveilled Ćuruvija for days until the murder itself and who now claim that they know nothing about it".
Who was Slavko Ćuruvija?
"Slavko Ćuruvija is a symbol of brave and independent journalism and must remain written in history as such. I am honored to have worked in his team. In “Dnevni Telegraf” and “Evropljanin”, he brought together some of the best journalists and editors of that time. Slavko stuck to his principles until the end. And when his newspaper was banned and when it was dangerous to criticize the then ruling regime, he did not agree to remain silent. That's why he was killed. For Slavko, like for everyone else who has been labeled a spy and traitor, that has never been proven in any court process," emphasizes Aleksandra Hristov, who worked as a journalist for “Dnevni Telegraf” in the 1990s.
"I worked with Slavko for six years and it is difficult for me to talk about it without personal emotions. He was certainly an extremely brave and sharp critic of the regime of Slobodan Milošević, who engaged the entire state apparatus to first destroy his media and finally kill him. The entire Law on Information in 1998 was passed to deal with Ćuruvija and to silence several critical media. Slavko did not give up, he fought until the end. I think that even today the message that he sent with his struggle and consistency is not heard enough, not only by journalists, but also by all those who fight for freedom of expression", Perica Gunjić points out.
"Slavko Ćuruvija was a journalist, editor and publisher, who was identified as one of the biggest enemies of the autocratic system of Slobodan Milošević at the end of the 90s, and who was shot as an example to other journalists in order to be intimidated and to complete the destruction of the media that began in 1998. For a long time, Ćuruvija was a symbol of the lack of political will to resolve the case of his murder, and then also a symbol of the investigation that was carried out in an original way by establishing a Commission in which journalists, the police and members of the security agency worked together with political support. I hope and believe that it will also be a symbol of the battle against impunity for murders of journalists", concludes Veran Matić.
In his closing statement, prosecutor Mandić referred to the lie that was planted in 1999, and which was used by the defense, also at this trial.
Slavko Ćuruvija, underlined Mandić, was not a traitor, but a patriot who, with his criticism of Milošević's regime, provoked the anger and violent reaction of the then state leadership. His bravery eventually cost him his life. The motive for the murder is more than clear and indisputable.
"It is completely clear why he drew attention to himself because we can say that at that time he was a leading journalist and that he had great media support. In each of his public appearances, both in front of the domestic public and abroad, he clearly and without compromise presented both his political position and his analysis of events, thereby attracting the attention of the Department of State Security. That qualified him to be branded as an internal enemy", said Mandić.
The prosecutor pointed to numerous criminal proceedings conducted against Ćuruvija and court rulings after which property was confiscated due to millions in fines. His media activity was practically destroyed.
"I'm sad, but at the same time proud, that my article was on the cover of the last edition of “Dnevni Telegraf” , "Fine 2,400,000 dinars - confiscation of property is next," concludes Hristov.
He told us to run
The day before the bombing, Slavko Ćuruvija called the last editorial meeting, Aleksandra Hristov remembers, and adds that fifteen journalists and editors stayed with him:
"We knew that the bombing was about to start, but we didn't know what could happen to us in a state of war. He told us to run. He said that we have to relocate, at least inside Serbia, because he has information that we are not safe. We were under a lot of pressure and stress. Some colleagues from “ Telegraf”, “Radio B92”, “Naša Borba” were detained...”
The reigning atmosphere in the media community at that time, she adds, can be illustrated by the fact that the article about the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija was published only by independent agencies and only one newspaper, "Republika", whose editor-in-chief was Nebojša Popov.
"The Ministry of Interior demanded from media that only their official, terse, one sentence statement on the murder be transmitted. As soon as we heard about the tragedy, several of us went to his apartment. The street was full of unusual looking persons. I remember that the leader of the opposition, Zoran Đinđić, was one of few who came. At that time, a brutal campaign was also conducted against Đinđić, claiming that he fled to Montenegro as soon as the bombing started. That was a lie. Zoran Đinđić left Serbia after the funeral of Slavko Ćuruvija, precisely to avoid being killed," Hristov underlines.
The democratic opposition in Serbia led by Dr. Zoran Đinđić took down Milošević in 2000. Prime Minister Đinđić was killed in 2003, with two shots at the doorstep of the Government of Serbia building. Although the assassins, persons connected to State Security, have been sentenced, the political background of this murder has never been prosecuted.
Crossroads of the past and future
The murder of Slavko Ćuruvija marked an era. It is a tragedy for the family, friends, the journalism community as a profession, but also for the entire Serbian society. The murder of a journalist is the murder of democracy, the silencing of free speech and affects the overall sense of security in a society.
The trial for the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvije brought Serbia to a long needed crossroad. Will our society be able to finally shake off the hideous demons of our past and somehow move on, or will they continue to freely cut through our lives.
"Even today, most of us who worked with Slavko are labeled as foreign mercenaries and traitors. And the decision-makers at that time were never held accountable before the court and the people of this country for the consequences of disastrous and suicidal decisions that resulted in the suffering of people, material destruction, loss of territory, status and everything that brought us to this position, including the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija. I hope that in the end we will see the conviction of the participants, with the note that all those who participated in creating the atmosphere that led to the murder will be held accountable in some way", hopes Aleksandra Hristov.
"The defendants have not shown even a shred of remorse," underlines Veran Matić.
"Therefore, the judgment will not have an educational effect on the perpetrators. But it will strongly influence Serbian society as a clear sign that violence against journalists will not be tolerated and that investigations will continue in other cases and in the fight against impunity. The guilty verdict will be important news for journalists all over the world, that it is possible to achieve justice and punishment of the perpetrators, even 24 years after the murder. An acquittal would testify to the great weaknesses of our justice system. But it will by no means stop our struggle", the president of the Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists in Serbia emphasized with determination.
"For the first time in Serbia, the court has the opportunity to convict someone for the murder of a journalist, or in general for any serious crime against a journalist," states Perica Gunjić and adds:
"Apart from Ćuruvija, we have two more unsolved murders, Milan Pantić and Dada Vujasinović, as well as the attempted murder by placing a bomb on the window of the room where a journalist was sleeping with his family, and also the burning down of a journalist's house - none of those cases have yet to see a final judicial epilogue.”
He emphasizes: “With the verdict, the court will send a strong message about whether Serbia is a State of law in which those who commit a crime are held responsible, regardless of whether they are members of the secret service or the police. We will see if they will end decades of impunity for crimes against journalists. This judgment will significantly affect the issue of freedom of speech, media freedom, and even democratic processes in our country".
We are all waiting for the final verdict. Will our demons from the 1990’s be tamed at last?
This article has been written by the investigative journalist Jelena L. Petković. She has been conducting research for many years into the killing and disappearance of journalists in Kosovo. Her work included interviews with more than 200 interlocutors: relatives, colleagues, acquaintances and members of international missions. Her work has contributed to disclose new information on the disappearances and killings. This article follows: 'The trial for the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija: Wrestling with the deep state', 'An update on the appeal process in Slavko Ćuruvija murder trial: Justice in limbo', and 'The trial for the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija: Why justice must prevail', written by the same author.