IPI calls Serbian judiciary to pass verdict in Curuvija murder retrial

"The IPI today renews its two-decade long demand for the killers of Serbian journalist and newspaper publisher Slavko Ćuruvija to face justice for their crimes and for the Court of Appeal to reach its verdict on the landmark retrial in a fully impartial and independent manner,” a press release said.

It added that its call to the Serbian judiciary comes amid rumors in Belgrade that the Court of Appeals could free four former state security officers who were convicted of organizing and carrying out the killing at two previous trials.
Curivija was gunned down in front of his apartment building in central Belgrade during the 1999 NATO air campaign against FR Yugoslavia following a hate campaign in pro-regime media.

The press release quoted IPI Executive Director Frane Maroevic as saying that an acquittal of the state security officers “would represent an abysmal failure of the rule of law and deal a devastating blow to media freedom and the fight against impunity for the murder of journalists in Serbia”. He added that the reopening of the investigation, trial and conviction were “pioneering developments in combating impunity for killings and attacks on journalists in Serbia”. “An acquittal in this case would be a terrible retrograde step,” Maroevic said.