Protest at Appeals Court over Curuvija ruling

The protest organized by the Slavko Curuvija foundation and several journalist and media organizations was titled For Slavko, For Us Who Had the Breath Knocked Out of Us.

Curuvija, publisher of a daily newspaper and magazines, was critical of the Milosevic regime. He was gunned down in front of his apartment building in central Belgrade during the NATO air campaign, days after a pro-regime newspaper published comments claiming he welcomed the bombings. The four State Security Service members indicted for the killing were tried and re-tried and found guilty of ordering and carrying out the assassination. The Belgrade Appeals Court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case against them and freed them of the charges. The ruling was published 10 months after the court made its judgement.

Protesters held a black on white banner saying: You Killed Justice, The Truth Lives. The crowd also observed 25 minutes of silence, a minute for every year that the Curuvija family waited for justice.

The Curuvija Foundation’s Ivana Stevanovic said that everyone was surprised by the fact that the Appeals Court kept its ruling secret for 10 months. “Instead of words, we have brought a white flag for the Serbian Judiciary and the state of Serbia which has surrendered in the fact of force,” she said.

The Slavko Curuvija Foundation’s portal featured a black screen with Curuvija’s name, his years of birth and death and 2024.

The Supreme Public Prosecution called the Appeals Court to hand over the case files so that it can file a request for the protection of legality against the ruling.

Regime supporter Simo Spasic, a man who has caused disruptions at protests against the authorities for years, tried to disrupt the protest with his own banner that claimed the Democratic Party freed Kosovo Albanian criminals and engaged in a verbal and shoving match with protesters.