Radojević: Šćepanović Is Drawing a Target on My Back Instead of Doing His Job and Exposing Who Is Intimidating Me With a Military Helicopter

Journalist and editor Vesna Radojević reacted to yesterday’s statement by the Police Administration, which, she says, contains a series of falsehoods regarding a serious security incident in which a military helicopter carrying civilian passengers landed in the yard of her family home. She adds that the Police Administration of Montenegro, through this statement, openly and publicly insults her human and professional integrity and attempts to discredit her.

Police Respond to VOP Reporting: They Claim They “Did Everything” — But Not Who Sent the Military Helicopter Into Vesna Radojević’s Yard

We publish Vesna Radojević’s response in full:

The Police Administration of Montenegro, headed by Director Lazar Šćepanović, has reached rock bottom with its statement published in Montenegrin media and introduced an extremely dangerous practice — the open, institutional drawing of a target on journalists who insist that the police respect the law and international standards, do their job, and identify and prosecute those who order and carry out intimidation and pressure against journalists, regardless of who they are.

The Police Administration’s statement of January 23 is not a “denial” in a single word. It is a dangerous attempt at institutional discreditation of my human and journalistic credibility, and at normalizing a security incident without precedent — the landing of a military helicopter with civilian passengers in the private yard of a journalist who investigates and publicly exposes illegal activities in projects worth hundreds of millions of euros.

The State Continues to Remain Silent: Who Sent the Military Helicopter Into Vesna Radojević’s Yard, Who Was in It, and for What Purpose?

Save Brezna Initiative: Šćepanović Also Avoided Answering Questions in Parliament About the Intimidation of a Journalist by a Military Helicopter

Save Brezna Sent a Letter to Šaranović and Šćepanović: Why the Silence About the Intimidation of a Journalist Using a Military Helicopter?

In Montenegro — a country that for more than 20 years has been unable, or unwilling, to uncover who murdered journalist and editor Duško Jovanović, and which refuses to conduct a proper investigation into the “Možura” affair, partly linked to the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia — this kind of police conduct is more than dangerous and carries a particularly grave weight.

Instead of answering the question of who is responsible for this security incident and prosecuting them, the Police Administration focuses on the decision of Basic State Prosecutor in Nikšić, Radoš Šoškić, who concluded that the landing of a military helicopter in a private yard — without prior notice, authorization, or a security assessment in line with clear aviation rules — “does not constitute a criminal offence.” In its statement, the Police Administration does not address, even once, the formal or substantive content of the article it claims to be denying.

The Police Administration’s statement is not merely an attempt to discredit me, a journalist, and the media outlet I edit.

The statement issued by the Police Administration under Lazar Šćepanović is a public message to those who order and carry out intimidation that they are safe and protected by the Police Administration and its director.

It is a public invitation to continue calmly with “warnings”, in order to make me abandon my investigative journalism.

The Director of the Police Administration of Montenegro, Mr. Lazar Šćepanović, who likes to present himself publicly as a “top professional,” knows very well where this leads if I do not step back and give in to pressure. Therefore, I once again emphasize that, after numerous ignored requests and urgencies demanding police protection, he personally bears responsibility for my safety.

In the statement approved by Director Lazar Šćepanović, the Police Administration presents a series of blatant lies.
The claim that “all allegations are false” is a blatant lie.
The claim that I was informed about the course of the procedure is a blatant lie.
The claim that they “took all necessary measures” is a blatant lie.

The Police Administration will have to provide evidence for every one of these claims before a court. I will not address that here, as it would require far more space.

The only truth is that for eight months the Police Administration has taken not a single protective measure, has not requested a threat assessment, has not examined the security context, and has not answered a single key question.

The police and their director are trying to hide behind the decision of a basic prosecutor, although it is publicly known — and legally indisputable — that the security protection of journalists has nothing to do with the criminal qualification of an incident.

It is scandalous that for eight months the Montenegrin police have not even attempted to establish or disclose:

• who the civilian passengers were in the military helicopter that landed in the yard of my family home,

• who ordered and approved the flight,

• in whose interest it was carried out,

• and for what purpose.

These facts, the numerous urgencies I sent, and the passage of time raise a more than serious suspicion that the police did not “accidentally” fail to do what they are legally and internationally obliged to do, but that their top official — independently or under pressure and instruction — made a decision not to act in accordance with the law, thereby seriously endangering my safety. The Police Administration also failed to act on two additional security reports I submitted, which indicate that the helicopter incident is neither accidental nor isolated, but part of a pattern and continuity.

Unlike the Police Administration, I did my job: I investigated, documented, and collected all information and evidence on who requested, who ordered and approved the flight, who was in the helicopter, who demanded the concealment of documentation and silence, and who from the political and security establishment requested that this case not be pursued. All documentation is stored in a secure location, with clear instructions in case anything happens to me.

This, gentlemen of the Police Administration and Mr. Šćepanović, is no longer my personal case. This is a test of whether institutions in Montenegro protect journalists and the public interest — or protect powerful individuals, decision-makers, and structures that abuse their position to conceal illegal actions.

Eight months of police silence was already dangerous.
The statement the Police Administration has released to the public is direct endangerment by the police themselves.

As I recently announced, I have informed relevant international actors about this case, with full context and documentation.

I am now in a situation where not only do I lack institutional protection from my own state, but where the Montenegrin police are sending a public message to criminals that I am a “free target” and that the police will take no action against those who threaten me, Radojević concludes.

Let us recall that Vesna Radojević is a journalist, editor, and media founder, as well as a leading figure in the struggle of the local community of the village of Brezna, where the state and the state-owned energy company CGES are planning the construction of an international energy hub in the very heart of a village that depends on rural tourism and agriculture for its survival.

Radojević revealed that, in the process of securing a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), CGES falsified project documentation, which led to the activation of the Bank’s independent accountability mechanism, IPAM. As a result, her security has been further endangered, as her actions directly threaten multi-million-euro interests of several energy companies planning to connect their facilities to the 400 kV Brezna Substation (SS Brezna) as the cheapest available option. Among them is Alcazar Energy Partners, together with its domestic partners Sistem MNE and Simes.

Radojević has also uncovered a series of other illegalities and major risks associated with the construction of the Brezna Substation at the planned location. Together with the residents of Brezna, she is calling for the involvement of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro  (European Union – EU), the European Commission (https://commission.europa.eu/topics/enlargement_en), and NATO, in order to prevent a potential catastrophe for the entire village of Brezna and for the energy system of Montenegro, the region, and Europe as a whole.

M.K.-A.D.