New coalition government urged to commit to media freedom

Association

The President of the Montenegrin Supreme Court spoke on International Human Rights Day about the progress that Montenegro has made thus far. She called on people and institutions to “jointly fight against injustice, intolerance and extremism”.

Peaceful Assembly

During this reporting period, several demonstrations were held:

• Thousands of protestors gathered in Podgorica to demonstrate against a planned amendment to religious property law. The protestors accused the government of appeasing the Serbian Orthodox Church, who staged protests earlier in 2020 against the law (see previous updates) and argued that the law was designed to rid the church of its property.
• Protests against the construction of small hydroelectric power plants in Ljubastica, Crnja and Cestogaz have been ongoing for three months. They are demanding that government end concession agreements and all permits for small hydropower plants on three watercourses. On 1st November 2020, locals called for a response from the administration, condemning the silence of authorities.

"The state administration is silent because either they do not want to admit their mistakes or because they do not want to bear responsibility. The silence of the administration in the 21st century towards the demands of the local people regarding this crucial issue is devastating. The protests will continue until they terminate the concession agreements," said Vladimir Novović.

• As previously reported, protesters gathered on Mount Sinjajevina to demonstrate against the militarisation of the highland pastures and the environmental damages caused by explosives. On 30th October 2020, a Montenegrin man was sentenced to 15 days in prison for insulting the Defence Minister on Facebook. Milan Roncevic posted a picture of the environmental protests which took place and said that the minister was “worse than a pig”. He was charged for violating the “Law on Public Order and Peace”.

Expression

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and several other European media freedom organisations have called for the new coalition government, which was approved by the Parliament on 4th December 2020, led by Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić, to commit to reforms to develop and maintain media freedom. The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) and key partners which conducted a fact-finding mission in the country, raised a number of concerns.

“Our mission found a heavily polarised media landscape in the country, and it will take sustained and concerted efforts by Prime Minister Krivokapić and his government to improve protections for media freedom and the rule of law. They must therefore, in their political agenda, devote particular attention to addressing the myriad problems faced by journalists and media workers in Montenegro,” - Nik Williams, MFRR co-ordinator at the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF).

The organisations condemned the current media ownership, arguing that state support funds and advertising work against independent media. They also called for an end to impunity for crimes against journalists.