Brussels, 12/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - More than a thousand people from Montenegro signed a petition that was sent to the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the European commissioner for enlargement, Stephan Füle, on Monday 12 March. In the petition they called for the EU to put pressure on Montenegro to identify those responsible for instigating and carrying out an assault on a local journalist, Olivera Lakic, from the Vijesti newspaper on Wednesday 7 March, according to a report by AFP.
Petition signatories (including many journalists) want the European Commission to demand that the local authorities, “immediately tackle organised crime and protect journalists and the media”. Those responsible for writing the petition also explained that, “for years, journalists have been working in an environment where they have become easy targets and are attacked without there being any repercussions”. Progress in the fight against corruption and organised crime are the main conditions for opening accession negotiations with Montenegro, which could be decided on in June. Olivera Lakic was attacked on Wednesday in Podgorica by someone below the building where she lived. She and her family have been placed under police protection. Olivera Lakic was already threatened last year, due to the articles she had written on the manufacturing of counterfeit cigarettes in a factory in Montenegro. (CG/trans/fl)