Montenegro Quashes Drug Case Against Investigative Journalist

The Montenegro's Appeals Court quashed the case against prominent investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic, who had been wrongly convicted of drug trafficking in a case that was criticised by media organisations and the EU.

Montenegrin investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic (left) arriving at court in Podgorica. Photo: BIRN/Samir Kajosevic

Montenegro’s Appeals Court on Tuesday finally ended the much-criticised case against prominent investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic, who had been sentenced in October 2020 to a year in prison for drug trafficking.

The Appeals Court delivered its verdict after the Montenegrin Supreme Court last June ordered a second retrial for Martinovic.

“After more than seven years of court proceedings and 15 months of detention, I was finally declared innocent. It was a terrible burden, but when your conscience is clear and you know that you are innocent, then everything can be endured,” Martinovic told BIRN.

Martinovic was arrested in October 2015 alongside 17 others from Montenegro in a joint police operation conducted with Croatian police. He spent almost a year and a half in custody before being released in January 2017 ahead of the trial.

He was convicted in the first-instance ruling in January 2019 of drug trafficking and membership of a criminal organisation, but the Appeals Court overturned the verdict and ordered the first retrial, which again ended with a conviction.

The journalist always insisted he had made contacts with alleged drug traffickers only as part of his legitimate reporting work.

Martinovic had made contact in 2015 with two of the 17 suspects who were arrested: Dusko Martinovic – no relation to the journalist – and Namik Selmanovic.

Dusko Martinovic, the main suspect in the case, was also a convicted member of a gang of jewel thieves known as the Pink Panthers.

Operating in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, they are believed to have stolen hundreds of millions of euros’ worth of jewellery.

Journalist Martinovic worked with Dusko Martinovic on a series of TV shows about the robbers produced by the Vice media group.

He worked alongside Selmanovic when a French production company, CAPA Presse, hired them to contribute to research on a documentary about weapons smuggling.

Dusko Martinovic was sentenced to six years and three months in prison in January 2019. Selmanovic has turned state’s evidence.

The European Commission’s report last year about Montenegro’s progress towards membership warned that the conviction of the journalist raises concerns about reporters’ ability to perform their duties professionally and without fear of legal repercussions in the country.