Two preparatory hearings were held before the Basic Court in Kolašin last week on the lawsuit of the Daily press (which includes the daily paper, TV and the Vijesti web portal, as well as the failed weekly Monitor) and the co-owner of this concern Željko Ivanović against our media house.
Regarding the first preparatory hearing held due to the text published on Aktuelno under the title “Parliamentary dilettante in a new role: Bečić as a spokesman for racketeering media and ignorant NGOs” for which Ivanović and his company Daily press demanded compensation in the total amount of 7,000 euros, the court accepted the evidence of the lawyer of our media house.
The court in Kolašin adopted an evidentiary proposal to inspect the text published in Vijesti, in which they transmit the comment of the President of the Assembly Aleksa Bečić on the private trial which is being conducted before the Basic Court in Podgorica, according to the lawsuit of the co-owner of Aktuelno. Judge Jadranka Pavlović also ordered the lawyer of Aktuelno to submit a copy of the lawsuit in Podgorica against, among others, Vijesti, because that is exactly the reason for the text published on this regime news portal.
When it comes to the lawsuit for the article entitled “Ivanovic and Perovic in trouble: over 7.8 million euros loses of Pro-Russian TV Vijesti”, the lawyer of Aktuelno submitted reports from the Tax Administration and all texts of other newspapers that wrote about TV Vijesti financial problems. Some of the titles included in the evidence are from Pobjeda from February 8, 2018. – “Washington papers: Did the DF pump 700,000 euros into Vijesti”, then from the Analitika portal on May 27, 2015, “The Tax Administration requested the introduction of bankruptcy in TV Vijesti”. The title from the pro-Russian IN4S news portal is also quoted – “Knezevic: Zeljko Ivanovic confirmed that he is Markovic's Srecko Sojic”.
The lawyer of Aktuelno emphasized before the court that it is interesting that the Vijesti concern and their co-owner did not “mentally hurt” any text of other media on the same topic, except for the text published on Aktuelno. Judge Pavlović also ordered the submission of a CD recording where it can be seen that the co-owner of Vijesti, Željko Ivanović, was at the ceremony organized by GP URA.
What should make us happy, not only Aktuelno, but also the entire Montenegrin public, is that the courts have finally started to accept the evidence presented by the media sued by the racketeering concern Daily Press at the hearings. Therefore, we can state that the judiciary is slowly starting to get rid of the terror that the so-called “media mafia” has been carrying out for years over the courts through which they racketed the competition in order to put an end to them.
Let us remind you that by this concern – known in the literature and the majority of the Montenegrin public as “Media Gang” or “Media Mafia” – its co-owners and journalists in the last year and a half, in a classic racketeering attempt to shut down Aktuelno filed 16 lawsuits damages against our media house.
“Burning” books
An unheard scandal and unprecedented censorship was carried out two weeks ago when members of this organized group of blackmailing media, with the wholehearted support of frightened, compromised courts, “burned” a renowned literary work in the continuation of a terror against Aktuelno, in the shameful manner characteristic of Nazi SS troops.
The High Court in Bijelo Polje recently in a panel composed of judges Sanja Konatar, Vanja Rakonjac and Milan Smolovic, upheld the verdict of the Basic Court in Kolasin, according to which Aktuelno is obliged to pay 3,000 euros each to “journalists” of the failed weekly Monitor Milka Tadic Mijovic and Milena Perovic Korać because of the “mental pain” that they allegedly suffered due to the publication of the book “Miško Kesedžija and his business”, written by the literate Marko Vešović and investigative journalist Šeki Radončić.
The judge of the Basic Court in Kolasin, Jadranka Pavlović, at the end of November 2020, adopted lawsuits for compensation of non-pecuniary damage, to Tadić Mijović and Perović Korać.
The frightened courts in this case, as in many previous cases, have shown that they have been compromised and are working under constant fear of the Dialy press concern, which includes TV, new portal and daily newspaper Vijesti, as well as the failed weekly Monitor.
Censorship as in Nazi Germany
Aktuelno, by order of the censors’ courts, in addition to compensation of 3,000 euros each for Perović Korać and Tadić Mijović, had to remove texts from the anthology book “Miško Kesedžija and his business – an essay on Montenegrin evil” concerning the two chasers.
Although the book was hailed by regional critics as “a work that pushes boundaries on the Montenegrin literary scene”, courts in Bijelo Polje and Kolasin have ordered its removal.
It is obvious that this is a brutal censorship and banning of a form of literary work that was published on Aktuelno in the form of a feuilleton in 167 sequels, but in accordance with the practice of respecting Montenegrin judicial institutions, we temporarily removed the “disputed” work.
The courts ordered the removal of “only” parts of the book mentioning Perovic Korac and Tadic Mijovic, but at the author's insistence we removed the entire book because, as they said, “if only its fragments were removed, it would be a ‘desecration’ of the artistic deeds”. To make things even more tragic for the freedom of artistic expression, the book “Miško Kesedžija and his business” is an anthological work that almost all Montenegrins have heard about.
This decision of the Montenegrin courts is an explicit form of censorship as it was in 1933, when Hitler's sympathizers in Nazi Germany lit bonfires in the streets and threw books they considered inappropriate.
In the same brutal censorship style in July last year, Aktuelno was forced to remove four texts published within the series “Voyeur and Ballerina” by Šeki Radončić by order of the court in Bijelo Polje!
It should be noted that when Radončić commented on the shameful censorship of his feuilleton, Aktuelno received a lawsuit from one of the co-owners of the Vijesti concern, Željko Ivanović. Ivanović sued our media house for transmitting Radončić's statement! The case is still pending before a court in Kolasin.
Pressure on Aktuelno
It is clear that the so-called “media mafia” cares to put as much pressure as possible on our media house, whose editorial policy is a thorn in the side of deviant and corrupt segments of society.
In the anthological literary work that Aktuelno had to remove, Vešović and Radončić called the media owned by the Daily Press concern – daily paper, television and Vijesti news portal, as well as the failed weekly Monitor, owned by Miodrag Miško Perović and Željko Ivanović as “media mafia”.
Perović, Ivanović and their associates from the Dialy press concern have long ago embarked on a chase on our media house, which they have been trying to shut down for a long time, with lawsuits and pressure on corrupt courts. In support of this claim, the best evidence is that they and their associates from the so-called “media mafia” have filed 16 lawsuits against Aktuelno in the last year and a half.
The last lawsuits against the Ski Resort Kolašin 1450, which owns Aktuelno media house, arrived in November last year. Then, in a synchronized attack on our media house, four lawsuits were filed for compensation of non-material damage by the Daily Press concern and its co-owner obscure-deviant media tycoons, the above-mentioned Perović and Ivanović.
This organized group of media racketeers then demanded no less than 30,500 euros in compensation for the inflicted non-material damage, as well as the removal of the texts of Aktuelno in a brutal censorship manner, in which only the truth was stated!
These Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) associates and subversive politicians were hurt by the texts of Aktuelno which fully expose their behind-the-scenes parapolitical actions, so they are conducting a brutal chase against our media house through corrupt courts that have been afraid of blackmailing for years.
Pathology and strangeness of media racketeers
Daily press, Perović and Ivanović then sued Aktuelno because of the following texts: “Media tycoon is preparing the ground for the betrayal of Montenegro: Through his staff, he is setting up Port of Bar to Vučić!?” (“Medijski tajkun priprema teren za izdaju Crne Gore: Preko svojih kadrova namješta Luku Bar Vučiću!?”) for which they demanded 6,500 euros in compensation and “Parliamentary dilettante in a new role: Bečić as a spokesman of racketeering media and ignorant NGOs” (“Parlamentarni diletant u novoj ulozi: Bečić kao portparol reketaških medija i NVO neznalica”) for which Ivanović and his company Daily press demanded compensation in the total amount of 7,000 euros.
In their insane censorship, we also received a lawsuit for the text entitled “CENSORSHIP Removed series “Voyeur and Ballerina”, Radončić: With a fair verdict, a judge would put his head under the ax of media executioners” (“CENZURA Uklonjen serijal “Voajer i Balerina”, Radončić: Poštenom presudom sudija bi stavio glavu ispod sjekire medijskih dželata”), where journalist and publicist Šeki Radončić presents his view after the brutal censorship and removal of his texts from our news portal. Such insane abuse of freedom of speech by media racketeers is certainly a precedent!
But there is worse than this, so Ivanović filed a lawsuit for a text entitled “Ivanović and Perović in trouble: Pro-Russian TV Vijesti at a loss of over 7.8 million euros!” (“Ivanović i Perović u problemu: Proruska TV Vijesti u gubitku preko 7,8 miliona eura!”), which was published on our news portal more than a year ago. In this lawsuit Ivanovic is seeking compensation of another 6,500 euros!? The lawsuit for the text that was published more than a year ago shows that Ivanović has a pathological need to sue anyone who criticizes his character and work, no matter that the same kind of critics and vocabulary is used by himself in the media he owns.
This circumstance also shows that this is a classic showdown with dissidents and that it no longer matters why this strange racketeering group will sue us, as long as the lawsuits accumulate and as long as there is pressure to destroy and financially shut down our media house.
The truth bothers them
In the above-mentioned texts, which the media-racketeering party states to be untrue, only the bare facts about the activities of this subversive group are presented.
In our texts we have published facts about Ivanović's staffing in the Port of Bar, about the losses of their pro-Russian TV Vijesti, about connections with the new government, with absolutely justified qualifications that he is a “hater of Montenegro” and reminders of the nicknames given to him in the documentary novel “Miško Kesedžija and his dogs – an essay on the Montenegrin evil” written by Marko Vešović and Šeki Radončić.
It seems that they were most bothered by the statement of the investigative journalist and publicist Šeki Radončić, who used the adequate terms “hochstaplers”, “media executioners”, “mercenaries” and “tycoons” to describe the Perović-Ivanović duo.
That this text and Radončić's statement hit them the hardest is also shown by the fact that Ivanović, Perović and Dailly press are asking for a total of 10,500 euros in compensation, which we mentioned above!
You can read everything about this media gang in another investigative book of Šeki Radončić called “The Anatomy of a Persecution”, which is available in English on this link.
Respected and honored as Ceausescu in Romania in 1989
The lawsuits allege that the qualifications presented in the mentioned texts caused “mental pain and suffering, endangered the psychological integrity and personal dignity” of the defendants. They also state that their “reputation in society, which they have as independent investigative journalists, has been damaged.”
That statement borders reckless absurdity because Ivanovic, Perovic and their racketeering regime media product in Montenegro enjoy the reputation that Nicolae Ceausescu had in Romania in 1989. That is why the accusations of damaging the reputation from our editorial are absurd, because that media house and their ownership structure cannot boast of any reputation, if the indignation of almost the entire Montenegrin public at their work is not taken into account. In support of this, it is not difficult to present a series of tendentious texts that they have been publishing for years. Or maybe only the texts of the media production Perović – Ivanović are valid for the Montenegrin judiciary?
It is also a question of how Perović and Ivanović can invoke mental pain and personal dignity in general, because the existence of their soul is absolutely questionable, and they lost their psychological integrity and dignity a long time ago when they started blackmailing, racketeering and publishing lies in their own, now pro-regime tabloid.
Continuation of the synchronized chase
The mentioned lawsuits, which we mentioned as an example of persecution of our media house, are just a continuation of a synchronized and orchestrated series of unscrupulous attacks on the ownership structure and part of the journalists of the Daily Press media concern, through abuse of judicial bodies, frightened judges and officials. Behind the entire operation are parts of the Serbian Church that cooperate with this regime tabloid and its owners, as well as parts of the new government, which we have written about several times.
After the journalists of the once respectable, and today insignificant low-circulation weekly “Monitor” Milena Perović Korać and Milka Tadić Mijović sued Aktuelno at the end of February last year, only a few days later, in early March, the lawsuit of Daily Press co-owner Željko Ivanović arrived. Ivanovic and his colleagues demanded to be paid 5,000 euros each for non-pecuniary damage, which they allegedly continue to suffer due to the publication of the literary work “Miško Kesedžija and his dogs”.
Perović and Ivanović also sued Aktuelno at the end of March 2019 for transmitting texts from the series “Voyeur and Ballerina” by Šekij Radončić, which was published in Dnevne novine (local daily paper in Montenegro).
Corrupt courts, frightened by the racketeering media concern, have already passed a verdict to the detriment of Aktuelno, which had to withdraw the mentioned Radončić series under the onslaught of shameful and brutal censorship.
To this should be added three more lawsuits filed in mid-October by Ivanovic, Perovic and Perovic-Korac, and when we add these new four we come to an impressive number of 16 lawsuits filed by a group of media chasers against our media house in the last little over a year and a half! This is a clear indication of the persecution experienced by the ownership structure and the editorial board of Aktuelno, whose activities obviously bother the obscure criminogenic-racketeering elements and their church-political patrons.
Black trio and call for free media lynching
After we described the chase experienced by our media house, it became crystal clear to all who want to see it that since 30th of August 2020, when the pro-Serb parties came to power, brutal pressure has been exerted to shut down our media house, which stood out as the biggest critic of anti-state behind-the-scenes and criminal activities of the new, but also the old government.
The season of persecution of our media house by the new government was officially opened by the President of the Assembly, Aleksa Bečić. He was hastily abused by certain structures, just a few days after taking office, to comment a private lawsuit filed by businessman and one of the founders of our media house Zoran Bećirović that was initiated before the Basic Court in Podgorica against the Network for Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) and racketeering media Vijesti and Dan.
This bizarre practice of drawing targets at the head of the owner and editorial board of the media was joined by two other flagships of the new government – future prime minister-designate Zdravko Krivokapic and URA leader Dritan Abazovic, who attacked Becirovic for his statement before the Basic Court in Podgorica. When we add the lawsuit and the constant direct, indirect, official and unofficial pressure of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro on our media house, then we can freely say that the new government and their patrons decided to fully implement the project of destroying free and critical media in Montenegro.
Principals from the Serbian Orthodox Church
Motives for such a synchronized attack may be sought in the aspirations of the current patrons of the media concern Daily Press – a part of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) which is obviously bothered by the editorial policy of our media house, because it demystifies the role of this parapolitical economic organization in Montenegro – including exposing the cover-up of crimes related to pedophilia and other criminal acts.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the synchronized lawsuits, verdicts and pressure on our media house appeared at a time when a huge number of people appear contacting us and supporting our work to expose parapolitical, religious and media structures in Montenegro to which numerous serious criminal acts are linked.
“Thorn in the eye”
Based on all that has been mentioned, it is clear that Aktuelno is a “thorn in the eye” of the racketeering-blackmailing media, but also subversive political and NGO structures that in the most perfidious way want to gain material benefits through their people pushed into the future government structures.
When we add to that the church circles that would like to burn our media house in the manner of medieval inquisitors, and then the controversial officials to whom numerous corrupt and dishonorable actions are connected, it is clear that our editorial office is the target of a “selected team” of socially deviant group of pro-Serb and pro-Russian activists.
The main goal of the united parapolitical, racketeering-media and corrupt chase gang is to silence the most persistent critics so that they can freely carry out political fear government and set standards of “truth” that suit them.
Finally, we repeat what we have already said countless times in public and in private communication – the editorial staff of Aktuelno is proud of all the lawsuits, threats and unfounded criticism that come from these obscure circles.
This is the best sign that we are doing our job well and in the interest of the entire public…
U.P.A.