Serbia: Award-Winning Investigative Reporter Dragana Pećo Risks Imprisonment

Location: Serbia  
Date: October 28, 2022

Photo Credit: Milena Arsenić

Prominent journalist at KRIK investigative outlet media, Dragana Pećo, risks imprisonment over the exposure of secret deals of Nikolas Petrović, an influential crony of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. The Coalition For Women In Journalism firmly denounces the trial case against Dragana Pećo and urges the country’s authorities to take action in implementing anti-SLAPP measures. 

Courageous investigative journalist Dragana Pećo at KRIK, and a researcher at OCCRP has been sued for the second time by Nikolas Petrović. The SLAPP case against Pećo is a typical practice in Serbia. It is considered as the most common method of intimidation and censorship of free media. The prosecutor's office, and the courts do not communicate adequately with members of the press, according to a recent study by the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS). Consequently, journalists find it difficult, if not impossible, to be understood by the system of courts. A vast majority of judges in Serbia are unaware that SLAPP cases purposely obstruct journalistic work and render it impossible.

The current trial against Pećo, which has been dragging on for nearly a year and a half, had its next scheduled hearing on Friday, October 28, 2022. These types of cases and trials affect journalists and the media outlets they report for in various impeding ways. They are specifically designed with the purpose of wasting the defendants’ time and money on court hearings instead of focusing on investigating and reporting. Journalists in return spend months or even years on appealing and generating the money needed to defend themselves in court. The process of trials is painfully slow. There are hearings every two to three months making it extremely time consuming.

Speaking to CFWIJ, Pećo says “This is a new trend in Serbia and it has drastically increased in the last few years. There are so many examples of putting pressure on journalists. There have been countless cases and smear campaigns from pro-government parties. Social media death threats, verbal attacks, breaking and entering which I have been a target of myself, but as of today nothing has been resolved.Journalists are often followed in the streets by government security agents. A former minister has sued me and KRIK four times for the same story. We published his reaction to the story and got sued for it.”

The lawsuit, filed by Petrović, was triggered by an article Pećo wrote about his secret business entanglements with businessman Stanko Subotic. Pećo and co-author Vesna Radojević exposed that Petrović had become the owner of an airline company which he purchased from Subotic at a suspiciously discounted price. As a result, Petrović's lawyers demanded a Belgrade court to hold Pećo accountable by sentencing her to two months in prison for the crime of  “unauthorized collection of personal data”. The demanded sentence for Vesna Radojević was a one-month sentence. This is the first time that a high-profile individual is asking for a prison sentence in a SLAPP case. They most commonly sue for monetary acquisitions. Furthermore, Pećo and KRIK were not contacted  and no one had bothered to fact check the story they published on Petrović’’s dubious affairs prior to being served. “No one called to say something was incorrect with the story. It’s quite possibly the opposite.” says Dragana Pećo.

Pećo is the winner of the "Dušan Bogavac" journalism award for ethics and courage. She was awarded for her many years of courageous and ethical engagement in journalistic research."Despite threats, eavesdropping, jeopardizing personal safety by raiding her apartment, Dragana Pećo again proved all the virtues of investigative journalism this year with a series of texts about the secret accounts of high-ranking officials of the Republic of Serbia," says the award’s jury.

When asked by CFWIJ on what it is like to be a woman journalist in the current media-censoring climate in Serbia, Pećo said “It is extremely challenging and the bravest journalists are women. There are more women than men journalists in Serbia. They are fearlessly reporting on the field and attending conferences despite being constantly targeted for simply doing their jobs. We endure many difficulties and we must be prepared to be patronized. Even if you are a well-informed, knowledgeable and skilled journalist you still have to deal with rude, sexist and chastising comments.” 

A few years ago, Bratislav Gašić, one of the high officials and current director of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) was answering a question during an interview and commented “I like a woman who doesn’t mind being on her knees”, about the reporter who had assumed the position in order to be out of the camera frame.

In 2018, Pećo and KRIK editor Stevan Dojcinovic won the EU Award for the best investigative story in Serbia. The investigative story “How Serbia’s Health Minister Helped a Criminal Avoid Trial” meticulously demonstrated strong connections between Minister Zlatibor Loncar and the notorious Zemun clan. 

The current trial against Pećo, which has been dragging on for nearly a year and a half, has its next scheduled hearing on Friday, October 28, 2022. The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands with Dragana Pećo and strongly condemns the SLAPP case against her. We call on the Serbian government to put an end to the trial and allow all journalists in the country to report without any form of censorship.

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.