25. 05. 2005

KURIR VS DINKIC

BELGRADE, May 25, 2005 – Serbian Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic announced that he would press charges against daily Kurir for publishing false information with regard to his business activities. Belgrade daily Kurir has recently published the document of the State Security on alleged Dinkic’s embezzlement. The minister has, however, announced legal charges against the daily if the Public Prosecutor failed to do so, saying that he would seek adequate damage compensation because, as he explained, “it is a matter of honor, not money”. The Security Agency and military intelligence agency have denied possessing any files on minister Dinkic. Speaking at the press conference, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Kurir Svetomir Marjanovic said that the daily had never claimed that the allegations against Dinkic were true, but only that the report existed. Dinkic however explained that his first lawsuit against the media did not mean that he was against the public criticism of any public person: “The criticism of authority is necessary, but there have been enough lies in this country. If some papers publish that someone from that authority took the money, the person who committed the fraud must go to jail, while the person who published the lie must be held responsible for it”, Dinkic said. The lawyer Srdjan Sisic, who had represented media in similar lawsuits before, says that the criticism of the government is not disputable in this case; however, every criticism must be based on facts. Sisic also said that it was very strange that the authenticity of the document was not clearly visible on any of the photographs. If Dinkic sues Kurir, the papers will be obliged to prove the authenticity of the document in the lawsuit, says Sisic, adding that the document must have valid signature and stamp. The Belgrade lawyer pointed out that the daily should bring to court persons who had signed and stamped this document, otherwise, “it would automatically loose the case”.