"Many are afraid of verdict in Curuvija murder trial"

Veran Matic, the president of the Commission Investigating Murders of Journalists, has been an inevitable target over the past month and a half in a special war of sorts, that weekly Ilustrovana Politika has been waging.

Matic, along with Ljiljan Smajlovic and US Ambassador Kyle Scott, is the hero of the latest front page of this weekly, one no less in bad taste than the one about "released hounds." How come these articles are appearing in Ilustrovana Politika, what kind of campaign is this?

Matic: From the moment of the brutal murder of Slavko Curuvija, a fierce obstruction has been underway to determine who issued the order, planned and executed 'death by firing squad'. The same forces who are behind the killing are trying to influence in any way they can the acquittal in this case. In this sense, all kinds of 'volunteers' are being used, some of whom have their share in 'drawing the targets' on Slavko's forehead, as well as those who ordered and organized this evil deed.

Why are you and our colleague Ljiljana Smajlovic the target?

- The trial is taking too long and does not bring some attractiveness. Everyone thinks that everything is known. However, when we, as representatives of the Commission Investigating Murder of Journalists, began to warn about certain decisions of the Trial Chamber directly determining the course of the trial - such as the release into house arrest of two of the accused while the third was on the run, which opens up the possibility of making agreements and pressuring witnesses, excluding the most important evidence that denies alibis, preventing the exclusion of important evidence of actors who have died in the meantime, but whose testimonies were taken lawfully... the two of us, as well...