Matic's comments about murder trial cause heated debate

The controversy arose over the comments made by the president of the Commission Investigating Murders of Journalists, Veran Matic, on the trial for the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija, Beta agency reported.

After Matic stated that he had the impression that the trial chamber in the case with some of its decisions showed a clear intention to release those accused of the murder, the High Judicial Council and the Association of Judges of Serbia reacted by assessing that he had violated the presumption of innocence, while the Belgrade Bar Association suggested changing the Criminal Code.

As the president of the Belgrade Bar Association Jugoslav Tintor said at the gathering, the idea is to "protect the rights of the defendant," which is why he proposed introducing a new criminal act that could send officials, journalists and editors to up to three years in prison if they publish a statement or a news item that violates the right to the presumption of innocence.

"Freedom of expression is not absolute, and the right of citizens to be informed is not absolute. It must be in balance with the right to a fair trial and the right to privacy," Tintor said at the round table held at the Association of Journalists of Serbia.

He stated that "the media making rulings" and that for this reason, "there was no chance to judge fairly in some cases" - an that journalists must be creating an atmosphere in public that no one is guilty until the court determines the contrary.

Tintor also said that journalists should evaluate credibility of statements in order to prevent the violation of the presumption of innocence, and when asked whether this includes statements made by the president and ministers, he replied negatively - "because...