The editorial team of the KRIK portal has been sued twice within a month. The second lawsuit came immediately after KRIK reported on the first lawsuit filed against them by Jelena Tanasković, a former minister and one of the suspects in the case of the collapsed canopy in Novi Sad.
KRIK’s investigation revealed that Jelena Tanasković, now the former Minister of Agriculture and then the director of the state company Infrastruktura železnice, never faced charges for financial misconduct in the private company Prvi faktor, which she also managed as director. Although there was a criminal complaint against her, the case ended up with the Organized Crime Police Service, headed at the time by Ninoslav Cmolić — a police chief who is also the husband of her friend and former boss, Minister Irena Vujović. According to KRIK’s documentation, the police did not thoroughly examine all allegations in the complaint, nor was Tanasković ever questioned, yet the police still informed the prosecution that there were no grounds for criminal charges. Tanasković has sued KRIK over this article, demanding one million dinars in damages.
Immediately after KRIK informed the public that they had received the lawsuit, Tanasković filed another lawsuit against KRIK. In this new claim, she argued that KRIK portrayed her as a “murderer” because the article stated that 15 people died in the collapse of the canopy, which, according to Tanasković, implied that she was responsible for the incident — even though KRIK only noted that she is a suspect in the case as the responsible official. Tanasković also claims that KRIK presented her as a “criminal” because the article was published by KRIK – the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network – which she argues implies, by the outlet’s name alone, that she is a criminal. For this second lawsuit as well, she demanded one million dinars in damages for alleged harm to her honor and reputation.
Editor-in-chief Stevan Dojčinović commented on the lawsuit, saying: “In her lawsuit, she does not point out anywhere what is supposedly inaccurate in the article, which confirms our view that she is filing these lawsuits to intimidate us and stop us from reporting about her and issues that are important for all citizens.
This example shows that you can be sued even for reporting that you have already been sued. KRIK has for years been targeted by SLAPP lawsuits, and at that point, this was their 19th active case. KRIK continues to report from courtrooms in all proceedings they face, while also gathering the resources needed to deal with these malicious lawsuits through donations.
This document was prepared within the framework of the Civil Society Development Hub of the Western Balkans project, financed by Sida, and implemented by the BCSDN.
The content of this document, the information and the views expressed in it do not represent the official position and opinion of Sida and BCSDN. The responsibility for the information and views expressed in this document rests entirely with the author.
