N1 Executive producer says police responsible for reporter’s safety

Nova S

The safety of N1 TV reporter Jelena Zoric is in the hands of the police and the responsibility is theirs following the threats she got from lawyer Svetislav Bojovic, N1 Executive Producer Igor Bozic said on Thursday.

Zoric received veiled verbal threats from the lawyer and his client Predrag Koluvija who is standing trial in the so-called Jovanjica marijuana farm case which involves several state officials.

Bozic told Nova S TV that this is an ongoing process with the police expected to come up with an assessment of Zoric’s security.

“We went by the book, how it is done, all the legal steps were taken and, among other things, our lawyers will file a complaint with the Bar Association Disciplinary Commission over the lawyer’s behavior. That is a step to be taken after the holidays. The second is that we requested a review of Jelena’s security and there is another detail, those were not the only threats, they continued with a note on her front door. The police is investigating that added threat. They spoke to her and we are waiting for their assessment,” he said.

“If the police assess that her safety has been compromised, the responsibility is theirs if anything happens to her and if they assess that her safety has been compromised they will have to protect her,” Bozic said.

“We should be clear about this, the police are solely responsible for Jelena’s security,” he said adding that “it’s not naive to have a man who grew 12 hectares of marijuana, who sends a message through his lawyer to a journalist who never qualified anything and only dealt with facts. This is an obvious attempt to influence public opinion and intimidation,” Bozic said.

The N1 Executive Producer said that the station is under constant pressure year round and has to react to attacks on its journalists all the time. He said that is a burden along with the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic when journalists got sick along with the name calling in parliament.