According to him, the criminal proceedings and investigation are key role, so one of the ways of dealing with cases of attacks on journalists is establishing a special position as a prosecutor for these cases. Le Rue said that excuse for pending cases or not initiated investigation must not be not knowing whether the attack r murder was committed for private reasons or it was the result of journalistic work. “It’s a bad excuse, the investigation is to be run.” “The fundamental problem is impunity for attacks on journalists, the lack of justice and investigation, and it is the main responsibility of the state. The task of the state is to achieve justice, and justice stems from the investigation, ” explained Le Rue. Every unsolved case, he said, could be viewed as an announcement that even more similar problems will occur. The problem there, he believes, is partly because it seems that everyone agrees that journalism is dangerous and risky profession, and very often individual cases warrant. “You must accept that you can be at risk if you decide to be journalist.” “The most important thing is to stop the impunity,” he said. It is necessary to solve concrete cases and thus show a willingness to ensure the safety of the media, and those who are engaged in journalism.
“The problem is what’s wrong with the investigation, and it is used to justify the fact that everyone knows that journalist’s job is dangerous,” he repeated. The attacks on the media, he said, are going further from attacks on individuals or individual media outlets, “it is an attack on the whole society”. Director of Human Rights Action (HRA), Tea Gorjanc Prelević, asked whether he thought that a good solution for the purpose of criminality and reduction of cases of attacks on journalists, is to amend the Criminal Code so as to be in attacks on journalists to introduce higher fines. Le Rue said that it is not necessary.
According to him, it is not so important to have a higher penalty for the attack on journalists, comparing to the importance of finding out who is responsible and liable to be punished. La Rua said that one of the options is introducing the function of “special prosecutor for journalists”. He would, as he explained, specialize in the cases of attacks on journalists. “The investigation is more important than the punishment.” He praised the establishment of the Commission for monitoring when it comes to working with the competent authorities in cases of attacks on journalists in Montenegro, judging that it is one of the first steps. La Rua pointed to the fact that the democratic and stable countries have serious problems with violence on journalists. According to him, it is very important to determine the obligations of the state and its responsibility in resolving cases of violence against journalists. “First of all it is necessary to determine precisely the responsibility of state authorities.” Very often the source of violence is not known, as well as the purchaser of attacks on journalists, and, as La Rua said, therefor, the state often asks what it can do about it. “The state is obliged to protect its citizens from violence, including journalists,” said La Rua, adding that the state has an obligation to investigate whenever one of its citizen attacked. He stressed that individual citizens, through their functions, play a significant role in society, but they do not get more rights because they respect the principle of equality for all citizens. According to Le Rue, certain categories of people still enjoy special protection,the ”role that these people have” is protected like in the case with health care professionals in armed conflict.” In democratic societies, in peace, as he said, individuals who are struggling for human rights are protected, “because they protect the rights of others”. This is very important because they are fighting to improve the situation in the company, and it is similar with journalists, he said. “Journalists defend our right to be informed as a society”.
In addition to strong institutions, separation of powers and the existence of mutual control of government, citizens’ participation is important for every society.”But first, they must be informed in order to participate,” he said, or otherwise people are not able to participate in decision-making. Media’s primary role, as he pointed out, is to make the society constantly informed, respecting the principle of diversity and plurality. He referred to the attack on the French magazine Charlie Ebdo, stating that it is not only an attack on journalists and media company, but an attack on the freedom of speech of French society. “I do not qualify this attack, I don’t find the cartoons provocative, good or bad. That would be like saying that a woman is the rape victim because she was wearing a short skirt and thereby caused it, “he explained.
The cartoons were, as said, a part of free journalism with your message. “Whether we like it or not, I do not defend the content, but the freedom of publishing.” According to La Rua, a journalist may be bad, but because of that he can not tolerate violence.
“Any attack on journalists is a test for the democratic system,” he said, adding that states have to pay special attention. The state, he said, must protect freedom of speech and the rights of journalists, whether they are good or not. “They all have the same rights and the state must defend the function of information”. “The press is a social service, whether it is a private or public broadcaster,” said La Rua. Media freedom, as recalled, must be an appropriate legal framework, an efficient judicial system, but also the political will of the leaders in the state that it is secure and guaranteed. Freedom of speech, according to La Rua, we have seen through the perspective of human rights, and that, as he pointed out, the rights of society. Commenting on the existence of public broadcasters, he said that it is not a problem to have a public broadcaster, but it is important that it is independent in its work. There are independent public broadcasters in the world, he said. “That is feasible”.
