Attack on investigative reporter in Montenegro prompts concern

PODGORICA-Agence France-Presse

An attacker shot an investigative reporter in Montenegro on May 8, police said, prompting calls from the European Union and the U.S. to protect journalists in the Balkan country. Olivera Lakic “has a bullet wound in her right leg but her life is not in danger,” the police chief Vesko Damjanovic told reporters.

Her editor, Mihajlo Jovovic, of the influential daily Vijesti, said Lakic was approached by a man outside her home in Podgorica late on May 8 and “shot in the leg, while she saw two other men running away”.

“I am speechless. Until when will this happen in Montenegro?,” Jovovic said.

Lakic was attacked in the same place six years ago.

Damjanovic said the police would “do its best to uncover the perpetrators and bring them to justice”. The assault, the second against a journalist in a month, prompted concern. “The attack on journalist Olivera Lakic is very worrying. Journalists must be protected,” European

Union ambassador to Montenegro Aivo Orav wrote on Twitter. The U.S. embassy in Podgorica said it followed “with concern the attack.” “Journalists are the guardians of democracy and must be protected so they can do their jobs in safety,” the embassy tweeted.