Hundreds rally in Serbia over acquittals in 1999 journalist murder

Hundreds protested in Belgrade over a court ruling that acquitted four former intelligence officers jailed for the 1999 murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija.

On Monday, the protesters carried a banner reading "You killed justice, but truth lives on," which they left in front of the building housing the Appellate Court in downtown Belgrade.

"The verdict and everything happening around Curuvija is a heavy blow and kind of... the end of justice," Zivojin Rakocevic, a member of the Journalists Association of Serbia, said during the protest organised by media associations and rights watchdogs.

"This is the message from the state, that journalists are not protected. And what other citizens can understand as well is that they themselves are not protected if the journalists aren't," said Zeljko Bodrozic, president of the Independent Association of Journalists in Serbia.

The Belgrade-based Appellate Court announced the acquittal last week of four State Security operatives, including Radomir Markovic, the former head of the agency.

They had previously received jail sentences of up to 30 years over the assassination of Curuvija during late leader Slobodan Milosevic's rule.

Lawyers for Markovic and three other defendants were not immediately available for comment. During the trial, the four denied wrongdoing.

Not 'enough evidence'

Curuvija was shot dead on Orthodox Easter in 1999 after a pro-Milosevic newspaper published an opinion piece saying Curuvija had supported NATO air strikes against Serbia over its military crackdown on independence-seeking Albanians in Kosovo.

Dusko Milenkovic, the head of the Appellate Court, said the court had concluded that the prosecution "did not provide enough evidence to prove the indictment."

The Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office said on Monday it had asked the Appellate Court for the case files to "submit a request for the protection of legality".

The Supreme Court has the power to overturn the Appellate Court's decision and order a retrial.

Markovic is already serving a 40-year jail term for his roles in the 2000 killing of former Serbian President Ivan Stambolic and the1999 attempted assassination of Vuk Draskovic, an opposition politician, in which four other people died.