N1 Program Director Igor Bozic told Nova TV that lawyer Gecic, who represents Telekom companies, threatened N1 journalist Ana Novakovic with dismissal on Wednesday evening after she approached United Group CEO Sten Miller at the Bristol Hotel in Belgrade and attempted to question him about leaked conversations with the CEO of Telekom Srbija.
“It is logical that when we learn that Mr. Stan Miller is in Belgrade, we want to ask him questions,” Bozic told Nova TV on Thursday morning, commenting on Wednesday evening’s incident at the Bristol Hotel where N1 and Nova.rs journalists were held by United Group CEO Stan Miller’s security.
“We learned that United Group CEO Sten Miller was in Belgrade. At the same time, we also found out that the entire United Group management was in Belgrade. A number of directors who spent the whole day at the Bristol Hotel. When we got that information, it was only logical for our journalist to try and ask the head of the group what was going on,” said Bozic, Nova.rs reported.
N1’s Program Director was referring to a story released Wednesday by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which reported having evidence that Telekom CEO Vladimir Lucic conveyed Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s demands to Miller for the removal of United Media chief executive Aleksandra Subotic.
“The public in Serbia is interested in this information. In the end, we didn’t get an answer; instead, our journalist’s phone was taken at one point, they threatened to call the police, but the police never came, there were threats involving a foreign embassy, and we also heard some threats about dismissal. As journalist Novakovic told me when I arrived on the scene, Telekom’s lawyer Gecic, who is apparently also a lawyer for United Group, told her: ‘What you just said is grounds for immediate dismissal’,” Bozic recounted, adding that it is unacceptable to threaten a journalist with dismissal for doing their job.
“It is clear there is an agreement between Serbian authorities and United Group heads”
N1’s Program Director said that, in the light of everything that has happened, it is clear that there is an agreement between the authorities in Serbia and the heads of United Group to bring the media under control.
“As for what the final plan is, that we don’t know,” Bozic added.
In summary, N1 journalist Ana Novakovic and Nova.rs journalist Jovan Mladenovic were held on Wednesday evening outside the Bristol Hotel after attempting to question new United Group CEO Stan Miller. After they were harassed for about an hour, both journalists were released.
Novakovic approached Miller to ask him if he had negotiated with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, with BC Partners’ approval, about a political agreement that would lead to the closure of independent media in Serbia, as reported by OCCRP. Security reacted almost immediately when Novakovic approached Miller, removing the journalist.
A short video clip recorded by Novakovic shows hotel security, as well as Miller himself, calling the police on the N1 and Nova journalists.
“The police? Really? You’re calling the police?” Novakovic asked a member of Miller’s security, who confirmed it.
After a one-and-a-half-hour conversation between journalist Novakovic and lawyers from Gecic’s office, the lawyers dropped their demand for the recording of the attempted statement to be destroyed, and the journalists left the location. The N1 journalist refused to delete the recording, insisting that she wanted to get a direct statement from the UG CEO.
During the incident, other senior United Group managers were present at the hotel with Miller: Ioannis Papatsikas (head of security), Libor Voncina, Janez Videmsek, Bernarda Trebusak Jecl, and Janez Zivko. However, none of them reacted when the journalist was stopped and held back, nor did they comment on the CEO’s behavior towards journalists from his media outlets.
Source: N1
