HISTORY

THE DARK SIDE OF SERBIAN MEDIA HISTORY: 26 years since the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija

by Serbian Times11. April 2025.

Today marks 26 years since the murder of journalist and owner of Srpski telegraf and Evropljanin, Slavko Ćuruvija.

Ćuruvija was shot and killed on April 11, 1999, in the entryway of a building at 35 Svetogorska Street in Belgrade, following a media campaign against him led by the then-regime of Slobodan Milošević.

The Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) and the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) have called on citizens to support the “Slavko Ćuruvija” Foundation today in front of the Second Basic Court in Belgrade, as it faces a lawsuit filed for defamation and damage to reputation by former suspects in Ćuruvija’s murder.

According to a statement, precisely on the date Ćuruvija was murdered in 1999—the editor and owner of the newspaper Dnevni telegraf—a preliminary hearing will be held in the case against the Foundation, which has been sued for defamation by Milan Radonjić, Miroslav Kurak, and Ratko Romić.

The three filed the lawsuit against the Foundation following its public reaction to a decision by the Court of Appeals to acquit them of charges in the Ćuruvija murder case.

They had previously been convicted twice for inciting an unidentified person (NN) to murder the Belgrade journalist.

All three are seeking damages of 500,000 dinars each from the “Slavko Ćuruvija” Foundation.

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UNS and NUNS have called on citizens to gather on Friday, April 11, at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Second Basic Court in Kataniceva Street in Belgrade, when the trial is scheduled to begin.

Afterward, representatives of the two associations plan to lay wreaths at the site where Ćuruvija was murdered in 1999.

Former members of the State Security Service—Radonjić, Kurak, and Romić—were initially convicted in 2019 for inciting an unidentified person to commit the murder and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 20 to 30 years.

The Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in September 2020, stating that the Special Court had “exceeded the charges by introducing an unidentified perpetrator and altering the facts described in the indictment.”

In the retrial, the Special Court in December 2021 again sentenced Radonjić to 30 years in prison, while Romić and Kurak received 20 years each.

In February last year, the Court of Appeals overturned that verdict and acquitted them.