Podgorica, (MINA) – Several media organizations have called on the competent prosecutor’s office to dismiss the criminal complaint filed by director of the National Security Agency (ANB) Ivica Janovic against the journalists of the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN), describing it as an attempt to intimidate journalists and undermine media freedoms.

Janovic filed a criminal complaint against Andrea Perisic and Djurdja Radulovic over the investigative article “Security checks in ANB: Are more people being hired at the will of the powerful”, in which the journalists analyzed the recruitment policy of this institution and the alleged hiring of officers who had been assessed as posing a security risk.

The Association of Professional Journalists of Montenegro (DPNCG), the Media Institute of Montenegro (IMCG), the SafeJournalists Network and the Media Trade Union (SMCG) said that there were no grounds for criminal prosecution over the article on the ANB’s personnel policy, and warned that the insistence on revealing journalistic sources was particularly problematic.

“There is no basis for acting under the Law on Media in regard to this article, let alone for a criminal complaint, which, in case of prosecution, could result in a prison sentence”, assessed the DPNCG.

According to the press release, the fact that it was demanded from journalists to reveal the source of information was particularly concerning, even though the protection of journalistic sources is one of the fundamental principles of the journalism and a right guaranteed by Montenegrin laws and international standards.