Montenegro. Another killing

The death of a journalist shakes the state

“MILO, murderer,” yelled protesters accusing their pro-independence prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, as they marched through Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, on May 29th. Two days earlier, Dusko Jovanovic, the editor of Dan - a paper which serves as a mouthpiece for the republic's main opposition party and supports a continued union with Serbia - was gunned down.

Mr Jovanovic joins a long list of men assassinated in both Serbia and Montenegro, in circumstances which may never be cleared up. Prominent victims in the last few years include Serbia's prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, a Serbian newspaper editor, Slavko Curuvija, two top Montenegrin security officials, a Yugoslav defence minister and a gangster-cum-paramilitary-leader.

Ever since the destruction of the old Yugoslavia, the borders of politics, business, the security services and the underworld have blurred in both Montenegro and Serbia. Dan made waves in Montenegro, not for its views on the future of the republic's relationship with Serbia, but because of its dogged campaign to expose alleged corruption around the leadership of Mr Djukanovic. In recent years, the newspaper has maintained that Montenegro's prime minister and his allies are linked to sex trafficking, cigarette smuggling and other mafia activities. Mr Djukanovic's supporters, however, retort that Dan is more committed to slanderous mud-slinging than to the truth. Dozens of libel cases against the paper have been launched over the last few years.

Mr Djukanovic and his government have been quick to condemn the murder. Forensic experts have been called in from abroad and a reward of €1m ($1.2m) has been posted in a bid to find the killers. But the damage has been done. Mr Djukanovic's enemies are convinced that the killing had something to do with men close to power. Nebojsa Medojevic, a popular economist and harsh critic of the government, is predicting that the murder may mean the beginning of the end for Mr Djukanovic and his government. Abroad, the republic's image has also been tarnished. This may undermine Mr Djukanovic's wish to steer Montenegro to a referendum on independence by 2006.

But Mr Djukanovic may just have an ace up his sleeve. Ramco Energy, a Scottish oil company, has been prospecting off the coast of Montenegro. According to Steven Bertram, Ramco's finance director, Montenegro may be sitting on “billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas”. He hopes to get a rig out later this year. If his predictions are borne out, the prospects for Mr Djukanovic, Montenegro and its relations with Serbia will all look very different.

Feature on the murder of journalist Dusko Jovanovic in Montenegro, 27 May 2004.