TV EDITOR ON TRIAL

AIM Podgorica, 22 April, 1998

At the tribunal of the court of appeal in Podgorica, Emilo Labudovic, the former editor of the information program of Television Montenegro, used his last trump card: he vowed with his honour and good name that in the night of 14 January 1998, after Momir Bulatovic's demonstrators dispersed, among whom he was, he did not shoot at policeman Martin Orlandic.

"I will also say it at my death-bed and in front of a firing squad that on that night I did not shoot, and let it do you credit for saying I did", said Labudovic at the moment judge Milorad Ivanovic brought him face to face with the policeman.

Four months after the end of the violent demonstrations he had been arrested and indicted for the attemted murder, Labudovic asked once more to be believed, on his honour and good name. The crowded courtroom was not an audience which would be inspiring for Labudovic to make one of the commentaries with which he used to give the tone to central daily news programs every evening. Nevertheless, the sample of those who have always whole-heartedly believed him, greeted him with an applause. Just a year ago, Labudovic could not have even imagined that he would ever be in such a position - position of an enemy of the state and a man in the dock. At the time he used to say: "I consider it extremely dishonest and unprofessional for a man paid by this state to have a different opinion from what that state stands for!" But the split in the state and party leadership of Montenegro put him on the side of the losers and he found himself in prison.

The demonstrations which he was driven away from in a police van revealed a completely new image of this tv editor. Bullets turned into words which for seven years he shot at spectators in his endless tv daily news programs, according to allegations of the indictment, Labudovic shot at a policeman. Even if it were true that on that evening he shot three bullets in the direction of a uniformed man, the fact remains that his shots have never been as harmless as those on 14 January. In the list of Labudovic's misdeeds, fatal for the lives, the awareness and the morality of his tv consumers, these three bullets appear almost negligible. Nevertheless, Labudovic was needed by the authorities one more time - this time, behind bars.

There were probably hundreds of tangible proofs which could have been used in a trial against Labudovic. The evidence stated at the trial which took place four months after his arrest, did not appear convincing at all. The counsel for the defence of the indicted journalist complained aganist statements of witnesses who, he claimed, to 58 the same questions put by the court gave different answers, while to 11 key questions in the investigation gave "surprisingly identical answers". Not even the chemist whose findings were expected as the main evidence in favour of the prosecution, could not bring joy to the prosecutor: on the paraffin wax glove of Labudovic, nitrates were detected, "which does not necessarily mean that the person handled firearms, because nitrates are found in various chemical compounds".

Not even details connected with his arrest speak in favour of consistence of the prosecutor. At first, policemen who arrested Labudovic at dawn on 15 January in his apartment, accused him that at the demonstrations in front of the building of the government he had snatched away a rifle from a policeman. At the time, shooting was not even mentioned. Labudovic claims that he heard the accusation that he had shot at someone, only from the judge during investigation.

Inconsistence of witnesses of the prosecution was evident on the very first day of the trial. Policeman Martin Orlandic described the situation in which Labudovic had allegedly shot at him "from the side" and then entered an orange "Pole" which drove away at great speed. Another policeman who was present at the event, Dejan Aladin, saw Labudovic's shots and entrance of the "Pole" which set out towards the marketplace at a "normal speed". Judge Ivanovic was forced to warn him that during investigation he had not said that he had seen Labudovic actually shooting, nor had he mentioned that he had kneeled down when he had heard the shots.

It is possible that people who represent state authorities had not trusted Labudovic even when he most passionately worked for them. That is why they were probably distrustful towards him while he appeared very convincing at the trial. Whatever may be the truth in this case, it will remain undoubted that those in charge of the "case of Labudovic" forgot that they were dealing with a man. If it had not been so, it could never had happened that the trial began a hundred days after the event and only after the minister of justice intervened. Nobody even tried to offer guarantees that the "legal state" of Montenegro would give Labudovic a fair trial. Instead, everything that was happening from his arrest to this day, irrestistably remind of political trials, such as those which were much more numerous in Montenegro in the past few years than in the "non-democratic Serbia".

The unfortunate journalist, or rather, employee of state television, was nevertheless just a symbol of his time. He carried out his job of the editor and the announcer crudely, roughly, profanely, exactly in the manner resembling the authorities he had learnt the trade from. Together with such statesmen, their best tv offspring had to leave. The new, reformist, pro-western authorities, nowadays need new men. Not to call to war and be proud of the sanctions but to serve them equally loyally. Of course, in a new, refined, reformed manner.

Labudovic has, in any case, ended his career of a journalist. But, this is probably the least important for him now - his life is at stake. He can do nothing but wait for the end of the trial and the verdict. Should he be freed of charges, instead to state television he will enter the parliament, because Bulatovic ranked him on the high 17th position on the list of his deputies who will run in the elections. On the contrary, long years in prison await him.

Nebojsa REDZIC

AIM Podgorica