27. 07. 2004

Journalist sues employer

VALJEVO, July 27, 2004 (Beta) – Journalist Branka Osmanovic has filed a complaint against the Valjevo weekly Napred for wrongful dismissal, the District Court in the town confirmed today. Napred director and editor-in-chief, Olga Petrovic, dismissed Osmanovic, despite her being on sick leave at the time, saying that she could no longer work with her. This, said Petrovic, was because Osmanovic had “gravely violated interpersonal relations, because she is disloyal to the company and because she obstructed the work of the weekly”. Economy writer Osmanovic first clashed with Petrovic in mid-April, when she complained in public of having been transferred to a less attractive position in the paper after a new journalist was employed. In the new position she was required to report on tourism, trade, traffic, the Regional Chamber of Commerce and various committees of the Municipal Council. The Association of Independent Unions is supporting Osmanovic’s case, as are striking workers of local garment manufacturer Uzor. The Uzor workers, who have been on strike for four months, demanding that the company’s privatisation be reversed, say that Osmanovic has been punished for reporting professionally on their strike, when a protest march ended in central Valjevo immediately outside the paper’s premises. It was over this incident that the journalist was accused of damaging the weekly’s reputation. The charges against Napred will be heard by the Valjevo Municipal Court in late October. Osmanovic will be represented by union lawyers from Belgrade, Valjevo lawyers were reluctant to become involved in the dispute, citing among their reasons that Olga Petrovic’s husband, Branislav Dzunic, is a judge in the local District Court.