<p>A court in Montenegro on Thursday sentenced an award-winning investigative journalist to one year in jail following a retrial on drug trafficking charges.</p>.<p>Jovo Martinovic, who has reported widely on organised crime and war crimes for both local and foreign outlets, was sentenced in 2019 to a year and a half in prison over alleged links to a smuggling ring.</p>.<p>Martinovic, who has denied the accusations, appealed the verdict, and an appeals tribunal ordered the retrial citing lack of evidence.</p>.<p>At the time media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) slammed the ruling as a "disturbing setback for press freedom" in Montenegro.</p>.<p>Also, Brussels warned the Balkan nation that restricting the press could imperil its bid to join the European Union.</p>.<p>The journalist said earlier that his contacts with criminal circles were strictly professional in the context of reporting.</p>.<p>On Thursday, Martinovic, 48, labelled his new verdict "political and shameful" and said he would appeal it.</p>.<p>"Witnesses' testimonies were in my favour. All the evidence was in my favour. The court did not want to accept the evidence I proposed which shows that I was on a reporting mission.</p>.<p>"The judgement was written a long time ago," he told reporters.</p>.<p>However, Martinovic will not go to jail as he was already detained for nearly 15 months -- longer than his sentence -- while awaiting the first trial.</p>.<p>Martinovic has worked for major international media including the BBC and the Financial Times.</p>.<p>He won the 2018 Peter Mackler Award for his investigations, including work that exposed war crimes during and after Serbia's conflict with Kosovo in the 1990s.</p>.<p>On Tuesday, RSF and seven other media freedom groups had urged Martinovic's acquittal.</p>.<p>A new conviction would "undermine media freedom" in Montenegro and be incompatible with its EU accession, for which an "independent and pluralist media is a key condition", they said in a statement.</p>.<p>Montenegro, home to 650,000 people, hopes to join the EU by 2025 and is under growing pressure to tackle organised crime and safeguard media freedom.</p>.<p>Before Martinovic's arrest he had worked on stories about the notorious "Pink Panther" international jewel thieves gang made up of members mainly from the former Yugoslavia.</p>.<p>Gang member Dusko Martinovic was sentenced to six years and three months in the trial. Six others were also convicted.</p>
<p>A court in Montenegro on Thursday sentenced an award-winning investigative journalist to one year in jail following a retrial on drug trafficking charges.</p>.<p>Jovo Martinovic, who has reported widely on organised crime and war crimes for both local and foreign outlets, was sentenced in 2019 to a year and a half in prison over alleged links to a smuggling ring.</p>.<p>Martinovic, who has denied the accusations, appealed the verdict, and an appeals tribunal ordered the retrial citing lack of evidence.</p>.<p>At the time media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) slammed the ruling as a "disturbing setback for press freedom" in Montenegro.</p>.<p>Also, Brussels warned the Balkan nation that restricting the press could imperil its bid to join the European Union.</p>.<p>The journalist said earlier that his contacts with criminal circles were strictly professional in the context of reporting.</p>.<p>On Thursday, Martinovic, 48, labelled his new verdict "political and shameful" and said he would appeal it.</p>.<p>"Witnesses' testimonies were in my favour. All the evidence was in my favour. The court did not want to accept the evidence I proposed which shows that I was on a reporting mission.</p>.<p>"The judgement was written a long time ago," he told reporters.</p>.<p>However, Martinovic will not go to jail as he was already detained for nearly 15 months -- longer than his sentence -- while awaiting the first trial.</p>.<p>Martinovic has worked for major international media including the BBC and the Financial Times.</p>.<p>He won the 2018 Peter Mackler Award for his investigations, including work that exposed war crimes during and after Serbia's conflict with Kosovo in the 1990s.</p>.<p>On Tuesday, RSF and seven other media freedom groups had urged Martinovic's acquittal.</p>.<p>A new conviction would "undermine media freedom" in Montenegro and be incompatible with its EU accession, for which an "independent and pluralist media is a key condition", they said in a statement.</p>.<p>Montenegro, home to 650,000 people, hopes to join the EU by 2025 and is under growing pressure to tackle organised crime and safeguard media freedom.</p>.<p>Before Martinovic's arrest he had worked on stories about the notorious "Pink Panther" international jewel thieves gang made up of members mainly from the former Yugoslavia.</p>.<p>Gang member Dusko Martinovic was sentenced to six years and three months in the trial. Six others were also convicted.</p>