Conference opening ceremonies tend to be rather formal affairs. But this morning's welcome to the International Press Institute (IPI) world congress in Belgrade was anything but staid.
With Serbia's president, Boris Tadic, sitting on the podium about to perform the ritual opening speech, the IPI's director, David Dadge, took the opportunity to call on him to solve crimes against journalists in his country.
Dadge said: "Despite your best efforts Mr President, and all your hard work, I believe there are still shadows from Serbia's past that reach into the present day." He then listed the "shadows"...
Slavko Curuvija, the owner and director of the daily Dnevni Telegraf, shot dead in April 1999.
Milan Pantic, a correspondent with the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosto, murdered near his home in June 2001.
Dada Vujasinovic, a freelance who contributed to the Belgrade magazine, Duga, whose death remains a mystery.
Dejan Anastasijevic, an investigative reporter and editor of the Belgrade weekly, Vrema, who survived a murder attempt last year.
"According to my information," said Dadge, "no individuals have been formally charged in these cases. They remain unsolved. Mr President, I call upon you in fraternity and in our mutual belief in human rights and freedom of the press to encourage the authorities to solve these cases. The impunity of the past must be faced now and those who commit murder must be punished, no matter how long after the fact.
"If we fail in this endeavour, if we remain silent, through our own silence we will condemn others to silence. These acts will confirm to the narrow minority that murder may be committed without punishment."
Earlier, Dadge had stressed IPI's total commitment to press freedom and the fact that Article 19 of the European declaration of human rights - the one which declares the right to freedom of expression - "is implicit in the work of IPI."
Well, it is of course, and always has been. But the IPI has never previously made such a bold statement to the leader of a country hosting its annual conference.
Needless to say, Tadic did not address the specific cases mentioned by Dadge when he gave his address, but he did speak of the "many tragic victims in the journalistic community" as being among the many who suffered during the 1990s, a decade where "the truth was denied and human lives were worthless, where basic values of our civilisation were denied." It was an era when freedom of expression and freedom of press "were put into question."
But he changed tack then to complain about the "biased, prejudiced and untruthful reporting" about Serbia that "lacked objectivity and impartiality... facts were twisted and spread worldwide."
Tadic, speaking in the impressive marble and wood-panelled main chamber of Serbia's parliamentary building - the house of the national assembly - spoke of the stiff challenges facing his country. Among those challenges was dealing with the "perpetrators of war crimes and the assassins of journalists."
But he was unable to throw light on why Serbia has failed to hand over to the Hague tribunal three of the men accused of being the worst of the war criminals. He did point to the fact that 43 have already been extradited to the Hague, however.
He then impressed many delegates afterwards by chatting with them at a (non-alcoholic) drinks reception. He is clearly anxious to show that he is trying to change the politics of Serbia, partly because of his desire for his country to join the European Union.
All in all, it was a most impressive opening to a conference that promises some interesting discussions about press freedom and, of course, the other threats facing journalism in the digital age.
