Džidić: The threat to journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina is alarming

In May of this year, the Association of BH Journalists said that verbal violence against journalists had increased by 164% this year, and physical violence against journalists by 40%.

"The state of media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina is at a critical moment, considering the fact that it is decreasing every year, and here we are seeing a systemic attack on what is left by the political elites," warns the director of the Balkan Research Network (BIRN) for Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Džidić.

In an interview with Politicki.ba, he points out that "what is an inevitable topic when talking about media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina today is that we are only a few days away from the moment when the catastrophic changes to the criminal code of the Republika Srpska which will criminalize defamation are implemented".

"Countless lines, excellent analyses, and expert criticisms have already been written and said about these changes, which essentially want to put an end to media freedom and stifle freedom of speech, so I won't waste too many lines reminding you of all the negative consequences that criminalization brings. However, suffice it to say that the fear that journalists feel is very real and very justified, given the politicization of the judiciary system and the fact that politicians, judges, and prosecutors have already proven in several SLAPP lawsuits (targeted abuse of defamation lawsuits in civil proceedings) that they seek to silence critical votes in RS and Bosnia and Herzegovina.Unfortunately, in the last year, we have noticed efforts to introduce legal solutions that could be misused to the detriment of media freedom in the Federation of BiH as well.

Laws have been proposed in Sarajevo Canton that would enable police officers to punish the media for whatever they consider is "fake news".

Considering that we have seen very problematic narratives directed against critical journalists in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, numerous criticisms against this law were justified and it is a good thing that these changes did not come to pass.

In the past year, a greater number of attacks on journalists have been recorded.

A few days ago, journalist Mirza Dervišević was beaten in Brčko, and recently Osman Mehanović was physically assaulted in Bratunac. In the last 12 months, there have been dozens of threats and attacks against journalists, and it is worth also remembering the terrible insults, death threats, beatings, and destruction of property of journalists Renata Radić-Dragić from CIN, Slađan Tomić, and Aleksandar Trifunović from BUKA as well as Nikola Morača, whose phone was confiscated by the police.

After the protest against the criminalization of defamation, we also saw the insults and threats of Milorad Dodik directed against the editor of Capital, Siniša Vukelić.

This year, Nefail Čehić was sentenced to a three-month suspension for threatening our journalists from Detektor.

This is becoming a systemic problem. BH Journalists said in May of this year that verbal violence against journalists has increased by 164% this year, and physical violence against journalists by 40%.

All of this indicates the alarming state of media freedom, as well as the fact that the work of journalists is literally being questioned," says Džidić under his breath.

He adds another detail to the already gloomy picture of reality:

"Parallel to these deteriorations, we have problems that the media community has already been facing for years - we still have a huge number of unfounded lawsuits against the media and journalists which are used as a way to try and silence critics and shut down the media.

In the coming period, we also have announcements of the passing of the law on foreign agents in Republika Srpska, which will have a terrible impact on numerous media working on international projects, and at the same time, we see the slow reactions of the police and prosecutors when threats and attacks do occur.

Simultaneously, in the last few days, we have repeatedly heard the politicians of the ruling parties from both entities announce that in a few months, all 14 priorities of the European Union for Bosnia and Herzegovina will be resolved.

Considering that ensuring a more stimulating environment for the media and journalists is one of the priorities and that no one is actually dealing with it, this clearly shows that there is no intention on the part of the decision-makers to ensure the protection of journalists and to increase media freedom," said the director of BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Džidić for Politicki.ba.

The article was realized as part of the Transition program of the Government of the Czech Republic and with the financial assistance of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina @CzechiainBiH. The content reflects the views of the interlocutors who are the choice of the editorial staff of Politicki.ba and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Czech government.