Sarajevo, 2.11.2024 – The Steering Committee of BH journalists and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) call on police structures and judicial institutions to approach investigations of physical attacks, death threats, hate speech and other criminal acts committed against journalists and media in Bosnia and Herzegovina with much greater commitment and efficiency.
On the occasion of November 2nd – UN Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, BH journalists and FMHL point out that they reported 49 cases of threats and security violations to judicial institutions in the period from January 1, 2022 to October 31, 2024, of which only 5 cases ended with convictions against the attackers. At the same time, 4 reports were dismissed as unfounded, and in 5 cases indictments were filed and the outcome of the court proceedings is awaited. Another 7 reports of FMHL were resolved in favor of journalists and media outlets through the actions of other state and independent institutions (public inspections, ombudsmen, local authorities, etc.).
Although this year in BiH we have recorded a slight increase in the efficiency of investigations and prosecutions of criminal offenses against journalists, the Steering Board of BH Journalists believes that the police, prosecutors’ offices and courts should increase their efforts to speed up investigations and better respect EU standards for legal and institutional protection of freedom of expression and the safety of media professionals.
BH journalists and FMHL also draw attention to the failure of the judiciary to investigate and prosecute attacks and threats against journalists by high-ranking state officials, presidents of political parties and public servants. Although the FMHL database contains dozens of such cases, not a single high-ranking politician in BiH has been investigated, let alone punished, for attacks on journalists and media freedom! Such a practice is unacceptable and indicates the existence of “untouchable attackers of journalists” whose violence has been tolerated for years out of inertia or out of fear of the power and influence that such persons have in BiH institutions and society.
BH journalists and FMHL believe that in order to reduce violence against journalists, it would be necessary to change the criminal legislation in such a way that media professionals are protected as persons who perform work of public importance. In the summer of 2022, both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted a conclusion on the need to change the criminal legislation, but the Council of Ministers of BiH has not taken any action in this direction, although legal protection of the safety of journalists is one of the conditions for opening BiH’s negotiations on accession to the European Union.
The Steering Committee of BH journalists and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) finally call on journalists from all over BiH to be more united and vocal in protecting their colleagues, and to continuously report on the impunity of this type of violence in all parts of the country, thus exerting legitimate pressure on the authorities and the judiciary to assume legal responsibility in protecting freedom of expression.
Steering Committee of BH journalists