Threats to media outlets and organizations, Media in Federation of BiH, Sarajevo, 27.1.2025.

Translations: Sarajevo 

On December 16, 2024., the Government of the Federation of BiH  submitted to the parliamentary procedure the Proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with provisions whose adoption could limit the right to freedom of expression and prevent the daily work of journalists and the media in the public interest. In Article 193 A, it is proposed to punish with a fine or prison sentence the one who “directly or through information and communication technologies, publishes or displays a document, portrait, photograph, film, phonogram or other content of a personal nature without the consent of the person who compiled the document or to whom the document refers… or without the consent of the person whose consent is required by law”

The BH Journalists Steering Committee ( BHJA SC) requested the withdrawal of this Proposal from the parliamentary procedure, since the introduction of criminal sanctions and prison sentences for the publication of photos, recordings and files, without the prior consent of the persons to whom the said documents refer, could seriously threaten the fundamental values ​​of journalism and the professional work of the media, but also legalize censorship through the disproportionate protection of everyone’s privacy, including persons in state and other public functions. In its explanation, the BHJA SC pointed out that public figures voluntarily agreed to publicly expose their privacy and the ways in which they perform public functions, and that journalists and the media have the right to “encroach on their privacy” if it is in the public interest.