Zenica, March 19, 2025 – Journalists from Zenica will boycott tomorrow’s ceremonial session of the Zenica City Council as a sign of protest against the closed nature of the local government and the complete ban on all Zenica media from covering the Council’s sessions. In a letter to the Chairwoman of the City Council, Snježana Vrhovac, and the councilors, 10 journalists ask the city authorities with a touch of surprise how it is possible for them to invite journalists and the media to a ceremonial session, when this right was denied to them at all previous Council sessions when topics of public importance were discussed.
“We ask you what the difference is between a regular and ceremonial session, and according to what legal standards, legitimate decisions and democratic grounds do you decide whether or not to invite journalists and the media to regular sessions of the Council in this convocation? We remind you once again that you cannot have different standards for Council sessions at ceremonial moments and within the framework of regular work and consideration of issues of importance to the citizens of Zenica,” the letter states, adding that it is the obligation of the City Council and its chairwoman Snježana Vrhovac to respect “democratic standards and enable free work for journalists and the media by inviting them to regular sessions and providing them with materials for planned agenda items.”
Zenica journalists, gathered in the Zenica-Doboj Canton Journalists’ Club, which operates within the BH Journalists, remind the councilors in the City Council that they have repeatedly publicly reacted, written letters and demanded respect for the provisions of the Zenica City Statute, which requires the public nature of this body’s work and allows all journalists and media working in Zenica to attend and report on regular sessions of the Council. They were denied this right without any legal basis or decision.
Since the local elections in October 2024, the City Council of Zenica has held 5 regular and one constituent session. Journalists and media from this city, including numerous correspondents from Sarajevo and other cities, were prohibited from attending City Council sessions. This ban did not only apply to RTV Zenica, whose founder was GV Zenica.
Steering Committee of BH Journalists