PODGORICA, 29.10.2021 – The competent prosecutor’s offices did not submit to the Commission for Monitoring Investigations of Attacks on Journalists the requested information from the investigations of two attacks on Tufik Softić (2007 and 2013) on whether any action has been taken since October 2019 by prosecutors.

This is written in the latest report on the work of the Commission for monitoring the actions of the competent authorities in investigating cases of threats and violence against journalists, murders of journalists and attacks on media property for the period from June 4 to October 4 this year.

During that period, the Commission processed nine cases of attacks on journalists to the detriment of seven journalists. Of those, five attacks occurred this year, and four in the earlier period.

The Commission concluded that in the case of the 2018 attack on Olivera Lakic, the Higher State Prosecutor’s Office and the Special State Prosecutor’s (SDT) Office did not submit “complete/no documentation” to the Commission at the time when the case was under their jurisdiction, and that the SDT from 23 December last year did not interrogate the injured party Lakic, nor did enable her to participate in the case as the injured party”, it is written in the conclusions.

The Commission recommended that the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office issue a binding instruction to the SDT to submit case files to the Commission without delay in both cases, so that it can perform tasks within its competence, and to request detailed information from the Special and Higher State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica regarding the attack on Lakić from 2018, and informs the Commission about it, because this investigation lasts more than 30 months, bearing in mind that the police and the prosecution on February 19, 2019, claimed that the case was clarified.

The commission concluded that, according to the available documentation, the police did not appreciate whether Vladimir Vukovic, an actor in the case of the attack on Nebojsa Sofranac, committed a violation, nor was there an investigation into who made threats from profiles on social networks. The commission recommended that the police prosecute the suspects ex officio, regardless of the fact that Sofranac stated that he did not want to prosecute them.

The commission concluded that in the case of the attack on Sead Sadikovic, from March this year, it is not clear why the police filed criminal charges against only two participants in the incident when witnesses claim that there were more attackers, and that the prosecutor did not investigate why on surveillance footage nine key seconds are missing, ie “whether any of the persons who have access to the video surveillance system have the possible intention of deleting or modifying parts of the video”, which was suggested by the police.

“The commission recommended that the DVR on which the disputed recording is located be sent to the Forensic Center for expertise, in order to determine that, as well as for the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office to supervise the work of the state prosecutor’s office in this case and determine whether the prosecutor’s office takes all measures and actions in accordance with the law and inform the Commission thereof “, the report states.

The commission concluded that the submitted documentation on the case of the attack on Esad Kocan did not show whether the veracity of the accused’s testimony regarding the motive for coming to the location where he met Kocan was checked, as well as whether he had been seen there before.

“Based on the available documentation, the Commission concluded that in two processed cases (attack on Jelena Jovanovic, March 14, 2021 and attack on Slavica Kruscic Vasovic, June 18, 2021), the police and the competent prosecutor’s office took all measures and actions within their competence, while in other cases, there are possible omissions by the police and the prosecutor’s office, as well as room for their more agile action in order to resolve cases comprehensively and process all those responsible, including possible perpetrators, “the report cites.

At the same time, the impression of the Commission is that the police acted relatively more successfully within their competence in the processed cases, than it is the case with some competent prosecutor’s offices, the report adds.

The Commission also stated that the police responded to their inquiries and requests for documentation more promptly and completely in relation to the competent prosecutor’s offices and the National Security Agency, which submitted a certain part of the answers to the Commission after several months.

The Special State Prosecutor’s Office refused to submit documentation on one case to the Commission, citing the fact that the Commission “is not a party to the criminal proceedings within the meaning of Art. 203 of the Criminal Procedure Code ”, the report states.

The Commission recommended to the competent state authorities to efficiently submit the answers requested by the Commission.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo – AJK, in cooperation with the United Nations in Kosovo and AAB College, today through a roundtable marked the United Nations Day.

The discussion on fake news and fact-checking during the pandemic in Kosovo took place with the Mass Communication students of AAB College. The panel was hosted by the President of AJK, Xhemajl Rexha, while the panelists were journalists Jehona Zhitia, Bujar Vitija, Arbreshë Uka, Gentiana Hasani and Anđelka Ćup.

The students present were closely acquainted with the difficulties in reporting in pandemic times, as well as the challenges of journalists in combating fake news and disinformation.

UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being.

We thank all the agencies of the UN Kosovo Team, especially those who this time supported the cooperation for marking the UN Day and the Journalists’ Award for the Eradication of Poverty: Office of the UN Development Coordinator – UNDCO , United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – UNHCR, UN Operations – UNOPS, United Nations Development Program – UNDP, UN Sexual Health and Reproduction Agency- UNFPA and the Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment – UN Women.

Sarajevo, October 20, 2021 – Bosnia and Herzegovina made no progress on addressing the Opinion key priority 12 on guaranteeing freedom of expression and of the media and the protection of journalists by ensuring the appropriate judicial follow-up to cases of threats and violence against journalists and media workers, and ensuring the financial sustainability of the public broadcasting system – it was pointed out in the report of the European Commission for BiH for 2021.

The Report states that the political influence over public broadcasters persists, and their financial sustainability has not been secured. The law on the public broadcasting system remains unimplemented and entity-level legislation is still not harmonised with this Law.

Political pressure, intimidation and harassment towards journalists, including physical and verbal attacks continued during the reporting period, without appropriate institutional follow-up:

– Serious concerns continue to persist over political pressure, intimidation and threats against journalists. High-level politicians have resorted to public attacks and disparaging remarks against journalists, analysts and media workers, particularly women. The authorities continue to downplay the issue and there is no data collection by public institutions on threats and attacks against journalists and media workers.

The Report adds that BH Novinari association recorded 69 cases of violation of journalists’ rights in 2020, up from 56 in 2019. The Ombudsman received 11 complaints, compared to 18 in 2019 and 9 in 2018.

– Authorities are expected to act swiftly and demonstrate zero tolerance for threats or attacks against the media, including by ensuring effective police investigations and judicial prosecution leading to final convictions of perpetrators – says the Report.

It is stated that despite the decriminalisation of defamation since 2002, politicians continue to use civil suits to intimidate journalists. Courts should step up their efforts to ensure an expedient processing of defamation cases and consistency of case law on damage awards, to prevent any chilling effect that would force journalists into self-censorship. The legislation on freedom of access to information and on on hate speech remains fragmented and not in line with international and European standards. The legal provisions on data protection and on access to information are still interpreted in a way that protects private rather than public interests.

The Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) still lacks full political and financial independence. The procedure to appoint the CRA management needs to be revised to improve its public perception as a neutral and independent body. The former head of the Republika Srpska’s public television, RTRS, was appointed as new CRA director in July 2020; the CRA had sanctioned RTRS multiple times during his mandate for non-respect of editorial standards, including for historical revisionist statements as regards the May 1995 massacre in Tuzla:

– The 2003 law on the public broadcasting system continues to be only partially enforced, and entity laws on broadcasting are still not aligned with it. Therefore, the three public broadcasting services continue to be exposed to political influence, in particular through politically controlled steering boards, with a worrying trend of self-censorship. The country continues not to have an appropriate model for collecting fees, as provided for by the law. The substantial unpaid debts of entity broadcasters towards the state-level broadcaster are subject to lengthy litigation. Such issues continue to pose a threat to the financial independence and sustainability of the public broadcasting system.

The European Commission emphasizes that Bosnia and Herzegovina also needs to proceed with the digital switchover, which is now overdue. With analogue transmission licenses expiring by end 2021, several local private and public stations risks seeing their broadcasts restricted, affecting access to information for the poorest residents in rural areas.

No steps were taken to adopt legislation on media ownership transparency, to ensure transparency and prevent hidden media concentration, nor legislation on advertising or criteria for the distribution of subsidies. The advertising practices of publicly owned enterprises, such as telecom companies, and advertising agencies linked to political parties continue to harm media integrity. Local broadcasters which receive funds from local authorities remain subject to political pressure and influence.

Self-regulation of online media is of limited effect, and online platforms continue to be used to spread hate speech and disinformation. Criminal prosecution is limited to the offence of inciting religious and ethnic hatred through the internet or social networks.

Journalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a precarious profession, with low wages and little job security, further deteriorating even more during the pandemic. Labour rights are hardly respected, unionisation is low, and there are no branch collective agreements for media workers, concludes the Report.

In the coming year, Bosnia and Herzegovina should in particular: ensure the protection of journalists and a systematic institutional follow-up on threats and violence against them; ensure the financial sustainability and political independence of public broadcasters, and harmonise entity legislation with the state-level law on the public broadcasting system; adopt legislation on media ownership transparency and criteria on public advertising.

PODGORICA, 19.10.2021. – Dragutin Sukovic was sentenced to 10 months in prison yesterday for attacking journalist Esad Kocan.

In the Podgorica Basic Court, he was simultaneously banned from approaching the editor-in-chief of the weekly “Monitor” at a distance of fewer than 100 meters, as well as mandatory treatment in a psychiatric institution.

The defendant practically claimed from the arrest that he did not know the injured party, and at the hearing, before the verdict was pronounced, he stated that he “knew him for almost 10 years”.

At the beginning of the trial, Kocan said that he has been living like a hunted beast since the founding of Monitor and that he is deeply convinced that the motive of the attacker is not personal or some current anger, but that he was attacked because of his work.

The journalist was attacked at the end of March in front of the building where he lives after he returned from the usual afternoon walk.