Croatian Journalists’ Association strongly condemns the police officer’s inappropriate treatment of a Croatian Radiotelevision team and other journalists on 7 April 2020 in the evening during a live broadcast in front of the Home for the Elderly and Disabled in Split, Croatia.

During the residents’ evacuation of the Home for the Elderly and Disabled, due to the outbreak of coronavirus infection, a member of the Split-Dalmatia County Police Department entered into the cadre, interrupted the reporting of Croatian Radiotelevision journalist Ivana Šilović, without holding the intended distance and without protecting equipment. The police officer acted arrogantly, waving his hands and yelling at the journalist, her guest, the television crew and other journalists, saying, “Let’s get out of here, who is this here, hello people, no matter what they do, I don’t want to see anyone here”. The incident was recorded on the recording of Dalmatia today portal. It is important to note that the journalists were stationed at a place they had received permission from the Intervention Police.

Respecting the prevention and measures that, according to the instructions of the Civil Protection Staff of the Republic of Croatia, should guarantee the safety of all citizens, including journalists, CJA continuous to warn about the requirement that journalists, cameramen, photojournalists, and other media professionals must be assured with safe and undisturbed work. A series of requests and proposals for measures that we have already addressed to the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Culture and the competent authorities are a guide by how journalists, media and media professionals should be treated in this complicated situation.

We recall that at the end of March, Silvana Uzinic, a journalist in Slobodna Dalmacija, was taken to the police station because of a walk that did not endanger her or anyone else’s security. Then it was found out that an accidental passer-by who tried to help the journalist and her colleague was exposed by unnecessary police brutality (they crash him to the floor and twisting his arm). The police officers confiscated the phone from a journalist’s colleague after a scuffle, deleted the footage and then brought them to the station, claiming that they called for civil disobedience. Jadran Kapor, editor-in-chief of Slobodna Dalmacija, also responded to the incident. When we thought we all learned something from that case, a new incident happened.

Once again, we warn that timely reporting of journalists and all media professionals, in times of crisis, are vital to the functioning of society. It is the task of the authorities to enable them to do so.

CJA welcome the swift response of the Split-Dalmatia Police Directorate, which addressed the media and the public with an apology for the inappropriate behavior of its officer. We consider this a positive move and a good message to the public because, as has been shown in the above cases, it is a very small step from prevention to repression.

PODGORICA, 08.04.2020. – Cases of ignition of the vehicle of the independent daily Vijesti from 2011 and 2014 have been illuminated and two people have been arrested, Montenegrin police said.

The Podgorica daily’s vehicles were targeted by vandals for a couple of times, so the firing was reported to police in July and August 2011 and February 2014. In total, five vehicles were damaged and destroyed, and no injuries were reported in these incidents.

The head of the Podgorica Security Center, Milovan Pavicevic, said that the two arrested were directly involved in the vehicle’s ignition, and that they search for one person for suspect of incitement. Direct executors D.M. and S.P. were arrested last night. Podgorica’s media cites Radisav Stanisic, who is also reported to be a person of safety interest, as the originator. He’s on the run.

Head of the Criminal Police Department at the Podgorica Security Center, Milos Vucinic, said that the suspects worked in a coordinated and planned manner. He said that the direct perpetrators at the time of the crime were minors and that a criminal charge had been filed against the suspect.

PODGORICA, 08.04.2020 – Representatives of the Montenegrin media have recently received  a certain amount of protective medical equipment from the state.

The Ministry of Culture stated that protective equipment was provided for media workers employed in television, local public broadcasters, print media, and who were exposed to fieldwork on a daily basis.

This decision was supported by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

“The Mission welcomes the decision of the Government of Montenegro to provide certain amount of protective equipment for media representatives” the OSCE statet on their official facebook account.

During the current epidemic situation, in addition to health workers and police officers, journalists, reporters and cameramen are the most exposed to risk of infection.

BEOGRAD, 08.04.2020. – Predsednik Srbije Aleksandar Vučić ocenio je da je bila greška Vlade Srbije usvajanje uredbe o informisanju tokom pandemije koronavirusa, zbog čega je tražio od premijerke Ane Brnabić da je ukine.

SARAJEVO, 07. 04. 2020. – The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association publicly requests from the Government of the Republika Srpska and the Government of the Federation of BiH to ensure unobstructed access to information and decisions regarding the Covid-19 epidemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina in a safe and free manner, without any limitations, censorship or restrictions towards journalists. Such an approach calls for the urgent withdrawal of decisions and regulations with legal force concerning the restriction of freedom of expression and opinion in the media and on social networks, as well as the abolition of the power of individuals, police and other security agencies to censor the media outlets and citizens with rapid investigations or with setting very high fines, as in RS.

BH Journalists Steering Committee reminds that RS President Željka Cvijanović’s decree has taken effect today, “forbidding the presentation or transmission of fake news or allegations that cause panic or severely disrupt public order or peace” through “media outlets, social networks or other media of similar means”. At the same time, the Government of the Federation of BiH, through the Ministry of the Interior Affairs and cyber criminal units, started implementing measures for monitoring and supervision of information shared through social networks some time ago, where five criminal proceedings were initiated for allegedly spreading false information and panic.

The Steering Committee of BH Journalists finds it unacceptable that, in the cover of combating fake news and spreading panic among the population, attempts are being made to stifle professional journalism, which includes critical appraisal of decisions made by entity and cantonal governments, as well as competent crisis staffs. Regardless of the extraordinary circumstances, it is against all democratic values ​​to create institutional censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression and information, and to give broad powers to individuals engaged in crisis staffs or police and security agencies to interpret and regulate journalistic rights and media freedoms according to their standards. In this context, the BH Journalists will invite international organizations and European institutions for the protection of freedom of expression and opinion to respond to the censorship of information regarding Covid-19 and exercising institutional repression of freedom of expression in BiH.

Also, the BH Journalists Steering Committee once again draws attention to the limited and difficult access to information held by the Government and Crisis Staff of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as by the Crisis Staff and the Government of Sarajevo Canton, which continue to censor information and leave most journalists without two-way communication and comprehensive answers to questions on the coronavirus epidemic and its effects on citizens, the economy and social life.

PODGORICA, 07.04.2020. – The Ministry of Public Administration has extended the public debate on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information until 13th April.

Recently, numerous appeals have been raised advocating that Government department to postpone the debate on this essential law until the situation about the Covid-19 epidemic stabilizes.

“The Ministry of Public Administration has extended further consultations on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information until April 13, 2020, taking into account the current epidemiological situation and the great public interest, and in order to contribute jointly in this additional process improving proposed solutions”, the ministry said in a statement.

More recently, Transparency International has given full support to a coalition of NGOs and journalists in Montenegro who called on the Government to postpone a public debate on proposed amendments to the Free Access to Information Act. The reason is that public debate on this key law cannot be held during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The proposed changes would remove control over how the Montenegrin authorities declare the information secret. This would allow the information to be classified as confidential if its disclosure could affect the operation of a public authority, which could include information that reveals corruption within that authority.

SARAJEVO, 07.04.2020. – “The global health problems caused by COVID-19 require effective measures to protect people’s health and lives. This includes combating disinformation that may cause panic and social unrest. Regrettably some governments are using this imperative as a pretext to introduce disproportionate restrictions to press freedom; this is a counterproductive approach that must stop. Particularly in times of crisis, we need to protect our precious liberties and rights,” said Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic.

In the past weeks, parliaments, governments and local authorities have adopted legislation, decrees or decisions that clearly risk hampering the work of journalists and media actors and restricting the public’s right to receive information, said Mijatovic.

“Journalists covering the pandemic in Hungary and the Russian Federation are facing a variety of sanctions, including the risk, under new laws, of prison terms of up to five years for spreading “false information”, while in Azerbaijan, recent amendments impose an obligation on owners of internet news outlets to prevent the dissemination of “harmful information” online. In Romania, a decree allows the authorities to remove content and block websites where this content provides “false information” regarding the evolution of COVID-19 and prevention measures, without the possibility to appeal against the decision.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, decrees and legislative proposals aimed at punishing the circulation of information that can cause panic run the risk of limiting the work of journalists and freedom of expression on social media platforms. Finally, in Armenia, a number of newspapers and websites had to delete some information, following the adoption of strict rules prohibiting the publication of information of a medical and epidemiological nature about the virus outbreak which is not fully consistent with official sources.”

Mijatovic also warned that in the Czech Republic, Serbia and Italy, there have been reports of cases of journalists who were prevented from attending press conferences, obtaining information from health authorities or documenting the operations of law enforcement officials.

In Turkey, several journalists were detained in reprisal for their reporting on COVID-19. In Slovenia, a journalist who filed an information request about the measures adopted by the government to face the pandemic has been the target of a smear campaign by media close to the political party leading the government coalition.