PRISTINA, 19.09.2018 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo has closely followed the recent debate over the list of war veterans of Kosovo Liberation Army allegedly misused by some individuals to win the status of the war veteran.

AJK express concern for the publication of personal data of those citizens in media.

This form of reporting is a violation of human rights, the Ethics Code of Journalism and the Law on Personal Data Protection.

AJK asks journalists colleagues that in such and other sensitive cases adhere to basic professional criteria and ethics of journalism. We understand that we live at a time when great effort is made for news and sensation, but that does not mean that it must be accomplished by violating basic professional principles and by serving involuntarily certain groups that tend to use some media for their interests and agendas.

AJK strongly supports the professional work of all journalists in an environment that is not easy in Kosovo but, on the other hand, requires respect for the basic principles of the profession. We believe that our concern will be understood clearly and fairly by all journalist colleagues.

PODGORICA, 19.09.2018. – The Montenegrin Government gave its opinion on the attacks on journalists in Montenegro, suggesting that the Council of Europe should remove most of them from the Platform for the Promotion of the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists.

Almost three years after the attack on the editor of the IN4S portal, Gojko Raičević, which was registered on the Council of Europe Platform for the Promotion of Journalism Protection and Safety of Journalists, the Government of Montenegro responded and send the recommendation to close the case.

Government representatives responded similarly when it comes to the use of the tearing gas by the police on the group of journalists during a protest in 2015. They noted that the investigative actions were taken, but that the procedure was not initiated against any person for any criminal offence.

“There are no indications that the use of tear gas was directly related to the journalist crew, nor it is intended to cause any harm to journalist present in the area”, it is stated in the report.

They dissociated from the case of journalist Jovo Martinović, who was in custody for forming a criminal group, stating that the case is not related with the Martinović’s journalist profession. That’s why they asked for this case to be removed from the Council of Europe’s platform.

Government commented also on the alleged threats of the Velimir Marković, the brother of Prime Minister Dusko Marković,  to journalist Vladimir Otašević. They stated that the prosecutor carried out investigative actions, and that they did not find it to be a threat, but a protest only because of the time and nature of the call made by the journalist. The injured party, the journalists, had the right to initiate proceedings, and for this reason they propose the closure of this case on the platform by the Council of Europe.

The state reported on the occasion of the bombing under the car of journalist Sead Sadikovic, on April 1, 2018. They reminded that the mastermind and the perpetrators were discovered, and therefore suggest that this case should be removed from the Council of Europe’s platform also.

In addition to the latest attack on journalist Olivera Lakić, the Government only stated that the case is under investigation and that they can not give any details, in order not to jeopardize the investigation.

PRISTINA, 18.09.2018 – The Association of Journalists of Kosovo condemns the language in the reaction of the company “KAWA Group” to journalists of “Insajderi” portal related to the latter’s article.

For AJK, it is unacceptable and it is a direct interference in the job of journalists and media freedom the attempt of the company to control the work of the journalists by teaching them how to do their job in the field.

It is also unacceptable any labelling based on prejudice to journalists as it happened in the company’s reaction to journalists of “Insajderi” news portal.

AJK stresses that journalists have their right to cover any public event and freely report about it.

AJK supports objective and professional reporting whilst encourages all unsatisfied parties to take legal ways for any allegation they might have, avoiding labelling and public insults.

BELGRADE, 18.09.2018. – In a country like Serbia where media freedom and journalists are becoming more vulnerable, an unusual inquisitorial law is proposed suggesting that journalists could go to prison for as much as three years

The Constitution of Serbia and the European Convention on Human Rights grant every citizen the right to information as well as freedom of speech. A part of the split Belgrade Bar Association (AKB) led by Yugoslav Tintor is trying to put in jeopardy precisely these rights requesting the introduction of a criminal offense of violation of the presumption of innocence by which journalists could be sentenced to three years in prison. The proponents of this law foresaw a prison sentence for journalists even when they report a public statement of the representatives of the state. Although the authorities did not pronounce themselves on these proposals, our expert interlocutors consider them as very dangerous for the Serbian society and argue that such legal solutions do not exist in other European states. Besides, our interlocutors point to the fact that the presumption of innocence is most often violated by the sate representatives themselves.

Former President of the Supreme Court of Serbia, Vida Petrović Škero, explains that the proposal to introduce the violation of the presumption of innocence as a criminal offence represents a great danger for the freedom of speech.

“We have three rights that can clash: every citizen has the right to have information on crime, public figures and state institutions, as well as the right to freedom of speech, and on the other hand we have the right to a fair trial, of which the presumption of innocence is an integral part and it must not be violated. The boundaries are difficult to determine. Sometimes it’s more important to inform the citizens. The Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights require every citizen to have the right to information as well as freedom of speech, “said the former President of the Supreme Court.

She notes that in practice the media do not violate the presumption of innocence as much, but that most often the tabloids do it in the titles, but not in the text of the article.

“The presumption of innocence is most often violated by those who talk about it: the politicians. A journalist cannot be responsible for reporting everything that was said at a press conference or received from official documents. Through the introduction of a new criminal offense, the violation of the presumption of innocence will not be prevented. This can be done by educating politicians, police officers and journalists, “says Petović Škero, who is the first of the Serbian magistrates to apply the provisions of the Convention on Human Rights in a judgment.

The judge of the Appellate Court Miodrag Majic is also opposed to this proposal. He says that it is wrong to consider that criminal law, which should be the last resort by which society regulates human relations, should protect the presumption of innocence.

“Journalists and the media should understand that it is important to respect this guarantee. The basic level of protection should be assured by professional associations of journalists and regulatory bodies, such as REM (Regulatory body for electronic media). The existing Information Law also provides some protection mechanisms. I think that the media must to establish some rules to govern themselves that would prevent the need for someone else to do it, “says judge Majic.

He warns that statements of politicians bear the greatest weight and that when they violate the presumption of innocence, this is a great danger, because they are “not only careless at some point, but also set a direction for other people to follow.” Judge Majic points out that there is a conflict between the right to the presumption of innocence and the right to freedom of speech and the media.

“This problem is particularly sensitive in societies like ours where the institutions are left hanging in the wind. We are often witnessing the clash between freedom of expression, and on the other hand, a state apparatus that has the possibility of crushing an individual via violating his presumption of innocence l, “says Judge Majic.

Everyone agrees over an undeniable fact that mainly state representatives violate the presumption of innocence and that media freedoms are threatened.

Professor Bogoljub Milosavljević from the Law faculty of the Union University says that the proposal to introduce the criminal offence of violation of the presumption of innocence has to be more than anything considered from the perspective of media freedom and the right of journalists to openly report on everything.

“The violation of the presumption of innocence is not resolved through punishing journalists. Rather, they can receive instructions on how to report. To persecute and threaten journalists is certainly not the right way. We are experiencing important arrests, announced by officials, when they do not take care of the presumption of innocence. It is obvious that primarily politicians do not respect the presumption of innocence”, says professor Milosavljević.

Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic Goran Ilić, who is simultaneously commissioner for the independence of state prosecution, says that the European Court for Human Rights in one decision provides the opinion that the presumption of innocence should be respected not only by the judges but also by other state officials.

“In relation to this an extremely ‘harsh’ condition is set for stat officials stating that it is enough that the official voices the opinion that someone is guilty for the presumption of innocence to be violated. On the other hand, the European Court for Human Rights considers that the public has the right to be informed about the criminal proceedings, but with care and respect for the presumption of innocence, as well as that the pronounced public character of a concrete court case, and the mixing of roles of the accused and the sentenced can put in jeopardy the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial. In the case Deroj and Malari versus France the court said that journalists have to take care of the presumption of innocence during a trial, but that at the same time, have the right to report on the ongoing cases, in other words that the press has the right to inform the public on cases of wider interest”, says prosecutor Ilić.

He also states that taking into consideration the jurisprudence of the European Court for Human Rights and the media reality in Serbia, there is no doubt that public officials, some journalists, and state representatives in particular, should refrain from violating the presumption of innocence.

“However, I don’t think that violating the presumption of innocence should be sanctioned as a separate criminal offence. More precisely, I am not convinced that this is a good way to protect the presumption of innocence and by consequence the right for a fair trial”, says prosecutor Ilić.

Serbia and the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, as a product of a totalitarian Communist system limited the freedom of speech and used infamous “speech crimes” for decades. Getting rid of the totalitarian heritage was slow. For a brief instance article 336a forbidding to comment the judgments of the court was introduced in the current penal code. It is interesting that some of the strongest criticisms against this provision at the time  came from the lawyers that are now asking for prison sentences for journalists.

President of the second part of the split Belgrade Bar Association Vladimir Gajić reminds that at the time of this criminal law, both journalists and lawyers had a same position trusting that the criminal offense in question should more than anything render impossible exposing to the public court decisions.

“It is paradoxical that now, a part of the Belgrade Bar Association makes a proposal that would, more than anything and directly impact the limiting of the freedom of the press. Those making the proposal go so far as to suggest criminal responsibility for journalists even if they report statements of other people. I personally consider this to be a great disgrace for the legal profession”, says Gajić.

At the same time, he considers, looking from a purely legal perspective, the proposal to be nonsensical.

“The Constitution of Serbia protects the presumption of innocence in Article 34, paragraph 3; Everyone shall be considered innocent of a criminal offense until his guilt is established by a final decision of the court “until the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates in Article 3” everyone is considered innocent until his guilt for the criminal offense is determined by a court decision. In paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is stipulated that more or less everyone is obliged to abide by the rules on the presumption of innocence, although this provision has no sanction, which in fact means that if someone does not comply with these provisions, a person who considers his violation of his presumption of innocence to be a violation of his civil claim, may require damages, “Gajic said.

He further explains that the essence of the presumption of innocence is that it obliges the prosecutor to prove that someone has committed a criminal offense before a competent court, which means that the prosecutor is the one who must respect it.

“And here the whole story of the presumption of innocence ends. In a democratic society, priority is given to the freedom of the press, which has the right to push to the limits its freedom of speech, which is one of the most important human rights, “says lawyer Vladimir Gajic.

Experienced journalist Milos Vasic points to the fact that the presumption of innocence is most often violated by the regime’s media, and recalls that the Serbian President himself, Aleksandar Vucic, did so several times.

“The proposal of the work of the Bar Association of Belgrade led by Yugoslavia Tintor is nonsense. There will be nothing of that. It’s just a waste of time. I do not remember that in my life I broke the presumption of innocence. I wrote that someone was charged with something, and I did not write that someone was a thief and a killer. For some, I have alleged that they are liars, but this is proven, “says journalist Vasic.

Initiative of the part of the Belgrade Bar Association, to propose a new criminal offense for journalists, came after the media reported about obstructions and logical fallacies that accompany the trial of the heads of the State Security from the time of Slobodan Milosevic, charged with the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija. The lawyers of the heads of the secret service accused for the murder of journalists are members of precisely this part of the split Bar Association. They were annoyed with the reports of the rare free media in Serbia. For example, they reported on changes in the testimony of witnesses in contact with Branko Crni, who served as a deputy of the  indicted head of the State Security, Radomir Markovic, and is now a member of the Central Committee of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

This attempt to place media under control with threats to prison sentences unambiguously resembles a scenario when Slobodan Milosevic’s regime wanted to silence free journalists at the end of the nineties. Now known facts that the murder of Ćuruvija was preceded by a state-run smear campaign against free media in which the State Security, that was then led by the Accused for the murder of Ćuruvija, formed the Media Monitoring Working Group, and on 21 October 1998, the infamous Public Information Law was passed. Today, also synchronized, with the draft law of Tintor’s Bar Association, the Minister without Portfolio in charge of Innovation and Technological Development Nenad Popovic is seeking the formation of a Working Group for the Defense from Fake News, and this proposal was forwarded to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who was the Information Minister at the time of the 1990s smear campaign. Vucic did not pronounce himself on the issue, except that he said that he hadn’t seen Popovic’s proposal.

Lawyer Vladimir Gajic says that motives behind the proposal of the Bar Association of Belgrade are crystal clear.

“This proposal came precisely at the moment when, in the perhaps most important trial in Serbia after the trial for the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, the Trial Chamber tries to isolate as an unlawful crucial evidence provided by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime. As the trial for the murder of Slavko Curuvija would not have taken place without the journalists, so the journalists pointed out to the public what was going on at the trial at the crucial moment in the process. Exactly then, lawyers come to the idea of introducing a criminal offense of violating the presumption of innocence because they were terrorized by the fact that journalists allegedly violate the presumption of innocence of former heads of State Security from the Milosevic regime’s time, “Gajic said. He recalls that the court-established fact that the DB participated in the murder of Ivan Stamblic, two assassinations of Vuk Draskovic and the murder of Zoran Djindjic.

“They killed the former President of Serbia, the former Prime Minister, and twice tried to kill the then leader of the opposition, Vuk Draskovic. The Secret Service, after having taken under control several panels of judges in the Special Court, now showed that it rules over parts of the Bar Association. The end of the trial for the murder of Ćuruvija is approaching, the patience is running out, and a part of the lawyer’s professions has irremediably embarrassed itself, ” says Gajić.

Freedom of the media is threatened, journalists are under pressure, and more frequently exposed to physical attacks, as reported by the European observers and international journalists, but also domestic associations, first and foremost the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS). At the same time, representatives of the current government in Serbia, who also participated in Slobodan Milosevic’s government, often avoid facing, or relativize state crimes from the time of the conflict of the 1990s, which were always preceded by pressure on the media. Therefore, the silence of the Serbian authorities on the proposal of an inquisitorial provision that would impose a prison sentence on journalistic work may not be surprising, but certainly worries.

This article has been produced as a part of the project Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia and its authors, and can in no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

СКОПЈЕ, 18.09.2018 – Еврокомесарот за проширување Јоханес Хан вчера во Скопје на две недели од референдумот за земјата порача дека од клучна улога е квалитетното известување на граѓањето за да направат информиран избор.

– Овој специфичен политички контекст може да посчужи како пример зошто квалитетното информирање е толку важно. Квалитетното информирање им помага на граѓаните да направат информиран избор. Сметам дека сите медиуми треба да ги интензивираат заедничките напори за да информират за фактичката содржина на договорот за името и последице од гласањето на граѓаните, како и за подигање на свеста кај нивните гледачи и читатели за важноста да го искористат своето демократство право да гласаат. Ова е еден од најубедливите примери суштествената улога која ја имаат медиумите во демократскиот процес, рече Хан на отворањето на конференцијата за слобода на медиумите на Западен Балкан во Скопје финансирана од ЕК.

Осврнувајќи се на севкупната состојба на Западен Балкан тој рече дека оваа година има многу нови и позитивни моменти во процесот на пристапување, но оти за жал, тоа не е случај во областа на медиумите.

Хан посочи на податоци од регионалната платформа за заштита на слободата на медиумите и безбедноста на новинарите дека оваа година се регистрирани 11 физички напади врз новинари во овој регион и дека тоа е неприфатливо. Според него, тоа се должи на нерешителноста на оние кои се задолжени да ги истражат и казнат извршителите на овие напади, што создава атмосфера на неказнивост која влијае на слободното и незаивсно известување.

– Заштита на слободата на медиумите е невозможна без функционално и независно судство, порача еврокомесарот Хан.

Потребно е, нагласи тој, земјите од Западен Балкан да работат на подобрување на слободата на медиумите и спроведувањето на законите, бидејќи тоа е еден од условите за пристапување во ЕУ.

– Тоа е неповратен пат за сите земји кои се стремат да станат членки, рече Хан.

SARAJEVO, 18.09.2018.-Public media service in BiH, including the entire region, at this moment, is not able to participate adequately in the process of supporting democratic processes and is unable to satisfy general and wide public interests required.

Key reasons for this lie in the fact that there are the vast political influence and the interference by the govern- ing authorities into their work. In ethnically, territorially and politically divided BiH society, ethnonational political and governing oligarchies endeavor and attempt, by the use of constant pressure and obstructions, to use instrumentalism – based system imposed on public RTV Service, in order to get their support for accomplishing their political interests and goals. Their long-term intention and plan has always been to implement the transformation of public RTV system from the status of public media service and to change it into ethnic – biased channels and programs, so RTV system could eventually serve three major ethnic groups in BiH as a result.

The public that expects unbiased and objective information has been faced with also a new and insufficient challenge of media business operations in the present time of digital domination in this particular field. Commercial advertising, as once common mean and source of profit-making, has almost completely vanished, that is, the incomes deriving out commercial advertising, have been reduced, for most media houses that usually accomplished their profit through paid commercial advertisement (and there was a belief that the price of these commercial advertisements would decrease).

The impact of so-called non – transparent platforms is globally getting stronger in digital and information technology-based environment as Google and FaceBook normally dominate in most of the global and commercial advertisement market. Under such circumstances, it would be far too optimistic to expect that, during the market race completion, a part of their incomes was to be directed to support the development and sustainability of professional journalism in general. During the present digital era, we are facing the reduced access to same information, since this information is biased towards an individual, since appropriate and certain messages and information are also directed towards this individual and without any knowledge about where they come from, what is their main source and finally, who shape them.

Accordingly, we all are more exposed to manipulation with the specific aim (for instance during the election process) and we thus become subject to the particular political phenomenon of manipulation. Public media service under such circumstances and media environment may be the only “antidote or antitoxin” in protecting the public audience that requires necessary, objective and unbiased news. It is crucial that the public audience disposes of available media services provided, in order to improve their public duties and, apart from this, to become capable of estimating the effect of the governing officials whom they elect. The point is the fact that only media tailored (in accordance with the above mentioned) way is financed from public sources, that is, it has to be financed from the public and citizens so they (media houses) could be under constant supervision by the public and citizens for the work they perform.

Current governing authorities in BiH have prevented the public to have competent and adequate public service by, among other things, refusing to establish the nonobstructive model of money flow (through RTV Tax Fees) aimed to finance their business operations, although this was government’s legal responsibility and duty. Consequently, the government officials had, months prior to October general elections, blocked necessary and critical public judging, regarding their poor performance and eventual depriving of public trust during the forthcoming elections.

Long-term financial exhausting has made the public RTV service completely dependent to government’s aid and help, because chief-in-editors at media houses have been appointed by the ruling politicians and their professional standards are on a significantly low level as their competence do not meet the requirements of the general public and additionally it questions the existence of such public media service and its justifiability.

These is best illustrated by the RTV service of the Republic of Srpska which for instance, openly supports the political views by the present governing entity party which partially funds and finance them (RTRS) so this media eventually is therefore more state – biased, rather than public media house. Such media service cannot serve as support, since, for instance, it should serve and display a credible media environment in BiH. Today, it cannot even be considered as neither standard nor sample to other media houses, including journalists, as current public media service should cherish and cultivate objective – based journalism. Public media service is not even credible in terms of technological development, since it is the only public media service in Europe still operating on analogue signal.

The absence of self-sustaining functions and independent media service eventually jeopardize diversity, pluralism and freedom of information and opens room for the development of stagnation of journalism, including the stagnation of trust and confidence in media in general. Public have been, among other things, deprived of required and necessary media literacy so they could comprehend and understand the meaning of media ownership issues and the nature of media, including once again, editing policies and (un) biased intentions, because they should at the end, be able to identify and recognize true from false information.

According to index of media literacy rate for 2018, implemented by the Open Society Institute (OSI) in Sofia, Bulgaria, Balkan countries proved most submissive in accepting false news comparing to other European countries. BiH is on 32nd place out of 35 European countries, because of media houses in these countries are being under the control of governing officials or associated business groups, including the lack and absence of media literacy and significantly low level of reliability in their societies. Slightly better ratings were founded in Serbia (29), Bulgaria (30) and Montenegro (31), and Albania rated 33, Turkey 34 and Macedonia 35 were less rated than BH..

Under the conditions where public trust and confidence in social media is declining, due to vast spreading of false news and disinformation, public media houses have the opportunity to present themselves as open spaces aimed for free debates regarding social media problems and present themselves as sources of quality based and unbiased information available to general public, including the people who do not pay their RTV tax fees or people who do not necessarily require and demand information and news.

Because of targeted financing, public media services may serve as the stable and solid provider of various possibilities, including better working conditions for journalists, artists, musicians and filmmakers and thus support cultural sector and its development and sustainability. This is the reason why, according to information provided by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the confidence and trust in public media (radio and TV) may increase. High level of consciousness regarding the identifying and recognizing the role of public media service has in best possible way been displayed through the recent case in Switzerland, where the citizens, in recently held referendum, decided to reject the government’s proposal to stop paying for RTV tax fees for national public media service, namely SRG SSR.

They thus decided to continue with financing this public media service (by paying RTV tax fees) and keep it under public control instead. Bosnia and Herzegovina is today probably the only country in Europe where its citizens, due to internal ethnic segregation and confronted ethnic nationalistic politics, need, more than ever, independent public media service where they could influence the program policy instead of having governing officials imposing the same influence upon public media service. Unfortunately, their consciousness for accomplishing these kinds of exigencies and necessities is not on the same level as those of the above mentioned people in Switzerland.

There was no public voice and protests that should be raised against the long-term systematic obstruction of public RTV service in BiH and its independence, including its role. Public do need these particular voices in saving the public media service in BiH and first practical move and step in this process that should follow is urgent solving of the issue and problem targeted financing from public sources.

This text is a part of E-Bulletin– sixth edition of special serial of BHN online bulletin implemented through the “Media and Public Reputation” (origin. “Mediji i javni ugled”) project, also representing a contribution to public debate regarding the transparency of media ownership and upholding and encouraging the passing of set of laws aimed to advance media field and information market in BiH.