PODGORICË, 05.04.2018 – Platforma Regjionale për Avokim, Liri të Medias dhe Siguri të Gazetarëve, e cila përfaqëson më shumë se 8000 anëtarë e mirëpret reagimin efektiv të Drejtorisë Policore të Malit të Zi, e cila ka identifikuar dhe arrestuar dy të dyshuarit për vendosjen e eksplozivit në një veturë afër shtëpisë së gazetarit Sead Sadikovic në Bijelo Polje.

Incidenti ka ndodhur më 1 prill rreth mesnatës kur siç dyshohet Ilhan dhe Hilmo Pepic nga Rozhaja kanë hedhur eksploziv nën veturën e cila nuk i takon gazetarit ose familjes së tij por që ka qenë e parkuar përballë shtëpisë së gazetarit Sadikovic. Motivi i sulmit siç është njoftuar nga Drejtorati Policor, televizioni ka raportuar rreth muzeut privat të Pepicit në Rozhajë të cilin Sadikovic e ka publikuar në televizionin e tij “Pa kufinjë” në TV Vesti.

“Ne e mirëpresim aksionin e policisë dhe faktin që Zyra e Prokurorit ka urdhëruar 30 ditë burgim për Ilhan dhe Hilmo Pepic, por në të njëjtën kohë ne kujtojmë se këto dy institucione asgjë nuk kanë bërë kur Sadikovic ka raportuar disa herë kërcënime të shumta të cilat i kishtë pranuar në mënyra të ndryshme nga dhjetori 2017 kur raporti i tij televiziv u transmetua. Nëse ata kishin qenë efektiv me kohë ndoshta kjo nuk do të ndodhte. Gjithashtu efiçienca e anëtarëve të drejtorisë policore ka treguar se kur ata dojnë ata mund të zbulojnë të dy edhe sulmuesit edhe motivin, i cili nuk ka ndodhur në rastet e shumta të kaluara të sulmeve ndaj gazetarëve që mbeten ende të pazgjidhura”, tha presidentja e Sindikatës së Mediave të Malit të Zi, Marijana Camovic.

Platforma regjionale dënon çdo sulm ndaj gazetarëve për shkak të punës që ata bëjnë, dhe kujtojnë se sulmet dhe kërcënimet ndaj gazetarëve janë sulme të drejtpërdrejta në lirinë e shprehjes dhe të drejtën e qytetarëve për t’u informuar.

Çdo sulm ndaj gazetarëve është sulm ndaj interesit publik, demokracisë dhe të drejtave të të gjithë qytetarëve.

Që nga fillimi i 2018, Sindikata e Mediave të Malit të Zi kanë regjistruar dy sulme ndaj gazetarëve duke përfshirë një rast të kërcënimit dhe dëmtim i pronës.

Asociacioni i Gazetarëve të Bosnjë Hercegovinës

Sindikata e Mediave të Malit të Zi

Asociacioni i Gazetarëve të Kosovës

Asociacioni i Gazetarëve të Maqedonisë

Asociacioni i Pavarur i Gazetarëve të Serbisë

JAHORINA, 04.04.2018. -Media are required to inform the public on topics concerning hate speech, in a way that inappropriate speech is critically questioned and deconstructed in electronic media  in BiH.. The application of professional international standards and norms of hate speech, as well as respecting journalistic codes and laws in creating programs is a precondition for defense of journalists and media from potential lawsuits in the courts, concluded the participants of the inter-professional round table, which was concluded today in Jahorina.

Mehmed Halilović a lawyer and a media expert said that discrimination and hate speech are closely linked, because they are stereotypes and prejudices. Noting that in BiH we do not have much expressed hate speech in the contents of traditional media, Halilović emphasized: “Hate speech has mostly moved to comments in the online sphere and most often has the dimension of national and religious intolerance.”

„It is important to distinguish between hate speech and what falls under freedom of expression and can be limited in legally prescribed exceptions“, said the judge of the Cantonal Court of Sarajevo Svjetlana Milišić-Veličkovski. Besides, there is a need to harmonize criminal laws at entity levels, that is, to amend the FBiH Criminal Code, modeled on the same law in RS that clearly defines hate speech and legal sanctions if it is transmitted through the media, the prosecutor of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of Sarajevo Canton Sanin Bogunić.

Representative of the Coalition Fighting Against Hate Speech in BiH, Vladana Vasic talked about the importance of monitoring media and reporting cases of hate speech to relevant institutions, such as the Regulatory Agency for Communications and judicial institutions, which is one of the Coalition’s activities.„In traditional and new media, the problem is journalistic content that has hate speech, especially if it is aimed at minority groups such as migrants and refugees, LGBT and women“, said Vasić and added that media need to be more critical towards hate speech in public space, publicly condemn it and mark it as inappropriate and sometimes even as a criminal offense.

Federal Television is in the regulation of the program in accordance with the applicable laws as well as the internal codex that has existed for several years. According to Željko Tica, editor of the FTV news program, the only problem is the contact program in which viewers participate directly. “Before the viewer gets the opportunity to speak in the program, he needs to announce what he will ask and leave his number, which we call him to come to the program. There is still a chance for something unforeseen to happen, that a problematic statement goes into the ether, but the editor or journalist must react to this and condemn the inappropriate speech, “Tica pointed out.

At the end of a two-day discussion attended by 30 representatives of electronic media regulators, public and private broadcasters, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, civil society activists and media experts, it was concluded that the media can contribute to the change of public communication, and it is necessary to insist on professional reporting and constant education of journalists and editors.

Besides, the need for reform of public services and the education system was also emphasized through the introduction of the subject of media literacy. It is also recommended to promote the fight against hate speech through public campaigns, as well as to tighten penalties for spreading hate speech in traditional and new media.

In the debate, the publication “Media Regulatory Authorities and Hate Speech“, which deals with hate speech in the electro media in the states of the Western Balkans, whose authors are experts in regulatory issues and experts from regulatory agencies from Albania, BiH, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia.

Apropos, the two day debate on Jahorini was organized by the BH Journalists Association, Regulatory Agency for Communications and Council of Europe within the JUFREX project of Council of Europe – Reinforcing Judical Expertise on Freedom of Expression and the Media in South – East Europe, financially supported by the European Union.

SARAJEVO, 05.04.2018.-Freedom of expression in BiH is still not on a satisfactory level and journalists are often exposed to various kinds of pressure, even including direct threats. This is confirmed and verified through special reports released by numerous international organizations that follow and monitor the global situation as far as freedom of expression is concerned. Many cases of direct jeopardizing and endangering of journalists” lives have been reported, including threats directed to people who had been talking openly about certain and concrete criminal occurrences, including corruption and other associated local deviations, misuses, ignoring by governing officials to make certain actions in order to prevent this from happening and the appearance of conflict of interest as well.

Journalists working in small areas and communities, where most locals know each other, find their work rather scabrous, complex and often dangerous, as far as their own safety is concerned, including the safety of their families and their property as well. Journalism has become significantly dangerous, but has also become more responsible – based, because journalists are expected to point out, outline and highlight crucial and key the problems and to deal with them, particularly in society such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, society where most institutions fail to perform their work and fulfill their duties; society where, according to reports by many non – governmental and international organizations, high level of corruption has emerged and is still present, including nepotism and political party obedience and loyalty by many individuals and employment of those considered as suitable and political party – biased people.

Journalists have been working under such conditions for decades, however, local public response failed (it had never appeared) or in folk’s word, people “got used to this” and ignore any news that may be considered as undesired and negative news on daily basis. One affair on exposed criminal deeds is usually covered up by (apparently) “more interesting” news and the information providing would thus remain on a local daily news level. There are no responses and no actions taken by official authorities and the even general public often remain silent. Criminal actions remain unprocessed and penalties for such actions are rare which additionally encourages local criminals to continue with illegal actions consequently making a profit and getting rich. Unfortunately, these affairs often include those who should, in the first place, obstruct and prevent any illegal actions pursuant to official functions they perform.

Many involved in the above-mentioned crimes have recognized themselves in different reports, stories, articles, and posts, although the authors never mentioned their full names because they were not sure about their personal details. They managed to obstruct reporters from further investigation reporting and covering specific affairs in order to re-direct the attention of the general public to another issue thus protecting themselves from responsibilities they had been held for. Covering particular stories journalists have often been unaware about who may have been tied with illegal actions which would additionally present them (journalists) with problems including disturbing and putting themselves in awkward positions where people, whom they had never mentioned in their reports and whom they had never met before, approach them and express their anger because they believe that reports were directed against them for no reason. Because of them, general public hardly or almost never receives necessary information, since they intentionally hide them screening thus their illegal actions and criminal offenses.

Official authorities often obstruct journalist from doing their job

Journalists writing and outlining social deviations and criminal occurrences, expose themselves to misfortunate situations until they get particular, required and necessary facts relevant to their reports, stories, and articles. Additionally, they jeopardize their families and, because of that, they sometimes jeopardize their jobs with their employers, whereas criminals often remain intact by all means. With an exception of few honest and loyal individuals at all state system levels and governing levels, most “experts” fail to perform their duties and do not do their job properly and on one hand, do not implement legal empowerment and duties (as they should) neglecting thus completely their professional and social responsibility, while their conscious, on the other hand, remains a mystery. Professional, engaged and committed journalists want to do their job properly and fulfill their duties, fighting at the same to discover and get genuine and true facts and provide public with truthful information, are left on their own and often have neither support nor protection from official governing authorities.

Instead of being provided with particular information by official inspectors, members of supervising and monitoring boards, judiciary officials, tax office authorities or other official authorities, journalists must investigate, conduct research does their job and writes about system failures, inaction, obstruction, tax evasion, corruption, nepotism and other illegal actions.

In many cases, the above mentioned or municipal officials disallow and disable media representatives to approach venues considered as interesting as far as the public is concerned. Additionally, municipal and governing officials at all levels make “selection” in deciding which journalists’ team shall be allowed to record and report about particular events, venues or accidents and get information (facts) and which journalists’ team shall be deprived of approaching the above-mentioned events, venues or accidents. By doing this, the officials refute the public from being provided with proper and objective information regarding certain events or actual problems, thus creating the suspicion regarding quality and good will of this work, that is, cover particular criminal and illegal actions from being exposed. The new set of laws should certainly sort out this issue thoroughly. Unfortunately, due to the fact that law provisions have not been implemented properly, it is rather hard to expect that anyone could provide protection for journalists and create safe conditions regarding full safety and security for media representatives. The fight for this issue must continue in terms of allowing legal freedom of expression and information access deriving from all trades and work spheres through the implementation of legal provisions. The public has the right to know about social affairs and to get information regarding all public figures and bodies, including official institution representatives that are obliged to respect this public right as they should also assist journalists in providing the public with objective, proper and beforehand information.

Different forms of direct and indirect pressure

Pressures imposed upon media representatives in local communities have different forms and tend to become more and more sophisticated, although direct, as most brutal and most vulgar pressures, still, exist in reality.

Phone calls and disturbing, deliberate street encounters, open public threats and sometimes physical assaults against journalists represent some forms of direct pressures which jeopardize professional and human rights and endanger journalists’ freedoms.

Individuals use meetings and mass rallies to launch and initiate conflicts with journalists. Under these circumstances, apart from threats they receive on the regular and above-mentioned basis, journalists’ work is accordingly being diminished and they are often humiliated in public.

This kind of method is often used by powerful politicians that use mass rallies for personal promotion of their (so-called) “capacities, credits, benefits and power” that is, their “perfection and firmness”.

There are many kinds of direct pressures imposed on the journalist, including those jeopardizing and endangering their health condition, personal safety and eventually jeopardizing their lives.

It seems rather sad that those in charge with the implementation and protection of laws (in various fields of life and work) fail to provide protection for journalists in these areas; instead, journalists are left on their own in their combat for the sole truth. Instead of joining forces with journalists, assist them, support and help them in their investigation and work (including information providing and provided evidence in exposing particular affairs, criminal actions and illegal deeds committed); they rather inform doers and committers of the above mentioned deeds and criminal actions informing them that some “Mickey Mouse type of journalists are sticking their noses where they shouldn’t (making investigations and survey where these criminals are or may be involved with)” and that they (investigative reporters) should be stopped from making any further steps in their investigations and survey.

These cases represent and display samples of depraving and destructing social system, and, according to most recent information, the number of these “informers” is increasing.

Direct and indirect threats and threats against family members, including friends, acquaintances, also persists thus jeopardizing family members and putting journalists’ properties at stake. Also, journalists receive threats of getting sacked from work (losing their jobs), threats that local media houses may get shut down, threats regarding redundancies (or some other and similar kinds of pressures and blackmailing) present journalists in small local communities with serious problems, although they simply want to remain professional in performing their work and duties despite “miserable” wages they earn most of the time. Disabling marital partners from getting employed elsewhere, imposing journalists’ children with pressure in their schools, disallowing scholarships and acquiring other types of rights for other members of journalists’ family members, altogether represent occurrences that many journalists have been facing continually. Powerful figures tend to have journalists under their direct control as on one hand, their intention is to direct their work, and, on the other hand, they try to distant and marginalize journalists socially and economically, putting their existence at stake or simply they manage to destroy their personal spirit completely.

In order to block their work and to apply a certain amount of “discipline” and make journalists work according to instructions provided by either economic or mighty political local lobbies or individuals, media representatives (often referred to as “seventh force representatives”) are often compromised including their family members. Indirect forms of pressures are simply endless, inexhaustible, and indescribable and began to appear more and more sophisticated.

Loyal journalists are financially more stable and safe

Unfortunately, due to employing procedure in local media houses, mostly based on family ties or political party loyalty, instead of employment based on professional competences, those “journalists” in most cases chose easier way by expressing maximum loyalty and work in accordance to instructions or guidelines directed by their political or economically powerful figures. These journalists are accordingly awarded by receiving more money and having certain privileges, and nobody dared to disturb them in their work and let alone to threaten them. In most local communities in BiH, journalists have been imposed with some kinds of pressures and they had to develop their own “defense mechanism”, build their professional and personal status in society, with no help provided by anyone, and to continue in doing their work and trying to remain independent and objective as much as they possibly can.

The scope of success would depend on personal virtues and skills, including personal character as well. Highly and shamefully low wages in this particular field brought journalists to the edge of their existence and many of them have been “forced” to sacrifice their professional ethics code in order to please and satisfy fundamental existential necessities and have to trade in the professional ethics code for loyalty to political powerful figures and tycoons.

More discipline, order, and improvement of material position

What kind of program can be edited and broadcasted by one or two persons? Who wants to have their own newspaper and defined the minimum number of employees and special staff and it is necessary to determine and define special conditions that new employees must possess and do journalists’ job?. Following the situation for years in this particular field, I have realized that an insufficient number of skillful and experienced persons work in media houses which demoted and degraded journalism as occupation. These persons often “emerged as journalists” overnight through “familiar way” in some newspapers and additionally become editors. They refuse to allow discussion with colleagues that do their work professionally at highest level resisting all pressure imposed against them. Also, the newly emerged editors appeared unfamiliar with editing office procedures and similar discussions, including joined talks (with their colleagues) regarding certain topics, themes and issues and how they should be implemented.

Journalists should focus more on the question of their own position and status, but they should also distance themselves from those who violate journalism code and professional ethics and use every opportunity to fight against persons that are not considered as professionals and person that become “journalists” overnight.

This text is a part of E-Bulletin– fourth 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.

NIŠ, 05.04.2018. – Urednik niškog portala Južne vesti Predrag Blagojević izjavio je da je Poreska inspekcija, koja pregleda rad tog portala, prešla svaku granicu i da je počela da obilazi članove porodica vlasnika firmi sa kojima sarađuju, da inspektori viču na njihovog knjigovođu i da odlaze u firme koje se reklamiraju na tom portalu.

On je za “Danas” kazao da je za pet godina to peta kontrola Južnih vesti i da portal trenutno ispituju dve poreske inspekcije.

“Firme koje se oglašavaju na Južnim vestima su počele da nam otkazuju saradnju”, rekao je Blagojević.

On je kazao da su poreski inspektori uzeli ugovore koje portal ima sa Delegacijom Evropske unije, OEBS-om, Savetom Evrope, UN i pojedinim ambasadama.

“Onda taj inspektor pokaže ugovore članovima porodica zaposlenih u firmama koje se kod nas oglašavaju i kaže: ‘Pogledajte za koga radi vaše dete, ovo je firma koja radi za strane obaveštajne agencije’. Nekoliko ljudi nas je zvalo. Recept je isti, zvali su roditelje, sestru, članove uže porodice i kazali im ovo”, rekao je Blagojević.

On je dodao i da “nema dilemu da iza toga stoji vlast” i dodao da pretpostavlja da je motiv to što ne pristaju da promene uređivačku politiku i objektivno izveštavaju.

Za pet godina nijedna inspekcija nije pronašla nijedan problem u Južnim vestima, napominje Blagojević.

PODGORICA, 05.04.2018. – Regionalna platforma zapadnog Balkana za zagovaranje medijskih sloboda i bezbednosti novinara, koja zastupa više od 8.000 članova, pozdravlja efikasnu reakciju Uprave policije Crne Gore, koja je identifikovala i privela dvojicu osumnjičenih za podmetanje eksplozivne naprave na automobilu u blizini kuće novinara Seada Sadikovića u Bijelom Polju.

Incident se dogodio 1. aprila oko ponoći kad su, kako se pretpostavlja, Ilhan i Hilmo Pepić iz Rožaja bacili eksplozivnu napravu ispod automobila koji je bio parkiran ispred Sadikovićeve kuće, a koji ne pripada novinaru ni njegovoj porodici. Motiv za napad je, kako je saopšteno iz Uprave policije, prilog o muzeju Pepića u Rožajama, koji je Sadiković emitovao u svojoj emisiji „Bez granica“ na Televiziji Vijesti.

„Pozdravljamo akciju policije i to što je Tužilaštvo Pepićima odredilo pritvor od 30 dana ali ujedno podsećamo da upravo te dve institucije nisu ništa uradile kada je Sadiković više puta, od decembra 2017. godine kada je taj prilog emitovan, prijavljivao brojne pretnje koje je dobijao na razne načine. Da su tada bili efikasniji, do podmetanja eksploziva verovatno ne bi ni došlo. Takođe, efikasnost pripadnika Uprave policije je pokazala da kada hoće, mogu da otkriju i napadače i motiv, što se nije desilo u brojnim prethodnim slučajevima napada na novinare koji su ostali nerešeni“, kazala je predsednica Sindikata medija Crne Gore Marijana Camović.

Regionalna  platforma osuđuje svaki napad na novinare zbog posla koji obavljaju i podseća da su napadi i pretnje novinarima direktan napad na slobodu izražavanja i pravo građana da budu informisani.

Svaki napad na novinare je napad na javni interes, demokratiju i prava svih građana.

Od početka 2018. godine, Sindikat medija Crne Gore je evidentirao dva napada na novinare, od čega jedan slučaj pretnje i drugi slučaj uništenja imovine.

Udruženje/udruga BiH novinari
Sindikat medija Crne Gore
Hrvatsko novinarsko društvo
Udruženje novinara Kosova
Udruženje novinara Makedonije
Nezavisno udruženje novinara Srbije