Konjic, June 8, 2024. – Journalism Academy 2024, practical training for students of journalism and other humanities on the topic of hate speech and reducing hateful and discriminatory narratives in public communication, especially on social networks, began at Boračko Jezero near Konjic.

During the five-day interactive training, the participants of Journalism Academy will have the opportunity to learn how to recognize hate speech, how to deconstruct it as unacceptable public speech and a violation of fundamental human rights of individuals and groups, and how young people can contribute to reducing hateful narratives in the environments where they live and study. or spend time.

Through familiarization with the legal framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and international documents on the fight against hate speech, lectures by experts, activists and journalists, as well as screenings of documentary films and analysis of content published in the media on social networks, Academy participants will be able to gain new insights and knowledge to reduce incitement, verbal threats and insults, hateful messages, discrimination, and gender-based violence in the offline and online sphere. Since they come from different areas of BiH, this training will be an opportunity for young people to get to know each other, socialize, share their own values ​​and understanding of diversity, so that when they return to their cities, they can contribute to reducing hate speech, but also reject political manipulation and attempts to create national, religious or cultural distance that is imposed on them daily through public speech and radical narratives.

The slogan of this year’s Journalism Academy is “Students against hate”, the training will take place through two modules lasting five days each and the participation of 35 male and female students from 7 cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. BiH Journalists Association  has been organizing the Journalism Academy every year continuously since 2013, when this form of practical training for male and female students, young journalists and editors of BiH media was organized for the first time in Neum.

The constitution of the Special Parliamentary Committee “To coordinate and oversee all institutional actions to combat disinformation and other forms of foreign interference in the country’s democratic processes” in Albania 

On June 6th, the Albanian Assembly voted with only the presence of the governing majority (SP) “On the composition of the Special Committee of the Assembly for coordinating and supervising all institutional actions to fight disinformation and other forms of foreign interference in democratic processes of the country”. 

Earlier in June, SJN reiterated its stance, expressed in the open letter dated April 9, 2024. SJN urges the Assembly to ensure that this committee operates transparently, with clear, public reporting on its activities and decisions, and that the committee actively includes a diverse range of stakeholders in its consultations and decision-making processes. SJN argues that effective combating of disinformation requires input from all sectors of society and broad-based consultation. SJN urged the committee to engage in comprehensive consultations with all relevant stakeholders to develop strategies and policies that are balanced and effective. It is essential that the committee operates in a non-partisan manner, ensuring that its actions are not influenced by political biases. 

The Committee convened its inaugural meeting on June 26th, notably without opposition participation. Subsequently, it issued a public call for expressions of interest, inviting contributions from civil society organizations, research institutes, and academic institutions, both domestic and international, to enrich the Committee’s work with their expertise. It also extended a public invitation for cooperation and participation in public debate roundtables to audiovisual media organs, print media, online media, and electronic media. Also, they issued a public call for cooperation and expertise from the USA, EU, NATO, Council of Europe, other interested countries, and both local and international experts. This effort of engaging with relevant stakeholders through a public call for expression of interest is commendable in an attempt to leverage diverse perspectives in the work of the Committee. However, SJN underlines that their effectiveness will depend on clear objectives and mandate, transparent selection processes, and mechanisms for meaningful consultation and dialogue, and ultimately transparency of the decision-making. SJN urges the Committee to avoid the inadvertent instrumentalization of civil society’s work. We emphasize the importance of ongoing, substantive dialogue with journalists’ community, media organizations, and media freedom organizations. The Committee must develop and publicly share a clear plan of activities, detailing how media and journalists will be systematically consulted and engaged throughout the process.

Sarajevo, June 6, 2024. – Steering Committee of BH Journalists and the Helpline for Journalists demand that the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) suspend investigative actions that may have negative consequences for the protection of journalistic sources and the preservation of professional secrecy, which were initiated in connection with the order Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on the questioning of journalist Avda Avdić, editor of the Istraga.ba portal, and the people responsible for Hayat TV.

Steering Committee of BH Journalists expresses its astonishment at the fact that journalist Avda Avdić and the Hayat TV editorial team were called to the premises of the SIPA Agency to testify, without having been previously informed in writing in what capacity they were being called or in connection with what crime. Such procedures are contrary to the standards of the Council of Europe on the protection of freedom of expression and the application of Article 10 of the European Convention on the Protection of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, which decisively prescribe the circumstances under which journalists can be investigated and the manner in which the procedure for legitimate restrictions on the right to freedom of expression is carried out.

The Management Board of BiH Journalists also emphasizes that the order on the interrogation of journalists conflicts with the provisions of the BiH Law on Criminal Procedure, which prohibit the interrogation of journalists for the purpose of revealing business secrets and sources of information. As is well known, journalists and other media workers can and should reveal their sources only in cases where their information could help the investigative authorities in discovering the perpetrators of war crimes and other murders.

Steering Committee of BH Journalists encourages journalist Avdić and Hayat TV colleagues to refuse to give SIPA Agency inspectors any data or documents that could violate the confidentiality and integrity of the source of information, until they are informed in detail why they have been called to testify, i.e. about what criminal the work is being done.

Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association

Serbian authorities should conduct a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation into the recent physical attack against journalist Vuk Cvijić, hold those responsible to account, and ensure the journalist’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

Vuk Cvijić, a reporter for the weekly newspaper Radar, was walking by a cafe around 1 p.m. on May 29 in the capital, Belgrade, when publisher Milan Lađević began shouting insults and expletives, asking how he dared to write an article connecting him to Slobodan Malešić, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ, and news reports. Malešić is the former head of police in Novi Sad, a city in northwestern Serbia, and is currently being tried on organized crime charges.

Lađević is co-owner of Media Network, which publishes pro-government newspaper Telegraf, and was sitting with his deputy, Boris Vukovic.

Cvijić said he tried to move away from the pair when Lađević stood up, approached the journalist, and punched him on the right side of his chin, causing Cvijić to fall on the sidewalk and break his phone screen. He was treated at a hospital for a contusion and given medication.

Cvijić told CPJ that Lađević was referencing an article printed by the weekly magazine NIN — where the journalist worked in 2023 — in which the journalist described Lađević as a close ally of Malešić, according to CPJ’s review of the 2023 November article.

Lađević denied attacking the journalist in a statement to the newspaper Republika, which serves as the online edition of Telegraf, and claimed Cvijić was the one who provoked, insulted, attacked them, and then staged the incident. CPJ emailed questions to Lađević but received no reply.

The Belgrade prosecutor’s office started an investigation and took statements from Lađević, Vukovic, and Cvijić, but had not issued any further updates as of Wednesday, according to Cvijić. CPJ’s emailed questions to the prosecutor’s office did not receive a response.

“It is a welcome development that Serbian authorities have started an investigation following the recent attack against journalist Vuk Cvijić. They must ensure that the investigation is swift, thorough, and transparent, hold those responsible to account, and ensure the journalist’s safety,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “Independent journalists in Serbia work in an increasingly hostile atmosphere, and authorities must demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy for such attacks.”

Veran Matić, a 1993 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award and member of Serbia’s Working Group for the Security and Protection of Journalists, told N1 TV that police and prosecutors gave high priority to the investigation. Matić said it was important that the case was resolved as the attack was against an investigative journalist in an increasingly toxic climate in Serbia, and Lađević is the head of a media company that “often targets journalists like Vuk Cvijić, with untruths [and] fake news.”

Radar condemned the attack in a May 29 statement and demanded Serbian authorities properly investigate the case, adding that independent media and the Serbian society as a whole face “a dangerous spiral of violence — unfortunately, encouraged by the authorities and media close to them.”

Press freedom groups SafeJournalists network, Media Freedom Rapid Response partners and Coalition for Media Freedom condemned the attack in a May 30 statement as the most recent incident in ongoing attacks against journalists in Serbia.

CPJ has documented how independent journalists in Serbia face an increasingly hostile atmosphere in 2024 with a growing number of physical and online attacks due to the anti-press rhetoric from President Aleksandar Vučić’s supporters, government officials, and pro-government media.

Journalists working for NIN quit the newspaper in January 2024 and launched Radar in March, citing a need to protect professional integrity amid criticism that NIN’s new owner is curtailing editorial independence.

CPJ

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) held its Annual Meeting in Prishtina, Kosovo, on 23-24 May 2024. The event, which brought together around 100 journalists’ trade unions and professional associations from 45 European countries, was organised by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK). The theme of the annual meeting “Journalism in times of war” allowed major discussions on current challenges such as the safety and working conditions of journalists.

“It is a historic milestone for our country to host this important annual event. Thanks to journalists, democracy and peace can prevail. Today, we are in Kosovo to celebrate journalism and life,” said Xhemajl Rexha, Chairperson of the AGK.

Bringing EFJ delegates together in Kosovo in 2024 was symbolic. This year is marking 26 years since a series of unsolved murders, kidnappings, and disappearances of nineteen journalists and media workers in Kosovo. Participants unanimously adopted motions calling for effective investigations into these crimes, along with other resolutions for the year to come, including on Gaza, Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, and Julian Assange.

“We face the fight against disinformation, political pressure, market challenges, and the difficulties posed by the increasing use of AI. Being a journalist today is not an easy task,” declared EFJ President Maja Sever in her welcoming speech at the Annual General Meeting.

Expert panels engaged in discussions on sensitive topics, such as “reporting in times of war,” highlighting the importance of truth and the challenges posed by the digital age, mainly in newsrooms.

The presentation of the SafeJournalists Network Index Reports shed light on attacks on journalists in Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo and underscored the importance of data in protecting journalists. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 403 attacks on journalists and media organisations have been recorded on the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) platform in the EU and candidate countries. Such monitoring is key to providing timely support to journalists and preventing the chilling effects of press freedom in the whole country. A round-table discussion on SLAPP lawsuits also brought insightful discussions on how much abusive lawsuits create an environment of fear and intimidation for journalists. The experts set the importance of the well transposition and implementation of the anti-SLAPP Directive.

The Annual Meeting also paid tribute to the journalists and media workers jailed or killed on duty in Ukraine and Belarus.

As every year, decisions were taken on the budget, the EFJ work program, and the financial and activity reports. The Annual Meeting supported the continuing cooperation between the International and European Federation of Journalists.

The event was also an opportunity for the EFJ, which was founded in 1994, to launch a new logo to mark its 30th anniversary. With a modern look, more in line with its mission, this new logo symbolises openness to the world, underlining the J of the fellow journalists the Federation passionately represents and their role in shining hidden truths to light.

EFJ

Judge of the Court of Appeal in Belgrade Dušanka Đorđević has filed two lawsuits against KRIK over the database “Judge Who Judges” in which we investigated Serbian judiciary, including her work. In the lawsuits she filed together with her husband for alleged violation of the right to privacy, the judge seeks not only monetary compensation but also a two-year occupational ban for KRIK journalists and 10 months prison sentences. In the lawsuit, Judge Đorđević – known for being a member of the panel that acquitted the accused for the murder of Slavko Ćuruvija – claims that KRIK journalists are “putting a target” on her and helping criminals find her. KRIK considers this an unprecedented pressure on media and an attempt to prevent journalists from reporting on the work and integrity of judges.

Judge Dušanka Đorđević and her husband, lawyer Aleksandar, have filed civil and criminal lawsuits against KRIK journalist Bojana Pavlović and editor Stevan Dojčinović. The former seeks damages of 760,000 Serbian dinars (approximately 6,500 EUR), and the latter demands that Pavlović and Dojčinović be sentenced to 10 months in prison and a two-year ban on practicing journalism.

The lawsuits were filed because of the judge’s profile published in the “Judge Who Judges” database, which KRIK has launched at the end of 2020 to increase transparency of the judiciary in Serbia. The database was created precisely to inform citizens about the work of the judiciary and nothing that could endanger the safety of judges was published in it.

Despite this, Judge Đorđević claims in the lawsuits that the journalists violated her privacy by publishing her name and position in the Belgrade Court of Appeals, as well as information about the properties she owns with her husband. She even claims that KRIK journalists have put her in danger and are helping criminals to find her.

“The accused, by publishing data prohibited by our law, call for a public lynching of those judges who fight on a daily basis to remove members of organized crime from our society, and at the same time mark them and put targets on them and their families so that members of organized crime can easily identify and find them,” the lawsuit states.

It is also claimed that KRIK journalists work “under the guise of a noble goal of fighting crime” in an “unregistered” media outlet – although the KRIK portal is registered in accordance with the law.

“This is perhaps the biggest pressure on KRIK so far, but these lawsuits indirectly threaten all other media in Serbia. We are being sued by a high-ranking judge who claims that we should not have published even her name, so we are now in a position to defend not only our work but also the legal right of journalists to write about those in power,” says KRIK Editor-in-Chief Stevan Dojčinović.

“Citizens must be aware that these trials will actually decide whether journalists in Serbia will be allowed to even mention judges, let alone criticize or analyze their work. This is why we see these lawsuits as a direct suppression of media freedoms because monitoring the work and assets of state officials is one of the basic journalistic tasks”, Dojčinović explained.

Nine Properties of the Judge and Her Husband

In the profile of Judge Dušanka Đorđević in KRIK’s database, there are details about her career progression in the judiciary, key court cases she has adjudicated, as well as the information about the properties she owns with her husband – five apartments, two garages, business premises in Belgrade and land near Bajina Bašta (small town in Western Serbia). KRIK did not publish the address of any of these properties, thereby not endangering the safety of the judge or her husband.

Before publishing her profile in the database, KRIK journalists have contacted Judge Đorđević and gave her the opportunity to respond to our findings in detail and explain how she and her husband acquired their assets. She refused and in a written response stated that journalists have no right to deal with that topic and that doing so constitutes a criminal offense.

For Judge Đorđević, appearing in KRIK’s database is certainly not the first encounter with the public.

She became a judge of the Fourth Municipal Court in Belgrade in 2005. She was also a spokesperson for this court, so communication with journalists and appearing in the media were part of her daily job. Đorđević was promoted to the Higher Court in Belgrade in 2010.

That year, she came under media attention due to an unusual case: she married a lawyer who represented the accused in a case she was supposed to adjudicate.

Her current husband, Aleksandar Đorđević, at the time was defending a young man accused of killing a policeman with a car and fleeing afterwards. The judge and the lawyer got married about ten days before the trial began.

Đorđević requested to be recused from the case, which was granted. However, the family of the deceased and their lawyer claimed that the judge deliberately delayed the case and that at the time she scheduled the trial, she already knew she would marry the lawyer but did not inform them.

The judge’s husband, besides being a lawyer, owns several companies engaged in debt collection. Additionally, the Serbian government appointed him as a member of the supervisory board of the „Kirilo Savić Research and Development Institute“ from July 2013 to May 2014. In recent years, Đorđević has also been engaged by the Development Fund managed by the Treasury Administration of the Serbian Ministry of Finance.

Đorđević became a judge of the Belgrade Court of Appeals in 2020, in the Special Department for Organized Crime.

She is known for being a member of the panel that acquitted those accused of killing journalist Slavko Ćuruvija. She was also a member of the panel that overturned the conviction of former mayor of Grocka (Belgrade suburb), Dragoljub Simonović, for setting on fire the house of journalist Milan Jovanović in 2021.

Recently, Đorđević confirmed the acquittal of Zvezdan Terzić, General Director of the Red Star Football Club, who was accused of illegally appropriating money from the sale of football players.

She was also a member of the panel that in January last year confirmed the acquittal of former Minister for Environmental Protection Oliver Dulić.

Đorđević is one of the judges who in the spring of 2022 increased the sentence of former member of the Zemun Clan Aleksandar Zdravković for the attempted murder of businessman Milan Beko from nine to 13 years in prison.

Why It Is Important for the Public to Know About Judges

“Adopting lawsuits such as these ones agaist KRIK would be a verdict against journalism and it would send a signal to all journalists not to dare to write about judges,” says Dojčinović.

“This is also about endangering the transparency of Serbian judiciary because our database ‘Judge Who Judges’ has made great progress in that direction and gave citizens a chance to be informed about the work of important judges, and these lawsuits could take that away from them. We are particularly concerned by the fact that the lawsuits were filed by a judge whose job should be to recognize and stop SLAPP lawsuits, not to initiate them against journalists and seek their imprisonment”, concludes Dojčinović.

KRIK has been following the most important trials in Serbia for years, investigating the judiciary and fighting for the transparency of this branch of government. For this reason, in 2020, KRIK created the online database “Judge Who Judges,” which contains information about judges, as public officials about whom citizens knew very little.

To date, KRIK’s database has produced profiles of 51 judges containing information about their careers, the most important court cases they have handled, as well as about proceedings conducted against them and the assets they own. The database does not contain any information that could in any way endanger the safety of judges or their family members. Journalists obtained all data through official channels and found it in official databases and, before publishing, each judge was contacted for an interview or comment. One third of those contacted responded, either by accepting to be interviewed or by answering the reporters’ questions.

A global journalistic award, “Sigma,” which was previously awarded to KRIK’s database, speaks to the value and significance of this database. The international jury noted that “judges, their actions, and wealth are some of the best-kept secrets in Serbian society” and that KRIK’s persistent reporting managed to reveal what is behind controversial decisions that have affected citizens for decades.

Lawsuits seeking to sentence journalists to prison and ban them from practicing journalism for two years for writing about the work of judges in a democratic country are a clear pressure on media freedoms.

It is particularly concerning that this time the pressure comes from a judge who adjudicates some of the most important organized crime cases and who should have a higher level of tolerance for the public’s interest in her work.

Source: KRIK

Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic accused N1 of calling for violence and publishing false news.

Brnabic was asked by an N1 reporter at the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) headquarters on election night whether she would apologize for accusing N1 of beating people up and she replied: “You support the people beating up others and you call for tensions in society”.

“You called for violence all day with claims of parallel lists of voters and illegal call centers,” she said.

Brnabic posted inflammatory remarks on her X profile during Sunday’s local elections, accusing the opposition and media of propagating violence. She accused N1 of making false claims about SNS activists illegally holding lists of voters and working at party call centers used to pressure voters to turn out.

Brnabic denied targeting journalists and lying to the public. “You lie to the people,” she told the N1 reporter. According to her, that causes instability in society “not because of policies but because someone lies to the people”.

Asked why she didn’t condemn the assault on investigative journalists Vuk Cvijic, Brnabic said she didn’t know what happened. “A journalists assaulted a journalst, we don’t know which journalists and you’re the court and judge. You decided that Vuk Cvijic was assaulted, not that he assaulted someone,” she said. Cvijic was assaulted by the CEO of a pro-regime tabloid last week.

Brnabic walked away after being asked how much the SNS call center at the Banjica Sports Center cost.

Source: N1