SARAJEVO, 12.01.2023. – Last year, the Free Media Help Line reported a total of 79 cases of attacks on journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the information provided to FENA by the General Secretary of the Association of BH Journalists, Borka Rudić, this includes one physical attack and seven death threats. There were 12 cases of verbal threats, 11 cases of political pressure, 12 cases of incitement/hate speech, five cases of damage to property or cyber attacks.

According to her, political pressure and attacks on journalists and independent media increased by 40 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. Also, verbal threats, death threats and hate speech increased by 137 percent.

– In addition to all the mentioned direct pressures on media freedom and security threats to journalists, we are faced with increasingly frequent requests from individuals to delete journalistic texts, created on the basis of official information from investigative or other public authorities – Rudić told FENA.

According to her, these requests come from persons who were included in various investigations by competent judicial authorities or security agencies under suspicion of having committed certain criminal acts. Although the requests have no legal basis, individuals and their lawyers use them to put pressure on the media or try to “wash” the face of their client in front of BiH the public.

– Since these demands represent an unfounded attempt to limit the right to freedom of expression, BH journalists have prepared a special analysis with clear messages that no media should succumb to attempts at censorship, nor remove their texts from the portal or from the media archive without valid court decisions regarding specific media contents. The analysis will be published soon on the website of BH journalists – says Rudić.

Source: Fena 

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo has been informed by the journalist, Bujar Vitija, about a series of insults, lynchings, and threats that have been made towards him in recent days, after a series of articles about suspicions of corruption in the Public Hospital of Vushtrri.

AJK condemns the language used against the journalist Vitija and considers that it hinders his and other journalists’ work as well. All competent authorities must do their work to clarify the raised accusations.

Sarajevo/Banja Luka, 12.01.2023. – The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) strongly condemn the threats addressed to the editorial office of the O channel (O kanal) from Sarajevo and to journalist Kenan Ćosić, after this TV station broadcast an interview with Boris Malagurski, the director of the film “Republika Srpska: The Struggle for Freedom”.

Due to the decision to conduct an interview with Malagurski, in the last two days journalist Ćosić and O channel have been exposed to numerous threats and insults on social networks, which include monstrous death threats, calls for violence and lynching of Ćosić and his family members.

The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association emphasizes that such threats to journalists and the media constitute a serious criminal offense, and those who make them must be held accountable and sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code.

Regardless of whether someone doesn’t like the decision to conduct an interview with the director Malagurski, regardless of the quality of the interview and the topic of the mentioned film, no one can endanger the life of Kenan Ćosić, send threats and/or publish pictures of him and his family, including children, putting them all at serious security risk.

Freedom of the media also implies freedom of choice of interlocutors in TV shows and other media content, and this is something that cannot and must not be questioned in democratic societies. If someone believes that the broadcast of the aforementioned interview violated the code of journalistic ethics or the rules of the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK), or is otherwise considered damaged and upset by the interview, they can express their displeasure by reacting to the media directly or reporting to RAK, and not by threatening the media outlet, journalist and members of his family.

The Steering Committee of BH Journalists and the Free Media Help Line will require all competent institutions in Sarajevo, Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska to conduct an investigation into this case as soon as possible and sanction all persons who sent threats to journalist Ćosić and the editorial office of O channel.

Several journalists and media workers working on environmental and climate stories have been subjected to threats and obstruction to press work in 2022, hindering the right to information of the public. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is alarmed by the risks associated with climate journalism throughout Europe and recalls the necessity for media to cover the current ecological and social issues.

Climate journalism has gone from being a niche beat to a field covered by a lot of national and international media outlets. Despite a belated but tangible expansion of the media coverage, journalists’ organisations have witnessed a lack of understanding and in some cases a deliberate obstruction of press work by some companies, private security and state security.

This past year, the Mapping Media Freedom platform, designed to gather information about the violations to press freedom in Europe, has recorded 18 alerts in eight countries. Several journalists reporting on climate actions or covering corporation events have been prevented from doing their work, insulted, or physically assaulted. One journalist in central Serbia received death threats.

Climate actions and protests in particular are a difficult context to work in, often because the distinction between journalists and activists is not always respected by the police or the security team present on site. This year alone, Mapping Media Freedom documented cases of journalists arrested or prosecuted as activists, underscoring the trend that the issue does not stop on the ground but can go up to the court.

In France, Reporterre journalist Grégoire Souchay was charged without his professional status taken into account following a decision by the prosecutor of the criminal court of Rodez (France). Two other journalists working for Reporterre, a media specialising in ecological and environmental issues, were fined for covering the actions of climate activists. Another example in Germany, this time involving a company, is the case of journalist Marco Brás Do Santos who was convicted of trespassing in December. Brás Do Santos’ case is a telling example of how the distinction between journalist and activist is often not made by the police or private security.

Competent authorities are requested to take all necessary measures to ensure journalists and media workers reporting on climate and environmental stories can work in the best possible conditions.

According to the EFJ, an atmosphere of security must be built to allow media professionals to report accurately on climate change: “We need to ensure that journalists reporting on environmental and climate stories can work safely and freely,” said Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary. “Guarantying their security and making sure that their legal rights are respected is crucial for them to fulfil their role of helping us understand the issues we are facing.”

The EFJ, committed to a better treatment of the climate crisis, is a co-signatory of the Charter for upgraded journalistic practices to better report on the ecological and environmental emergency. “Journalists must step up their practices, but this will only be possible if they can do their job without fear of detention, fine or threats to their safety,” added Gutiérrez.

Sarajevo/Banja Luka, 28.12.2022. – The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association calls on the city authorities of Mostar and the Police of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton to take all legal measures so that graffiti containing hate speech against journalists is removed as soon as possible, and the perpetrator or perpetrators are identified and sanctioned.

As numerous media published yesterday, a graffiti “Death to journalists” was written in red paint on the wall of a building in Braće Fejića street in Mostar. The existence and tolerance of graffiti containing the message “Death to journalists” can not only represent a security threat for all journalists and media outlets, but it’s also an inadmissible way of publicly expressing attitudes towards journalists or any other citizen of Mostar.

The Police and the City Administration of the City of Mostar have a public obligation and legal responsibility to remove all signs with hate speech, including the aforementioned graffiti. In this context, the explanation given yesterday to the media by the spokesman of the MUP HNK Ljudevit Marić that “graffiti was there earlier, but there was a vehicle parked next to it so it was not noticeable”, is particularly unacceptable.

The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association expects that by urgently removing the graffiti and finding the persons responsible for this shameful act, the competent institutions in Mostar will show that hate speech, regardless of who it is directed at, cannot and must not be tolerated.

The Free Media Help Line (FMHL), which operates within BH Journalists Association, during 2022. registered an increase by as much as 137% of hateful messages towards journalists, hate speech and death threats.

 Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association