Within the next five years, BH journalists and FMHL will provide media professionals with more effective initial protection and enjoyment of freedom of expression in accordance with international standards

Tuzla, June 29, 2022 – The BH Journalists Association (BHJA) and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) held a workshop on journalistic rights and media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, focusing on providing free legal aid to journalists through USAID Media Engagement Activity (MEA) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of these activities is to strengthen the legal protection of independent media outlets and media professionals, as well as to improve the efficiency of investigations and court proceedings related to media freedom and the safety of journalists.

The training in Tuzla is the first of 24 trainings that will be organized by BH Journalists and FMHL with the aim of raising the knowledge and skills of journalists to use legal aid and increase the efficiency of protection through judicial institutions in BiH. Marko Divković, president of the BH Journalists Association, says that the colleagues in the media are not sufficiently informed about the procedures and ways of protection through the legal aid system.

“A good part of them do not report incidents, attacks and problems to which they are exposed, so these trainings are very important, because our colleagues from the media can get all the necessary information”, says Divković.

Ema Habul, a lawyer in BH Journalists, introduced the participants to a set of services that will be provided free of charge for media professionals by registering with FMHL and thanks to USAID’s media support program in BiH, implemented by Internews, in cooperation with BH Journalists and other partners organizations. These services are: legal advice and consultations, representation of journalists before the court and other institutions and bodies, trial monitoring, writing petitions to public and other institutions, analysis of domestic judicial institutions and compliance with EU standards for protection of freedom of expression and media freedom.

“Through this program, a completely new service will be developed – legal verification of media content before its publication, in order to avoid potential defamation lawsuits and / or other forms of institutional proceedings against journalists and media outlets that may be a violation of media freedom, rights and the safety of journalists”, points out lawyer Ema Habul.

Although she has suffered numerous pressures both inside and outside the media outlets in which she worked, journalist of the public broadcaster Bosnian-Herzegovinian Radio-Television Enisa Alibalić has so far not asked for free legal aid.

“When a journalist, like me, finds himself/herself in a situation where he/she has no protection inside hers media outlet or when he/she suffers attacks from the outside, then he or she saves his/hers profession, and sometimes his/hers own life. It’s not on their mind at that moment to call the FMHL, so we need to bring it even closer to the journalists and use it much more”, explains Alibalić.

FMHL intends to expand and strengthen its own network of lawyers, and to raise the awareness of media professionals as well as the entire public in BiH about the importance and availability of legal and institutional protection for all media employees across the country. BH Journalists point out that it is especially important to strengthen the existing Fund for the defense of journalists, whose funds are used to represent and defend media professionals in legal proceedings before courts and other judicial institutions.

In the services of  Free Media Help Line a young journalist from Radio-Television “Slon” from Tuzla, Ramo Tučić, sees safety for professional work.

“Regardless of the fact that in case of threats or attacks, my media outlet would stand behind me, it is very important for me to know that there is someone I can turn to and who will protect my rights, who will be my support”,  says Tučić.

The training, which was attended by journalists, representatives of the police and the judiciary and FMHL lawyers, will be useful to all, especially because of a better understanding of the defense of journalists, mastering legal terminology and existing practices.

Lawyer Biljana Radulović, who has been involved in the FMHL, says that she defends freedom of expression in every court case because it can be denied to anyone, not just journalists.

“Such trainings should be organized for all participants – journalists, police officers, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, because only when we talk directly can we reach a common goal”, says Radulović.

In 2021, FMHL registered 71 cases of threats to journalists, attacks and lawsuits against the media, and only 11 cases received an epilogue before judicial institutions. High level of impunity for attacks on journalists – only 33% of cases are resolved in their favor – as well as insufficient efficiency in investigating and sanctioning the attackers are key obstacles to the rule of law and access to justice for media professionals.

Also, a significant number of attacks remain unreported, partly because media professionals don’t have trust in the judiciary and investigative bodies, and partly because they don’t have the necessary knowledge about their rights, media freedoms and protection instruments.

Disclaimer: This report from the training in Tuzla was made possible thanks to the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content is the sole responsibility of BH Journalists and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the US Government.

Tuzla, June 27, 2022 –  The training on journalistic rights and media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized by the BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL), will be held at the Garden Hotel in Tuzla on Tuesday, June 28, starting at 9.30 am.

The training in Tuzla is the first in a series of trainings that BH Journalists and the FMHL will organize in the next five years, within the USAID Media Engagement Activity (MEA) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of these activities is to strengthen the legal protection of independent media outlets and media professionals, as well as to improve the efficiency of investigations and court proceedings related to media freedom and the safety of journalists.

The FMHL will provide a full range of free legal aid and services to media actors through legal advice and consultations, representation of journalists before courts and other institutions and bodies, monitoring of legal cases and analysis of decisions in accordance with the EU standards of freedom of expression and media freedom. Through this program, a completely new FMHL service will be developed – legal verification of media content before its publication, in order to avoid potential defamation lawsuits and / or other forms of institutional proceedings related to violations of media freedom, rights and safety of journalists.

Also, FMHL intends to expand and strengthen its own network of lawyers and attorneys and raise the awareness of media professionals as well as the general public in BiH on the importance and availability of legal and institutional protection for all journalists and media in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A special set of activities will be focused to strengthen the existing Fund for the defense of journalists, whose funds are used to represent and defend media professionals in legal proceedings of protection of media freedom.

In 2021, FMHL registered 71 cases of threats to journalists, attacks and lawsuits against media outlets, and only 11 cases had an epilogue before judicial institutions. The usually high level of impunity for attacks on journalists (only 33% of cases are resolved in favor of journalists), as well as insufficiently efficient investigations and sanctions of attackers are key obstacles to the rule of law and access to justice for media professionals. Also, a significant number of attacks remain unreported, partly because media professionals don’t trust the judiciary and investigative bodies, and partly because they do not have the necessary knowledge about their rights, media freedoms and protection instruments.

The training in Tuzla is created to provide participants with a detailed insight into the rights and freedoms that journalists can enjoy thanks to the constitutional provisions and legal framework of BiH, and to gain new knowledge and information on protection mechanisms available to journalists and media outlets at the state, entity and / or cantonal level, as well as in the Brcko District.

Organized by the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, yesterday was held a working meeting with a representative of civil society, journalists, and journalist partner associations from Safejournalists.net on the topic “Promoting cooperation and dialogue between civil society organizations and journalists’ associations from the Western Balkans for greater security of journalists and development of civil society “

The meeting discussed current trends and developments in the media sector, home country, and the region regarding journalist safety and the legal framework, the situation with civil society and the media, and challenges from the perspective of young journalists. In the discussion, the participants shared their opinions and suggestions on how to find better solutions for improving the safety of journalists and media workers in the Western Balkans.

Speakers at the event were: AJM Executive Director Dragan Sekulovski, MCIC Executive Director Aleksandar Krzalovski, Rade Djuric, lawyer and project researcher from the Independent Association of Journalists in Serbia; Monika Kutri, project researcher from the Croatian Journalists Association, Saska Cvetkovska- IRL journalist and Getarbe Muliqi, project researcher and executive director of the Association of Journalists in Kosovo.

Attendees had the opportunity to discuss trends in journalism and the state of the rights of journalists in Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, and Macedonia through the practice of journalistic associations in these countries.

The event was organized within the regional project “Improving the dialogue between journalists’ associations and parliaments in the Western Balkans for a stronger civil society sector,” funded by SIDA through the project “Protection of Civil Space – Regional Center for Civil Society Development” implemented by the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN).

The meeting was held on June 23, 2022, at the premises of the Civic Resource Center at the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) in Skopje.

BIJELO POLJE, 18.06.2022 – Jadranka Cetkovic, journalists od daily Vijesti, was attacked again in front of the building of the High Court in Bijelo Polje, while she was on a work assignment.

She was attacked by Elvis Palavrtic, who, with swearing and insults, ran towards Cetkovic while photographing him.

He was later arrested on suspicion of committing the crime of coercion to the detriment of a journalist.

The incident happened after the closing arguments in the retrial were completed, in which Palavrtic, Dragan Akovic, Sead Kurpejovic, Albin Hot, Dragoljub Davidovic, Elfad Kurpejovic and Emil Cirikovic were held accountable for criminal association and unauthorized production, possession and distribution of narcotics.

After the trial, the journalist left the courtroom, and then took a position in front of the building of the High Court to photograph the accused.

“While lawyer Markovic and his client Davidovic were going out, they stopped and posed for me to take photos of them. At the same time, several people stood at the top of the stairs, including Palavrtic. He stopped, then hurried toward me as I photographed him. At that moment, he said to me in a threatening tone: ‘Don’t film, a ** one. What are you filming, ***? What are you recording? ‘, And he uttered other curses and insults. As he said this he spread his arms towards me. Then I thought he was going to hit me, because he walked towards me with his arms outstretched,” said Cetkovic.

She also told the inspector that she felt great fear, because none of the dozen people present reacted to protect her.

Cetkovic was attacked in the same place in mid-April – then Amel Zejnilovic from Bijelo Polje first verbally attacked the journalist, and then tried to steal her phone.

The Police Administration (PA) announced that “a person was arrested who attacked the journalist of the Independent Daily Vijesti in Bijelo Polje”.

“Yesterday in Bijelo Polje, Jadranka Cetkovic, a journalist from the Independent Daily Vijesti, was reported to the police that E.P. (35) verbally attacked her and insulted her in front of the Bijelo Polje High Court. Police officers gathered information from the journalist and informed the competent prosecutor.”

The PA added that “by taking further measures and actions in cooperation with the police officers from Plav, information regarding the event was collected by E.P.””

“Due to the suspicion that he committed the crime of coercion, E.P. was deprived of liberty on the order of the acting prosecutor, and he will be brought to the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Bijelo Polje for further jurisdiction within the legal deadline,” the PA said.