SARAJEVO, 21.02.2018. – The Steering Committee of BHJA strongly condemns the physical attack on the publicist and editor off the portal The Bosnia Times from Sarajeva. The attack happened on Tuesday afternoon, in front of the building Latić lives in, shorty after leaving the Mosque he was praying in.
Causing bodily injuries and the attack on Nedžad Latić is a brutal attack on freedom of expression and endagerment of safety of journalists, as well as a harsh attempt of suppression media freedom and critical writing on actual events in Sarajevo, including the behavior of some members of the Wahhabi movement.
The Steering Committee of BHJA requests an urgent investigation of all circumstances of the attack on Latić, identifying the perpetrators and the motives of attack, and to take legally prescribed measures in a fast and efficient manner, which will show how police structures and judicial institutions respond responsibly and timely in cases of attacks on journalists and endangering their security.
Steering Committee of BHJA expresses its deepest concernsabout the fact that this is another assault in February, which occurred immediately after performing a private religious rite in one of the Sarajevo mosques and is linked to journalistic work. Freelance journalist Faruk Vele reported verbal attacks and threats that were directed to him through a number of online portals, that followed immediately after prayers at the Mosque “Careva Džamija” in Sarajevo, on which the religious leader stated that for some journalists is should be prayed as if they were death, although they are alive.
Steering Committee of BHJA does not link the attacks on journalists Nedžad Latić and Faruk Vela and the endangerment their security with the activities of the Islamic Community in BiH, but expects from this, and all the other, religious institution to publicly condemn the disputable speech held in the Mosque “Careva džamija”as well as to act more proactive in preventing the speech and behavior of believers who may, in a direct or indirect way, question the freedom of the media and the security of journalists.
Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association