BH Journalists: Minister Konaković attempts to intimidate and dehumanize journalist Avdić

(Patria) - The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association expresses public protest to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Elmedin Konaković due to a renewed, security-endangering attack on Avdo Avdić, a journalist and editor of the portal Istraga.ba.

The Association reminds that Konaković posted video material on his Facebook profile, using various posts and excerpts from Avdić's interviews, to professionally and personally discredit this journalist and expose him to security risks.

The Steering Committee of BH Journalists considers the fact that Minister Konaković is sharing a video on Facebook that attempts to completely dehumanize Avdo Avdić, portraying him as a person unworthy of any respect and inciting hatred towards him, to be shocking.

"In the manner of Goebbels' propaganda machine, Minister Konaković writes with the publication of this video 'There's no stopping now, this story must go to the end!', which could imply even more drastic actions by him and/or people around him towards journalist Avdić," the Association points out.

The Steering Committee of BH Journalists assesses that Minister Konaković's latest action is beyond all reason, as well as the values that the head of BiH diplomacy should represent, paid for by the money of BiH citizens and tasked with conducting a policy of building and preserving European principles, of which media freedom is an integral part.

As is known, Konaković has been denouncing and endangering journalists on a daily basis for the past few years. This should already be a red flag for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People and Justice party to distance themselves from these and similar actions by Konaković towards journalists.

The Steering Committee of BH Journalists calls on the Federal Police Administration and the Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton to urgently undertake a legally prescribed and urgent investigation, as well as measures to ensure the removal of the controversial propaganda video and the sanctioning of all persons behind its production and publication on Facebook.