Epilogue of FTV Editor's Statement: Avdo Avdić Turned Victims into Criminals

In his reckless statement, Avdo Avdić swapped the arguments. The then leadership of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, headed by the late President Alija Izetbegović, did not bring any terrorists or mujahideen to Bosnia and Herzegovina; it was about completely different actions related to war events known to the public, said Ismet Osmanović, a delegate in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regarding the statement of the editor of FTV's News Program about Alija Izetbegović during a guest appearance on Slovenian television, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- Accusing the leadership of that is a substitution of arguments that is, to say the least, strange, especially in this case concerning Avdo Avdić – said Osmanović.

He is of the opinion that Avdić's home institution, the Federal Television, will issue a statement regarding this appearance, but he would not speculate on the manner or direction of their response. Avdić has been the editor of FTV's News Program since mid-2012.

Incidentally, Federal Television has been in a confusing situation for years, which plays into the hands of the current management led by Director Džemal Šabić. Namely, the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which holds the founding rights, has not appointed members of the Management Board, and legal deadlines have been missed. Additionally, parliamentary majorities have been unable to agree on how this should be done.

- At one point, the SDP wanted to appoint its people to the Management Board. A decision was even made by the SDP to appoint a temporary Management Board, which was not in accordance with the law. That was overturned by the Constitutional Court. Those attempts by the SDP to appoint its people resulted in missing all deadlines for appointing those Management Board members whose terms had expired. Now, at this moment, we have a complicated situation. Currently, there is one member with a mandate, but next year his term also expires – said Osmanović.

Of the two remaining members of the Management Board of RTVFBiH, Radenko Udovičić submitted his resignation to the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in August, so FTV today has only one Management Board member, Goran Samardžić.

It is precisely this situation that the current management of FTV is exploiting, so Šabić has been in the director's position for six years, and contracts are being handed out left and right. Incidentally, by law, the mandate of the general director lasts five years, and a member of the same constituent people cannot be appointed general director for two consecutive terms.

- We must urgently take steps to resolve this. Find a legal solution, given that it is foreseen that one Management Board member is appointed each year. Whether we will change the law to resolve this issue legally or in another way, we will see. I think it would be best to amend the law and legally open a possibility to resolve this issue. The first step is appointing the Management Board, followed by the Management Board's responsibilities: appointing the director, establishing the Program Council... – said Osmanović for NAP.

The news agency Patria sent an inquiry to Federal Television asking whether the leadership of this television station will react to the statements of its editor, but we have not yet received a response.

Incidentally, Avdo Avdić is the main media lever for member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegović, who has still not commented on these scandalous statements, and for Dubravka Čampara, the state prosecutor who regularly exclusively informs FTV, i.e., Avdić, about actions taken by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and television crews are always on the scene before SIPA special forces.