Amendments to the Criminal Code: Penalties for Abuse of the Internet and Social Networks for Terrorist Acts

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The request by MPs Saša Magazinović, Jasmin Emrić, Mirsad Isaković, Momčilo Novaković, Šemsudin Mehmedović, Borislav Bojić, Maja Gasal Vražalica, Damir Bećirović, Senad Šepić, and Lazar Prodanović for the urgent consideration of the Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be before the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH tomorrow.

However, these amendments do not relate to the months-long dispute over amendments to the Criminal Code, concerning provisions that the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional. We remind you that the international community has been warning the HDZ and SNSD for some time to support the Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH in the House of Peoples of the PSBiH, which was submitted by the House of Representatives of the PSBiH and previously adopted by it.

Thus, today the Club of Delegates of the Croat people in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH withdrew its Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH. This followed fierce criticism from the international community, which warned the HDZ and SNSD that they would be directly responsible for the spread of crime in BiH.

The proposal to be debated by the representatives of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH tomorrow concerns amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, through which, according to the proposers, more effective action and prosecution of terrorist acts in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be enabled, as well as more effective international legal cooperation with other countries in the fight against terrorism.

At the same time, Bosnia and Herzegovina is thus fulfilling its international obligations related to the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, ratified in 2017, and aligning its legislation with the EU Directive on Combating Terrorism.

With these amendments, they state, the existing provisions in the Criminal Code of BiH related to the prosecution of terrorist acts have been significantly improved, but the introduction of new articles related to the abuse of information technologies, the internet and social networks, or the forgery of documents and property crimes for the purpose of terrorist activities is important.

Especially considering that this is precisely how the largest number of individuals are recruited for terrorist activities.