New scandal at N1 Sarajevo: After the film about Dragan Čović, the film about Russian influence in BiH was also 'canceled'!

(Patria) - In the same period when the film about Dragan Čović was censored, the management of N1 television Sarajevo also censored the film about Russian influence in BiH, Istraga.ba learns.

Unlike the film about Dragan Čović, which was censored after editing, the film about Russian influence was censored during filming, with the management of that television, led by Amir Zukić, ordering the cessation of filming. Until that moment, the author of the series "Ispod površine" (Under the Surface), journalist Boris Brezo, had already filmed or arranged to film several interviewees on this topic. One of those interviewees was the dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, Sead Turčalo.

"It is true that my statement was filmed, but I know nothing about the fate of the film," Professor Turčalo told us briefly.

Istraga.ba also contacted the author, Boris Brezo, but he did not wish to speak on the matter, as he had already left N1 TV. Therefore, we were forced to seek the opinion of director Zukić.

"Mr. Zukić, why did N1 TV not broadcast the documentary film about Russian diplomats in BiH?" was Istraga's question.

"That documentary," Zukić replied, "was not made, so since it was not made, it could not be broadcast. N1 has produced and broadcasted a series of TV reports and interviews about Russian influence in BiH, which you know yourself, as you are a loyal viewer of N1, for which I thank you".

"And was such a documentary in preparation?" we continued with questions. "Several people confirmed to us that they were interviewees and that their statements were not broadcast".

"Yes. The filmed statements were broadcast in N1's current programs, and the interviewees you mention appeared on our program and spoke about Russian influence," Zukić confirmed to Istraga.ba.

The film about Russian influence, as we learn, was supposed to cover topics related to the arrival of Russian diplomats in BiH, as well as the gas issue, i.e., the construction of the southern interconnector. For the needs of the film, it was planned to film analysts such as Zlatko Hadžidedić, Zijad Bećirović, and BIRN journalists who investigated the story about Russian diplomats in BiH. However, before all the filming was completed, Zukić ordered that further filming be stopped and the entire series "Ispod površine" be canceled. The author of the series, Boris Brezo, soon left N1 and moved to UNA TV.

Let us remind you, at the beginning of January, Zagreb's NACIONAL reported that N1 BiH, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian branch of one of the most credible television stations in the region, had succumbed to self-censorship for the first time in its history: the Bosnian-Herzegovinian editorial office of N1 "bunkered" its already filmed investigative show about the president of HDZ BiH, Dragan Čović, in September, reported Zagreb's Nacional in its issue.

According to author Boris Pavelić, this is undoubtedly an editorial oversight unprecedented at N1 BiH, which becomes even more serious when it is known that, along with the censorship of the show about Čović, the entire hitherto very successful investigative series "Ispod površine," within which the mentioned show was filmed, was also canceled, despite the fact that previous shows in that series about Milorad Dodik or the dismissed director of the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH, Osman Mehmedagić, for example – achieved high viewership and praise from both viewers and the editorial staff and management of N1 BiH.

"After the editor-in-chief of Nacional, Berislav Jelinić, gave a statement to the Bosnian-Herzegovinian editorial office of N1 television in August for the show about Dragan Čović, Nacional wanted to find out why this work was not published even three months after its scheduled broadcast in September. The author of the series and the show, Boris Brezo, confirmed to Nacional that the show was filmed but not broadcast, but he refused to provide details of the case. Therefore, Nacional spoke with several sources from N1 BiH television last week, who wished to remain anonymous, as well as with other interviewees in that never-published show. We learned that it was a show in which the author, based on available court and official documents and statements from relevant interviewees – politicians, journalists, and political scientists – investigated and analyzed the judicial, political, and moral controversies and the political power of the president of HDZ BiH and the Croatian National Assembly, Dragan Čović, the most powerful Croatian politician in BiH and one of the most powerful politicians in the neighboring country. It was not an investigative show in the literal sense, as it does not reveal new information or present unproven indications that could be subject to lawsuits: it is a summary and an overview, but an informative presentation of known, but less frequently mentioned details of Čović's political career, which is accompanied by numerous controversies: the author, for example, recalled how in one of the several court cases against Dragan Čović, after he was unappealably sentenced to five years in prison, court evidence mysteriously disappeared during transport from the BiH Court building to the cantonal prosecutor's office building, so he was acquitted due to lack of evidence; the show also dealt with the fact that prosecutor Zdenko Kovač, in one case against Čović, wrote the indictment after the statute of limitations had expired, so such an indictment was, of course, rejected in court – and today this same Zdenko Kovač is the chief prosecutor in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

The unpublished show about Čović also dealt with the current topic of energy relations in BiH, the so-called "southern interconnector," i.e., the establishment of a company that would, in the future, after the necessary infrastructure is built, manage the lucrative business of importing gas from the Krk LNG terminal into BiH through predominantly Croatian areas of the country.

The show about Dragan Čović, Nacional proves, was of higher production quality than all previous ones, so the entire editorial staff of N1 BiH television looked forward to its publication, especially since the previous investigations of that series about the biggest controversies in BiH were received by the audience with great interest and praise," writes Nacional.