Journalists in BiH do not support each other, making them more vulnerable

MOSTAR, (Patria) - The Journalists' Support Line has registered 91 cases of endangering journalists' safety in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past decade, including physical attacks, death threats, and threats to media property. Only 22 cases were resolved in favor of journalists and media, and as many as 37 were not investigated professionally or processed through the judicial system.

The consequences of impunity for these criminal offenses against journalists are a general sense of insecurity and fear, (self)censorship, divisions and conflicts within the media community, erosion of professional quality and credibility of the media, and endangerment of fundamental democratic values. Courts and prosecutor's offices, as well as state investigative bodies, can contribute to journalists' safety through more consistent application of existing criminal laws and fulfillment of international obligations in investigating and prosecuting cases of attacks on journalists, concluded the speakers and participants of the two-day inter-professional seminar for the judiciary and media actors on journalists' safety in BiH.

Journalists in BiH facing safety challenges in their work encounter numerous obstacles when it comes to the functioning of investigative and judicial institutions.

"Threats and verbal attacks, as well as the impunity of attackers on journalists, significantly affect the work of journalists because they are very discouraging when it comes to choosing topics to report on," said Dragiša Sikimić, editor-in-chief of the portal Mojahercegovina.com.

"Due to attacks, journalists go through court proceedings that require time for preparation and other procedural matters that take time and prevent them from performing their journalistic tasks," said Selma Učanbarlić, a journalist from the Center for Investigative Journalism.

Seminar participants emphasized that professional solidarity among journalists is not always present; journalists do not support each other, which is an important aspect of professional protection and can contribute to public visibility of attacks on media professionals.

The guest lecturer on the first day of the seminar was lawyer and international expert Gökçe Turkyilmaz, who spoke about international mechanisms for protecting journalists and Council of Europe standards in the context of institutional protection of journalists.

"The primary duty of the state is to ensure the right to life by implementing the provisions of the criminal code. In appropriate circumstances, the right to life extends to a positive obligation of the authorities to take preventive operational measures to protect individuals or persons whose lives are threatened," said expert Turkyilmaz.

"The key evidence in cases of criminal offenses against journalists is the testimony of the journalist as the injured party in court. There are frequent cases where there are no witnesses, and it is understandable that perpetrators choose the moment for the attack," said Svetozar Bajić, judge of the Basic Court in Banja Luka, adding that the court determines whether safety has been jeopardized and whether fear has been suffered, so expert examination in these cases is generally unnecessary.

The goal of the inter-professional seminar "Journalists' Safety in BiH: Application of EU, CoE, and UN Standards on Safety and Protection of Journalists in BiH through Effective Investigations of Attacks and Judicial Proceedings" is to improve investigative procedures in cases of criminal attacks on journalists, improve the representation of journalists, editors, and publishers and their defense before courts in BiH, and apply the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the standards of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in protecting freedom of expression.

The two-day workshop was organized by the Council of Europe and the BH Journalists Association within the JUFREX project – a joint project of the EU and the Council of Europe – Strengthening Judicial Expertise on Freedom of Expression in the Media of Southeast Europe. The seminar brought together lawyers, judges, media experts, journalists, and international experts on journalists' safety issues.