JOURNALISTS RECEIVE MESSAGES: Defamation Criminalized in Republika Srpska

(Patria) - Defamation, previously a civil matter, is now entering the domain of criminal law in Republika Srpska. The media community's fears have materialized as the Government of RS has adopted a draft amendment to the Criminal Code in this area.

The amendments and additions to the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska introduce new criminal offenses against honor and reputation, specifically the criminal offenses of insult and defamation, for which fines of up to 30,000 KM are prescribed.

New criminal offenses against honor and reputation are being introduced, and insult is also becoming a criminal offense:

"Whoever insults another shall be punished with a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 KM. If it is done through the press, public media, or at a public gathering, making the insult accessible to a larger number of people, the penalty shall be from 10,000 to 50,000 KM," specified Minister of Justice Miloš Bukejlović, as reported by N1.

The Government of RS claims that the new law will not jeopardize freedom of speech and recommends that journalists do their jobs with quality.

No prison sentence is foreseen for the mentioned offenses.

The Government of Republika Srpska has adopted the Draft Law on Amendments and Additions to the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska, which, among other things, prescribes a new criminal offense of unauthorized publication and display of another person's document, portrait, and recording. This was determined necessary to sanction such behavior following the tragic event of a young man's suicide in October 2022, which occurred due to the publication of a recording and subsequent mockery on social media.

Accordingly, it is stipulated that whoever publishes or displays a personal document, portrait, photograph, video recording, film, or audio recording without the consent of the person who created the document or to whom it relates, or without the consent of the person depicted in the portrait, photograph, video recording, or film, or whose voice is recorded on the audio recording, or without the consent of another person whose consent is required by law, and such publication or display has had or could have had harmful consequences for that person's private life, shall be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up to two years.

If the health of the person whose document, portrait, or recording is published is severely impaired as a result of the act, the perpetrator shall be punished with imprisonment from one to five years, and if it leads to a fatal outcome, the perpetrator shall be punished with imprisonment from two to ten years.

The Draft Law aligns legislation with the Istanbul Convention and introduces a new definition for the criminal offense of sexual harassment and a new criminal offense of misuse of sexually explicit photographs and video recordings.

These amendments also prescribe criminal offenses against honor and reputation, the exclusion of unlawfulness in these criminal offenses, and prosecution for criminal offenses against honor and reputation.

Furthermore, legislative changes are being made regarding the criminal offense of theft of electrical or thermal energy or natural gas, changes in family circumstances, and injury to the reputation of the court.