Patria joins SB's appeal: We will not write about the Mahir Rakovac case until the investigation is concluded

Novinska agencija Patria has joined the appeal of Slobodna Bosna to no longer write about the Mahir Rakovac case until the investigation is concluded. Thus, the Editorial Board of Patria has decided that until official information from the competent institutions, it will no longer publish articles.

Taking into account all the facts and common sense, in the interest of every child and the dignity of the boy Mahir, as well as in the interest of the investigation, the editorial team of 'Slobodna Bosna' will not transmit accusations, views, and opinions related to this case until the conclusion of the investigative proceedings in the Mahir Rakovac case. We call on other colleagues to do the same. The case of the suicide of the boy Mahir Rakovac deeply shook first his family, and then the entire Bosnian public, who rightly demanded that all competent authorities actively engage in resolving this case, which, according to his parents, was preceded by horrific torture and abuse he suffered from peers while attending the International School in Ilidža, from which he was withdrawn a year ago.

The public was particularly shaken by the emotional statement of Mahir's mother Alisa, who wrote about the case, as well as his stepfather Dubravko Lovrenović. This was followed by public letters, a Facebook group was launched, and everything culminated in the appearance of a list with the names of alleged abusers, which spread like wildfire on social media, followed by numerous death threats and threats of beatings against the children on the list. Everything threatened to escalate and cause new victims; the entire story crossed the boundaries of common sense. 

In all of this, many forgot that in cases of peer violence, there are children on both sides, that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and that as long as this is the case, all its laws should be in accordance with it, and everyone else should behave in accordance with that Convention. The Convention was signed 27 years ago and defines a child as every human being under the age of eighteen, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a reform of juvenile justice is underway; adequate laws have yet to be implemented, and it is up to all competent institutions to respond, investigate, and, in case of proven guilt, impose adequate measures in this and all other cases, so that we do not again have Denises, Haruns, or Mahirs, and so that by inaction or improper action, we do not recruit new criminals.

Due to all of the above and taking into account all the stated facts and common sense, in the interest of every child and the dignity of the boy Mahir, as well as in the interest of the investigation, until the conclusion of the investigative proceedings in the Mahir Rakovac case, we will not transmit accusations, views, and opinions related to this case.

We will certainly follow the case, collect all relevant data, monitor the proceedings, and if they are not being conducted, point out the need for their implementation, and after the investigation or court processes are concluded, we will inform the public about it and everything we have gathered.