Political Parties Condemn Police Raid on Klix Premises

Democratic Front strongly condemns the police raid on the news portal Klix's editorial office, as well as the recent ban by judicial institutions in the Central Bosnia Canton which prohibited FTV from reporting on certain cases. This is yet another indicator that Bosnia and Herzegovina is sliding into a creeping dictatorship, Patria reports.

The right to freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of democracy, and such police conduct not only represents an attack on media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina but must have very clear legal and political consequences for those who ordered and carried it out.

Democratic Front believes that the only subject of investigation in this case can and must be the Prime Minister of the entity of Republika Srpska, Željka Cvijanović, and those deputies in the entity's Parliament who switched sides – states the DF press release.

The Social Democratic Party of BiH also strongly condemns this morning's raid by police officers on the premises of the Klix.ba portal, which represents a brutal attack on media freedom in our country and, in its execution, recalls the darkest times of Alexander Lukashenko's dictatorship in Belarus.

- It is completely unacceptable for police and judicial authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to conduct searches of media editorial offices because of what the media have published. Of course, the media are obliged to do their job professionally and responsibly and to answer for actions contrary to that, but police raids on editorial offices are certainly not the way such conduct can or should be sanctioned.

The fundamental values of any democracy are based on the freedom of media work, and SDP BiH condemns the move by the police and judiciary, who dared to abuse their powers and most grossly violate the free work of journalists. This once again confirms the need for substantial reforms in the police and BiH judiciary, which SDP BiH has long advocated for, because it is obvious that accountability for performing such important tasks in BiH almost does not exist – states the SDP press release.

The SBB also issued a press release.

-After police officers entered the premises of the Klix portal and are conducting interrogations of the editor and owner, searching the premises and documentation, SBB most strongly condemns any kind of pressure on media freedom and their right to objective information of the public.

The media cannot be the consequential victim of potential political corruption and party struggles. The entry of police into an editorial office to allegedly uncover journalistic sources of public information is a dangerous anti-democratic act. It is a particular question what police officers from the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska are doing in the Klix editorial office and whether behind this lies the professional incompetence of the Sarajevo Canton police or something much more serious.

Recent pressures on FTV journalists, as well as other media, are proof that BiH is seriously violating its obligations on the European path and the essential right of citizens to uncensored information, states the SBB press release.