Journalists protest in Sarajevo for all colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Journalists from several newsrooms in Bosnia and Herzegovina held peaceful protests in Sarajevo on Monday, following increasing pressures on media workers in the country, reports Novinska agencija Patria.

A group of fans of FK Sarajevo on Friday evening forced a journalist from the web portal Radio Sarajevo to delete a text about a fan of that club who was arrested and convicted in Belarus for drug possession, while just a few days earlier, Oslobođenje journalist Gordana Katana from Banja Luka was under strong pressure due to opinions she expressed about some politicians from SNSD on her private Facebook profile.

This is the second protest by journalists in Sarajevo in the past year, after journalists protested in August last year over an attack on colleague Vladimir Kovačević from BN Television in Banja Luka.

Other cases of threats to journalists' rights in BiH have also been recorded. 

The journalists gathered in front of the headquarters of FK Sarajevo in Titova Street, from where they headed towards the Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton and then towards the State Parliament, demanding greater protection for media workers.

Journalist and member of the editorial team of the portal Radio Sarajevo, Faruk Vele, thanked colleagues for their support.

"The attack on our newsroom is just the occasion for this gathering. This is also an expression of support for all other colleagues across Bosnia and Herzegovina who have been attacked in recent months and years. This is support for colleagues Gordana Katana, Meliha Smajkić, Nevres Dedić, Vladimir Kovačević, and all other colleagues who have been attacked in recent years. This society must send a message condemning attacks on journalists - through strict court sanctions and sharp legal cuts, where a decision will finally be made in a proper manner that an attack on journalists is an attack on an official person," Vele said.

He emphasized that media freedoms are fundamental values of democratic societies.

"If we allow hooligans to attack us, if we allow our media to be edited by force, then we enter a zone of darkness and it will be very difficult to do our job, and it is already very difficult to be a journalist in BiH," Vele said, adding that the state must protect journalists, who have the right to security and freedom.

The Secretary General of the Association of Journalists of BiH, Fedžad Forto, reminded that numerous cases of attacks on media workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are still without a judicial epilogue.

Support for the journalists was also provided by State Parliament representative Saša Magazinović from SDP, representative in the Parliament of FBiH Amer Obradović, President of the Independent Bloc Senad Šepić, the office of the Mayor of Sarajevo Abdulah Skaka, and the cantonal Minister of Education in Sarajevo Zineta Bogunić.

The journalists' protest was secured by members of the Centar Police Station, who followed the journalists along their route.