Scandalous statements by Cvijanović and Dodik

After members of the RS MoI and KS MoI searched the editorial office of the Klix.ba portal in Sarajevo, the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Željka Cvijanović, also commented, stating that she learned about this event from the media, Istinomjer.ba reports, as relayed by the Patria News Agency.

"Freedom of the media cannot be achieved if certain criminal offenses are committed" (...) "Journalists have the right to protect their sources, but the Criminal Code also stipulates what constitutes unauthorized recording and broadcasting of certain material. It is in my interest that the truth about the alleged buying of MPs be revealed so that citizens can live in peace," Cvijanović said in her statement.

Inquiry to the Prosecutor's Office

At that time, she added that "the case concerning the alleged buying of MPs is being handled by the Special Prosecutor's Office of Republika Srpska and that she shares all her findings with the authorized institutions.".

We remind that "Istinomjer" had previously sent an inquiry to the Special Prosecutor's Office of Republika Srpska regarding investigations into the case of buying MPs and recordings of Željka Cvijanović's conversations. Although the inquiry explicitly referred to the investigation of political corruption and the question of whether the Prime Minister had ever been called for questioning regarding the statements heard in the controversial recording, "Istinomjer" received only the answer that this Prosecutor's Office "is conducting an investigation into the criminal offense of 'Unauthorized wiretapping and audio recording'.".

Following the latest public statement by the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, in which she emphasized that the Special Prosecutor's Office of Republika Srpska is conducting an investigation in the "case concerning the alleged buying of MPs", "Istinomjer" reiterated its inquiry to this Prosecutor's Office, asking if an investigation into the case of buying MPs truly exists and when it was initiated. The Prosecutor's Office sent the following response:

"The Special Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation into the criminal offense of Unauthorized wiretapping and audio recording and, in order to verify the allegations from the report regarding the recording that speaks of the buying of national deputies, is taking appropriate measures and actions to obtain the original recording from which the entire content of the recorded conversation and its authenticity could be determined.".

From this response, it is clear that there are no two separate cases in the Special Prosecutor's Office of Republika Srpska in this matter, but rather one case, whose main goal is to obtain the original recording of Prime Minister Cvijanović's conversation. Given Željka Cvijanović's statement, the Prosecutor's Office obviously had to expand its response, but the fact that they did not answer the question at all as to when the investigation into the buying of MPs was initiated indicates that it is merely a side investigation within an already existing one, which concerns unauthorized recording and wiretapping. Furthermore, it is also interesting how the Prosecutor's Office, in a way, distanced itself from the investigation into the buying of MPs based on the published recording, stating that it is undertaking investigative actions that would lead to the discovery of the original audio recording.

Therefore, according to its own admission, the Prosecutor's Office has not yet verified the allegations from the recording as it "does not possess the original", and proof of this is the fact that the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska has not yet been questioned by this Prosecutor's Office. Be that as it may, it is evident that Prime Minister Cvijanović did not tell the truth in this case, given that the Prosecutor's Office did not confirm to us that a separate investigation into the case of buying MPs exists.

However, the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska is not the only one who managed to further scandalize the public regarding this case. Precisely at the time when members of the RS MoI and KS MoI, with joint forces, were dismantling computers and searching the premises of the Klix portal in Sarajevo, the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, reiterated his recent stance that he is satisfied with media freedoms in the entity he leads.

"I am absolutely satisfied with the freedom that media workers have in Republika Srpska. The political and legislative structure is not directed towards the work of the media, and there are no organized efforts or influences there," Dodik said at a New Year's reception he organized precisely for media representatives.

"I would appeal for greater responsibility for publicly spoken words and more truth in reporting. Public opinion in Republika Srpska must be stable and positive, not depressed," Dodik continued.

The freedom of media workers was violated in the most brutal way possible by the police entering the editorial office of the most visited internet portal in the country. The reason for entering the editorial office was the failure to reveal the source who provided this portal with a recording of the conversation of the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Željka Cvijanović, which clearly documented the story of the buying of two MPs in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.

Confidentiality of Sources

However, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at no level of government is there a law by which journalists would be obliged to reveal their sources of information, and consequently, it turns out that by this search, members of the RS MoI and KS MoI violated at least five laws.

The acts protecting the confidentiality of journalistic sources in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the Laws on Protection against Defamation (FBiH – Article 9; RS – Article 10), and they state, in almost identical text:

(1) A journalist and any other natural person who is regularly or professionally involved in journalistic activity of seeking, receiving, or disseminating information to the public, who has obtained information from a confidential source, has the right not to disclose the identity of that source. This right also includes the right not to disclose any document or fact that could reveal the identity of the source, especially oral, written, audio, visual, or electronic material. The right not to disclose the identity of a confidential source is not limited under any circumstances in proceedings conducted in accordance with this law.

(2) The right not to disclose the identity of a confidential source also belongs to any other natural person participating in proceedings within the meaning of this law, who, as a result of their professional relationship with a journalist or another person within the meaning of paragraph 1 of this article, becomes aware of the identity of a confidential source of information.

The Law on Criminal Procedure of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that "a person who would violate the duty of professional secrecy with their testimony cannot be heard as a witness," and journalists, who have an obligation to protect their sources of information, are mentioned as such persons. (CCPBH, Article 82.)

The same is stated in the entity laws (CCPRS, Article 147. and CCFBiH, Article 96.)

Equal Before the Law

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the other hand, there are no regulations that provide for the violation of journalistic source confidentiality within criminal proceedings, nor for other reasons such as state security, national interest, etc. Also, there are no provisions that allow for the search of media premises or journalists, so we can conclude that neither Prime Minister Cvijanović nor President Dodik are telling the truth.

In the case of Prime Minister Cvijanović, the untruth is that everyone is equal before the law here because the law explicitly protects the confidentiality of journalistic sources, and the MoI could not have searched the Klix editorial office at all, given that they themselves were not identified as those who illegally recorded the conversation. As for Milorad Dodik, it is scandalous to claim that legislative bodies are not directed towards the work of the media at a time when those same bodies are destroying and confiscating the inventory of an independent portal to which no criminal responsibility has been proven.