Several parties fined for premature campaign, including Isak's 'Snaga naroda'

(Patria) - The Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH today in Sarajevo imposed a fine of 6,000 KM on the party Snaga naroda and its president Ramiz Isak for a music video, which was found to represent a premature election campaign, and ordered the withdrawal of the video.

The CEC, it was stated at the session, failed to prove that the video constituted hate speech and abuse of resources, writes Nezavisne novine.

CEC BiH member Željko Bakalar stated that this violation deserves sanctioning, but that the amount of the fine is insufficient.

- I will reluctantly support the amount of 6,000 KM because I think it is not appropriate in relation to the impact of this publication, which has garnered a large number of views and sparked discussion in the public space of BiH and the region - said Bakalar.

He assessed that the multi-day announcement of the video's release, as if it were content from "Zvezde Granda" - indicates that the violation of the law was intentional.

- The number of views and comments in the public testify that the goal has been achieved, and the purpose of a monetary sanction of 6,000 KM will not have the appropriate effect - Bakalar assesses.

The CEC of BiH today also fined several political entities for premature election campaigning for this year's Local Elections.

PDP was fined 9,000 KM, or 3,000 KM each for posts on the Facebook page of PDP Banja Luka from three gatherings called "Saborovanja domaćina", attended by the candidate for mayor of Banja Luka Draško Stanivuković.

HDZ BiH was fined 3,000 KM for premature election campaigning by its supporter, the mayor of Novi Travnik Stjepan Dujo.

The same amount was sanctioned to the Labour Party for a Facebook post promoting works in Velika Kladuša, while the political entity "Možemo bolje" is obliged to pay a fine of 4,000 KM for premature and sponsored, paid election campaigning on the same social network.