prijava
SARAJEVO, September 30 (FENA) - Journalists in Sarajevo held a protest today in order to draw the attention of the public to the ever more frequent attacks on media professionals across BiH.
The journalists gathered in front of the headquarters of the Sarajevo Football Club and then expressed their discontent in front of the Prosecutor's Office of the Sarajevo Canton and the BiH Parliament.
The protest took place after last week's attack on reporters of the news portal Radiosarajevo.ba
According to Faruk Vela, Editor-In-Chief of Radiosarajevo.ba news portal, Sarajevo journalists want to express their support to all journalists who have experienced attacks or threats in BiH, such as Gordana Katana, Meliha Smajkić, Vladimir Kovacčević and others.
“Our society must condemn attacks on journalists, attack on the Radiosarajevo.ba new portal is just one more reason for the gathering,” said Vele.
Secretary-General of the BiH Association of Journalists Fedžad Forto emphasizes that a large number of attacks on journalists end without adequate sanctions.
“When you analyze the situation in the last ten years, you will see a frightening fact that during that period, there were some fifty serious attacks on journalists who had elements of a crime. All these cases have entered the statute of limitation, were dismissed at an early stage, or the sanctions were very lenient. Therefore, the impression that this leaves us with is that the attacks on journalists are the socially acceptable norm and that anyone who is dissatisfied with the work of journalists can take matters into their own hands,” Forto said.
Forto added that the FBiH Parliament should soon take a serious approach and draft a law that would qualify an attack on a journalist as an attack on an official person.
“The existing laws could provide sufficient protection for journalists if there was will to enforce them. If we do not find an adequate solution to this problem, I am afraid to think about what could happen next,” Forto concluded.
(FENA) S. R.
