prijava
SARAJEVO, January 11 (FENA) - The BH Journalists Association’s Board of Directors considers the apprehension and interrogation of journalists from Slovenia at the Public Safety Station in Prijedor on Wednesday, January 10, an inadmissible act, stressing that this was a case of a grave violation of the right to freedom of expression.
The Association stated that it is particularly worrying that the arrest and interrogation came after the police officers asked to see the IDs of the Slovenian colleagues and found that they were journalists on a professional task.
“In this context, the BH Journalists' Board of Directors reminds the police administration in Prijedor and the competent authorities of Republika Srpska’s Ministry of Internal Affairs that the OSCE Rules for Police Treatment of Journalists explicitly state that “the police cannot interfere or punish journalists for doing their professional duty”.
In particular, journalists have the right to photograph, record, make notes, observe, interview and/or make reports without asking for permission from the authorities or the police," the statement said.
Therefore, the BH Journalists' Board of Directors asks the Republika Srpska MoI to explain to the public in BiH why and on whose orders the Prijedor police officers violated the basic media freedoms and rights of journalists from Slovenia, and in addition to this, to voice a public apology to the colleagues from Slovenia.
Slovenian journalists, Irena Joveva of POP TV and Miha Orešnik of ‘Kanal A’ were taken to the Prijedor police station while doing research on the story about Dijana Đuđi, a BiH citizen from Prijedor, who is reported to have borrowed 450,000 euros to Janez Janša, President of the Social Democratic Alliance of Slovenia.
(FENA) S. R.
