prijava
SARAJEVO, July 29 (FENA) - The Steering Board of the Press Council in BiH, a self-regulatory body for print and online media, reacted strongly to threats and attempts to intimidate journalists after last week's physical attacks against a photo reporter of the internet portal Klix and a journalist of Al Jazeera Balkans, which happened during the reporting from the protest of demobilized soldiers in Sarajevo.
"The said attack was not accidental but it was deliberate and aimed at physically preventing journalists to report from the scene, and yesterday's audio recording of additional verbal threats was again aimed at intimidating all journalists.
The phone to the Klix editorial office came from one of the protesters who openly threated the staff using the worst possible curses while doing it. Also, there is a video showing a former female soldier, who attacked a photojournalist with a metal rod, physically injured him, endangering his life, which then boasted with her actions and cursed and threatened the other present journalists," stated the Press Council in BiH.
They believe that they the "brutal and intentional physical attack with the intention of hurting journalists and photo-reporters and preventing them from doing their job to inform the public from the protests, as well as additional threats and intimidation of journalists, is an act for an utmost condemnation and judicial prosecution."
"The fact that these people are demobilized soldiers or war veterans does not justify them, their status does not give them amnesty from criminal responsibility. It is a professional obligation of journalists to report to the public in the public interest, and no one is allowed to use any methods, and especially physical attacks and threats, to prevent and blackmail journalists and the media from doing so. They must be held criminally responsible for this, warned the Board of Directors of the Press Council and Online Media in BiH.
The Council's Steering Board is insisting on the arrest and processing of all those who inflicted physical injuries and threatened journalists.
(FENA) S. R.
