prijava
SARAJEVO, November 3 (FENA) - The Board of Directors of the Association of BH Journalists and the Helpline for Journalists strongly condemn the attack on BN television journalist Ljiljana Faladžic-Jekić, who was rudely expelled from the session of the Crisis Staff of the administration of the City of Bijeljina, stated the association.
The statement reads that after the said journalist came to the City Administration with the intention of reporting from the session of the Crisis Staff, Predrag Lopandić, the head of the Public Relations Department of the City of Bijeljina, approached Ljiljana Faladžić-Jekić and physically blocked her from entering the room, demanding that she leave the premises immediately.
It is added that Lopandić's explanation was that the journalist "was not a member of the Crisis Staff" and cannot attend the session, despite the fact that the mayor of Bijeljina and the head of the Crisis Staff Mićo Mićić told reporters a few days before the incident that the Crisis Staff sessions were not closed for public.
Lopandić's scandalous behavior and physical and verbal attacks against journalist Faladžić-Jekić, which continued after the end of the Crisis Staff session, were recorded on a video published by BN TV.
The Steering Board of BH Journalists and the Helpline for Journalists are shocked by this behavior of the head of the Public Relations Department of the City of Bijeljina Predrag Lopandić and demand from the competent institutions, primarily the RS Ministry of Interior, to urgently investigate the case and prosecute the attacker on a BN TV journalist in accordance with the law.
At the same time, they ask the city authorities of Bijeljina to sanction the employee of the City Administration Lopandić in accordance with their internal procedures, "and in that way send an unequivocal message to the public that such behavior towards media representatives cannot and must not be tolerated in a democratic society."
"We are especially concerned about the fact that columnists in the entity of Republika Srpska have been exposed to more and more insults, threats and attacks in recent days, and especially since the beginning of the election campaign.
Among them are colleagues Dragan Bursać and Srđan Puhalo, who reported these incidents to the Helpline for Journalists as they suffered serious threats sent to them via social networks," stressed the Association of BH Journalists.
(FENA) S. R.
