prijava
SARAJEVO, February 17 (FENA) - The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association strongly condemns the ban on access for media crews to yesterday’s session of the Prijedor City Assembly.
The special session of the Prijedor City Assembly was held on Thursday and they discussed the recent statements of the chief imam from Kozarac, Amir Mahić, about Saint Sava and the Serbian Orthodox Church.
"After several journalist crews arrived at the City Administration building in Prijedor to follow the session, the security staff ordered them to leave the building, explaining that the session was “closed to the public”," stated the BH Journalists Association.
The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association believes that the city authorities of Prijedor had no argument for not allowing the media to report on the special session of the City Assembly and that it is a censorship attempt and banning access to information of public interest.
Bearing in mind that yesterday’s special session of the Prijedor City Assembly was convened to discuss and reach a conclusion about Imam Mahić’s statements, which caused great public attention in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the media’s interest in this topic was fully expected and justified.
"Therefore, the decision of the City Administration to make the session “closed to the public” and to prohibit journalists from reporting on this event is incomprehensible and inadmissible," stated the Association.
The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association emphasizes that this kind of non-transparent work of city bodies is a severe violation of the Law on Freedom of Access to Information.
Authorities not only in Prijedor but also in other BH cities where similar bans have occurred before must provide media access to assembly sessions without any restrictions, to the public interest and the need for professional and objective reporting on the work and decisions of assembly members.
(FENA) A. B.
