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SARAJEVO, November 18 (FENA) - The Board of Directors of the Council for Press and Online Media in Bosnia and Herzegovina has strongly condemned the attempt of the authorities in Republika Srpska to put themselves in the role of the main supervisor of the media in that entity.
The Press Council warns that, under the guise of efforts to "improve the media scene in BiH" and prevent the spread of fake news, there is a dangerous and unacceptable intention to put the media under control.
The efforts to justify the attempt to completely monitor the media and stifle freedom of expression through a lack of self-regulation are reprehensible because it is clear to everyone that the fault is those who already control the obedient media and want to extinguish other points of view, which is one of the sacred rules of journalism.
This paves the way for all those who want to limit the freedom of the media and gives the authorities the role of those who decide what is true and exposes journalists and the media to penalties if they write what the authorities do not like.
The claims of Milan Tegeltija, Milorad Dodik's advisor, that "the journalistic community failed to self-regulate the journalistic profession in the period from the decriminalization of defamation until today" and that "if there had been more self-regulation, we would not be in a situation right now where we have to regulate it in a different way”, are nothing but fake news.
By re-introducing the concept of defamation as a criminal offense into the sphere of criminal legislation, the goals alluded to by Milan Tegeltija will not be achieved, but quite the opposite. Journalists will once again enter the sphere of criminal responsibility from the sphere of civil legal responsibility, which implies, in the worst case, even possible prison sentences.
This will certainly not contribute to the role of the media in society, i.e. respecting the citizens' need for accurate, useful, timely and relevant information, and argument-based criticism of social phenomena and processes.
The efforts to put the media under the government's control which wants to regulate the media and decide what is true and what is not, are steps backward without aby good intentions because the media have shown their willingness to make a step forward and fight for as many ethical standards as possible.
Despite claims that this is European practice, we remind you that one of the 14 priorities is to guarantee freedom of expression and the media and the protection of journalists, which this law does not intend to do.
We call on all relevant stakeholders in the country and representatives of the international community to react urgently and prevent dangerous intentions, hidden under the guise of truth and regulation, and prevent the stifling of media freedoms in BiH," warned the Board of the Directors of the Press and Online Media Council in BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
