prijava
SARAJEVO, July 17 (FENA) - The Steering Board of the Association BH Journalists calls on the deputies of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (RSNA) to reject the Government's proposal on the criminalization of defamation at the session tomorrow and thus stop the years-long destruction of media freedom in the Republika Srpska and violations of the right to freedom of expression and information of journalists, civil society activists and every citizen who dares to criticize or question the legality of actions and decisions of the ruling coalition led by SNSD.
The Steering Board of the Association of BH Journalists states that by rejecting the proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska, MPs have the opportunity to show the citizens of the RS that they do not want to abuse the highest legislative body for the sake of the interests of only one political party and/or a few people from the inner circle of the leadership of the SNSD, led by Milorad Dodik and that they do not intend to suffer the consequences of the institutional torture of the media and journalists that the criminalization of defamation can bring.
The Steering Board of BH Journalists reminds that the previous public debate on the Government's proposal to criminalize defamation was a deception of the public since the competent Ministry of Justice of the RS and the highest representatives of the RSNA only formally showed that they wanted to hear the opinion of the interested public.
In the previous months, the citizens of the RS did not find out who the authors of the rigid proposal to criminalize defamation were, nor did they receive legal solutions and guarantees that there will be no misuse of defamation crimes to limit freedom of expression and information, including legitimate criticism of public authorities and encroachment on the privacy of holders of various functions which is in the public interest.
The Steering Board of BH Journalists calls on the MPs to reject the criminalization of defamation as proposed by the Government of the Republika Srpska and thus show that they are against the repression of freedom of expression and freedom of media, as well as that they do not support institutional violence against the fundamental values of every normal and democratic society.
(FENA) A. B.
