prijava
SARAJEVO, March 25 (FENA) - Secretary-General of the BH Journalists Association Borka Rudić sent a request to Boris Grubešić, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, requesting the provision of official information from the Prosecutor's Office of BiH on the case of summoning to a hearing a journalist of the investigative journalism portal “Žurnal“, Avdo Avdić as a witness.
According to the information available to the BH Journalists Association and the Help Line for Journalists, Avdić received a subpoena to appear as a witness in a case opened by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH concerning the alleged intelligence sector activities of the Republic of Croatia in Bosnia and Herzegovina and recruitment of citizens of BiH to collect intelligence for the needs of the Republic of Croatia’s intelligence agencies.
Journalist Avdo Avdić is the author of the article entitled "Consul Ivan Bandić coordinates the operation: Croatian intelligence officers recruited members of the Salafi movement to transfer weapons into masjids in BiH," and after the publication of the article, allegedly a case has been opened in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH in connection to this intelligence affair,” explained Rudić in her request.
She also warned the BiH Prosecutor's Office that all journalists and editors have the right to protect the sources of information in accordance with the criminal legislation of BiH, the standards of journalist ethics contained in the journalist code of conduct, and the international documents of the Council of Europe, OSCE and the European Federation of Journalists.
No one, including the BiH Prosecutor's Office, has the right to force journalists to disclose information about their sources! In this context, we are expressing public protest because of the interrogation of journalist Avdo Avdić in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, with the remark that it is unacceptable to shift the focus of the investigation from the potential crime "the Republic of Croatia’s intelligence agencies infiltrating into Bosnia and Herzegovina and recruiting BiH citizens for their intelligence work for the needs of the Republic of Croatia" to apprehending and interrogation of journalists and the search for information about their sources, it is highlighted in the request of the BH Journalists Association.
The Association also asked whether the decision to interrogate Avdo Avdić as a journalist was requested through the competent court or through other legal instruments, such as the owner of the Žurnal web portal to free journalist Avdo Avdić from "keeping a professional secret" and to share information with the competent prosecutor in that case.
“We presume that you know that according to the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article 82) "a journalist cannot be interrogated (...) because of the protection of the source of information, unless he is exempt with a special regulation or a statement of the person in whose favor the guardianship over the classified information has been set up,” it is stated in the request.
The Association also emphasized that this was not the first time that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH interrogates journalists - recently another journalist of the Žurnal web portal, Azra Omerović was also subpoenaed to give evidence and disclose her sources regarding the case of falsifying of acquired degrees and university diplomas in BiH.
“Considering that in a very short period of time, we had two cases of journalists who were pressured to displace their sources and work related information on the issues of public interest, all while exerting pressure on journalists to disclose information, we expect you to respond to this letter urgently and review all the circumstances of the violation of the rights of journalists through the work of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH as a judicial institution and through the actions of the prosecutor himself, stated the BH Journalists Association in the request to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
