SARAJEVO, MARCH 16 (ONASA) – The independent trade union of workers in BHRT condemns the draft amendment to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska, which attempts to stifle freedom of public speech.
– The classification of defamation as a criminal offense in the Draft of Amendments to the Criminal Code of the RS, which, among other things, provides for fines ranging from 5.000 to 100.000 BAM represents the intention of the authorities in Republika Srpska to control the media space. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right.
In key priority no. 12 from the Opinion of the European Commission on BiH’s request for membership in the European Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina is called upon to take concrete steps to guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of the media and protect journalists. That is why the SSR in the BHRT warns that this proposal of the Draft Law on the Criminalization of Defamation is retrograde and that it is not something that represents a European standard, it is stated in the statement.
They believe that the adoption of such a law would have an extremely harmful effect on the entire media community, not only in the Republika Srpska entity, but also in the entire territory of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is a classic institutional attempt to intimidate journalists and the media, especially those who write critically about the government.
The independent union of workers in BHRT therefore condemns this move by the entity authorities and gives full support to the free and independent media community, especially to colleagues working in the entity Republika Srpska.