Through six episodes, the series tells a powerful and rarely told story about journalists whose reports, recordings and notes became key evidence in the prosecution of war crimes before the Hague Tribunal. Based on thousands of analyzed court documents, archival material and journalist testimonies, the series reveals how journalism during the war years crossed the line of reporting and became one of the pillars of establishing the truth.
The author of the series, Boro Kontić, points out that journalists made up less than one percent of the witnesses before the Tribunal, but that their contribution was extremely important. Exposed to a hostile judicial environment and attempts to discredit them, journalists defended before the court the principles of objectivity, accuracy and professional integrity, but also the very essence of the journalistic profession.
The crucial role of the British Independent article from July 1995 is particularly emphasized, as it was the first to point out the scale of the genocide in Srebrenica and was the direct reason for the Hague Tribunal to begin an investigation. This journalistic report led to the first indictment for Srebrenica, one of the most thoroughly investigated crimes before the Tribunal.
The idea for the series came from the head of the archives at Mediacentar Sarajevo, Dragan Golubović, and years of research, according to Kontić, revealed an extremely rich and important story about the role of journalists in war crimes trials.
The second episode talks about a documentary that Jeremy Bowen filmed in Mostar in the fall of 1992. Although the documentary talks about the severe suffering of Bosniaks in the eastern part of the city, in the cross-examination with the defendants' lawyers, they insisted on only one, unimportant detail from that half-hour film.
In this episode, Jeremy Bowen also analyzes wars from the late 20th century, concluding that they were fought mostly against civilians.
Boro Kontić is a journalist, publicist and founder of Media Center Sarajevo. He is the author of the cult show Primus, which spawned the Top List of Surrealists and the New Primitivism Movement, phenomena that strongly marked the media and music scene of the 1980s. Since 1995, through Media Center Sarajevo, he has been dedicated to the education of journalists, the development of digital archives and the research of media practice.
The second episode of the documentary series "Journalists - Witnesses before the Hague Tribunal" - "Blood up to the knees", Don't miss it on Friday at 20 pm on TV Vijesti.
Bonus video:
