Curses, insults and threats. Six years ago, journalist Milanka Kovačević was told this by a fellow citizen from Gack, at that time a person on a police warrant.
Milanka is a journalist and editor of the portal "Direkt" in Gacko, a municipality in the southeast of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with a population of about 10.000.
In a bank in Gacko, Zelenović threatened and cursed her, dissatisfied with her reporting on the verdict, by which he was previously sentenced to three years in prison, and the fact that the person from the warrant was seen on the streets of the city.
In the meantime, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Srpska withdrew the warrant for the attacker of the journalist.
"The worst of all is that I felt that I had no protection from the state and the system. It took a year for the case to be in court, and in the end he was fined 350 euros," says Milanka in an interview with Radio Free Europe (RSE), conducted before May 3, which is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day.
This journalist often writes about difficult topics, such as pollution from the local thermal power plant, and nepotism and corruption in this small town.
She says that she also finds it difficult when people, about whom she writes with arguments, retaliate via social networks "with insults and attempts to discredit on a personal level".
"Journalists do their work at their own risk. Every May 3, we can only lament our fate, because the old problems we have are not diminishing, and new ones are appearing," says Milanka.
In the municipality of Gacko, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats Milorad Dodik, president of BiH, is in power. entity Republika Srpska, which often publicly insults and threatens journalists.
Old and new problems of journalists
One of the targets of Milorad Dodik's attack was Tijana Milinković, a journalist for BN Television from Bijeljina, a town in the northeast of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the press conference, the pro-Russian politician hurled a barrage of insults at her, calling her a "traitor and foreign mercenary".
That, she says, didn't scare her, but instead awakened spite in her.
"I continued to work even better and even more," Tijana told RSE.
Journalists of BN television are often attacked by representatives of the authorities in Republika Srpska, because of critical reporting on their work.
Tijana also states that the new law, which was adopted in Republika Srpska, does not benefit the media and journalists.
Namely, the Law on Criminalization of Defamation is in Bosnia and Herzegovina. to the entity Republika Srpska (RS) entered into force in July 2023, despite several months of warnings from journalists, activists and the international community that it represents "a blow to freedom of thought and speech, and a step towards the introduction of censorship".
In the RS, a law on a special register and publicity of the work of non-profit organizations, popularly known as the "law on foreign agents", has been sent to the National Assembly of that entity in the form of a proposal. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that this law "aims to silence and intimidate civil society organizations".
"You can already see a deviation and some apprehension when publishing texts and information. There was self-censorship in a number of portals and media, and that, I think, was the point and the ultimate goal of this law," says journalist Tijana Milinković.
Snežana Mitrović, a journalist from N1 television, tells RSE that media freedoms were threatened even before the new, repressive laws were passed.
According to her, the government of the RS often calls the television station where she works a Western, American, anti-Serbian media. That, she says, puts targets on the heads of journalists working for N1.
"I think that last year saw a culmination and that the situation is worse than in the past ten years. I believe that journalists are under special scrutiny and that they are quite endangered, that is, that their work is more difficult in Bosnia and Herzegovina," she says.
She recalls that she started working as a journalist 20 years ago and says that that period seems like an "oasis of freedom and investigative journalism" compared to today's situation.
"If they cannot influence its editorial policy with criticism or attacks on the media, or break the critical blade, politicians decide to establish media under their control, which are actually their weapons for political struggles," she concludes.
What does the European Federation of Journalists say?
"Media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina is fighting for survival". This is the title of the report presented by the European Federation of Journalists at the end of January this year.
Led by the organization "Rapid Response for Media Freedom", representatives of seven partner organizations visited BiH at the end of October last year, in order to get a clearer picture of media freedom.
The report stated that media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina are "dramatically threatened", and that journalists and media work "under pressure", especially in the Republika Srpska entity.
Among the members of the team that visited BiH was Maja Sever, the president of the European Federation of Journalists, which gathers around 320.000 journalists.
"In today's time, journalists in BiH are the target of populist attacks by politicians, and the target of ordinary people, who are encouraged by politicians to carry out such attacks. Some of the journalists are also the target of physical threats, online attacks, and then we have that rebellion against laws that want to make our work more difficult," she says.
He also points out that on World Press Freedom Day it is important to emphasize that role and the obligation of all participants in society to do everything to support and protect professional and quality journalism.
Data on attacks on journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In the European Commission's report on Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2023, it is stated that the country has "regressed in terms of guaranteeing freedom of expression and freedom of the media".
It is said that there remain serious concerns about political pressure, intimidation and threats against journalists.
"The polarized political climate, constant verbal attacks and nationalist rhetoric created a hostile environment for media freedom. Senior politicians continued to publicly attack and belittle journalists, analysts and media workers, especially women," the report states.
The BiH authorities continue to downplay the importance of this issue, and institutional measures are weak. No official data is collected on threats and attacks on journalists and media workers, nor on judicial prosecution of such attacks and threats, the report states.
During the first four months of 2024, sixteen male and female journalists reported that they were attacked, according to data from the Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The types of attacks ranged from verbal, through threats, to physical attacks, according to this association.
In November 2020, Nedeljko Dukić was sentenced to four years in prison in the District Court in Banja Luka for the attempted murder of BN television journalist Vladimir Kovačević. A year earlier, his accomplice Marko Čolić was also sentenced to four years in prison.
By the way, strengthening media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina is among the 14 reform priorities defined by the European Commission in 2019 in order to speed up the path to membership in the European Union.
Bonus video:
