SafeJournalists

SafeJournalists: Online Threats to Journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Jasmin Mulahusic once again labeled and targeted journalists Sladjan Tomic and Danijal Hadzovic in his latest post on Facebook. 

Mulahusic, a citizen of Luxembourg originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressed his belief that “it is only a matter of time” when someone “will meet Sladjan and Danijal and have a nice chat with them”. Also, he presented a series of untruths and inciting manipulations about the connection of the journalist Tomic’s family with the Army of Republika Srpska and the most serious crimes committed during the siege of Sarajevo.

Jasmin Mulahusic has been verbally abusing, threatening and exposing Sladjan Tomic and other journalists in BH to security risks for years, and the Prosecutor’s Office of BH, the police and the judicial authorities in general have not found an adequate legal and institutional response to sanction Mulahusic and his “FB warriors”, nor did they take adequate measures to protect the rights and safety of journalists.

BH Journalists Association (BHJA) said that it is unacceptable and indicative that the investigation against Jasmin Mulahusic has been conducted for more than three years without results, even though BH journalists, many media and journalists have submitted dozens of reports with evidence of threats, incitement to violence, insults on the national and on a religious basis, hate speech and other criminal acts dangerous to the life and professional safety of media workers.

We emphasize that the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina previously linked Mulahusic to terrorist activities. Mulahusic, as someone who is associated with terrorist activities according to the competent institutions, has a large number of followers on social networks, which makes the spread of his hate speech and hateful content an even bigger problem.

The Safe Journalists network, which represents more than 8,200 media professionals in the Western Balkans, joins its member BHJA and publicly demands from the Prosecutor’s Office of BH to urgently devote itself to solving the “Mulahusic case” and informs the public about its work. We also call on the competent authorities to take adequate measures to protect colleagues Sladjan Tomic and Danijal Hadzovic in order to prevent new security threats.

The SafeJournalists network will inform relevant national and international stakeholders about this case.

Each attack on journalists is an attack on public interest, democracy and the rights of all citizens.

 

Pristina – Skopje – Sarajevo – Zagreb – Belgrade – Podgorica, 28.07.2023

 

Association of Journalists of Kosovo

Association of Journalists of Macedonia

BH Journalists Association

Croatian Journalists’ Association

Independent Journalists Association of Serbia

Trade Union of Media of Montenegro

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