Vienna, 05/12/2014
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East and Central Europe, stated its concern with recent media freedom developments in Bosnia.
On 15 November 2014 Bosnian news portal Klix.ba published a conversation made by Zeljka Cvijanovic, the current Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, about allegedly bribing members of the National Assembly. On 1 December the editor in chief and the owner of the portal were called for questioning. The reason was said to be the criminal offense they committed of publishing a secretly recorded phone call. The possible sentence for this crime is up to a year in incarceration.
On 3 December editor Jasmin Hadziahmetovic and owner Dario Simic went from Sarajevo to Banja Luka to attend the questioning. They were pressured to reveal their sources and expose how they acquired the tape in question.
“Freedom to publish information of public interest and free speech, without fear of censorship or pressure are key for the journalistic profession” SEEMO Secretary General, Oliver Vujovic has said.