TI BIH condemns the attack on Banja Luka journalists and activists: The government creates an atmosphere of public lynching of dissenters

Banja Luka, March 9th  2023 – Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina strongly condemns last night’s attacks on the property of journalists Nikola Morača and Aleksandar Trifunović that happened in Banja Luka, as well as yesterday’s threats and insults against journalist Siniša Vukelić and other representatives of independent media by the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik. 

TI BiH believes that it is no coincidence that these attacks took place after a new series of open pressures and threats addressed to independent media by Milorad Dodik and his announcements of passing restrictive laws that would create preconditions for the institutional persecution of dissidents. It is also indicative that the target of the attack was Nikola Morača, the journalist who was recently the target of investigation and public criticism of the MUP of the RS due to his work. TI BiH also strongly condemns yesterday’s hooligan attack on activists and participants of the “8th March march” in Banja Luka, and all this is happening in an atmosphere of public lynching created by the government against political dissidents. 

The pressure on independent media, activists and civil society organizations increased after the parliamentary procedure for changes to the Criminal Code of the RS, which re-introduces the criminalization of defamation, and yesterday Milorad Dodik announced the adoption of a restrictive law on non-governmental organizations. There have been similar announcements before as the government repeatedly labeled media and civil society organizations that are now officially discredited and disabled in their work. 

TI BiH believes that the goal of these laws is nothing more than the creation of preconditions for institutional persecution and intimidation of independent journalists, media and non-governmental organizations that point to corruption, violation of human rights and other deviant phenomena. 

Instead of dealing with the widespread occurrences of corruption and lawlessness, the government in the RS clearly intends to silence those who point to it and create conditions in which it will not be possible for the media and organizations that are not under the control of the government to act. 

Press rls_09.03.2023_