Bosnia And Herzegovina: Impunity For Perpetrator Of Death Threats Towards Journalist Vanja Stokić Is Unacceptable And Constitutes Non Compliance With International Rules.
Location: Bosnia, Republika Srpska
Date: August 3, 2020
The Coalition For Women In Journalism deplores the decision by Republika Srpska prosecutor to drop charges on an ex-convict who threatened journalist Vanja Stokić with death.
On May 22, Editor-in-Chief of eTrafika, Vanja Stokić was threatened by being “beheaded” after she posted a photo of herself with two migrants she had done a story on. Following her photos going viral, a former convict named Goran Živanović, added a comment threatening to “behead” the migrants and “all good souls who welcome them.”. The man also spewed hateful profanities against Vanja, "F*** you, all your family. You're pushing **** on our backs..."
When Vanja went to the police station to report the threats she was met with a nonchalant way. "The policewoman who was on duty after my explanation on why I was there literally asked me - just that?" said Vanja to her newspaper eTrafika. She also added that she didn’t feel safe and was feeling upset and afraid.
Following pressure from the media, the police finally detained Živanović, but released him immediately after taking his statement.
Moreover, last week the prosecutor of the District Public Prosecutor’s Office Banja Luka, Tatjana Ninković, suspended the investigation against Goran Živanović. The decision stated that the threat was not qualified as “serious or suitable to objectively endanger the safety of another person.
According to the Republika Srpska Criminal Code, endangering the safety of a person with death threats, severe bodily injuries, deprivation of liberty is punishable by one to two years in prison.
However, the prosecutor ruled that “his threats were addressed to an unspecified person, so that the actions of the suspect Goran Živanović did not achieve the characteristics of the criminal offense of Endangering Safety under Article 150, paragraph 1 of the RS Criminal Code, nor the criminal offense of Publicly Inciting and Inflaming violence and Hatred under Article 359, paragraph 1. of the Criminal Code of the RS, considering that the suspect did not publicly call for or provoke and incite violence and hatred with his actions.”
Vanja and her lawyers will appeal to the decision for reopening of the investigation.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands an urgent investigation on this case. We remind authorities that the threats and profanities used by Goran Živanović on May 22 not only threatened Vanja Stokić but also all the “caregivers” and members of the community who welcome migrants. We call upon Bosnian judiciary to protect journalists and freedom of the press and to comply with the standards of the European Union, which Bosnia wants to join.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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