The Board of Directors of the Association of BH Journalists and the Helpline for Journalists strongly condemn the new targeting of journalist Slađan Tomić, who is behind Jasmin Mulahusić, who has several profiles on the social network, including a profile under the name Yasmin Mulahusein.
In a Facebook post dated August 27, Mulahusić published a photo of Slađan Tomić alongside a photo of Ratko Mladić, who was legally convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We consider such representation of journalists to be an extremely serious form of endangering safety, stigmatization and pressure, especially considering the many years of attacks and threats, false information and slanderous content that Mulahusić published against that journalist,” the Association of BH Journalists stated.
At the same time, as they add, the fact that the new targeting of Slađan Tomić is happening at a time when public communication in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region has become radicalized after the death of Ratko Mladić in the prison unit of the Hague Tribunal is worrying. Also, it should not be forgotten that the case against Jasmin Mulahusić is still active before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for criminal acts of inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance and endangering the safety of several persons, including a number of journalists.
The Management Board of BH Journalists demands from the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office and the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in East Sarajevo to act more efficiently and without delay on the reports of the association and Slađan Tomić, and to look at and investigate Jasmin Mulahusić’s latest posts and earlier threats in their overall context, and not as isolated incidents on social networks.
BH journalists reported online threats to Slađan Tomić to the competent institutions at least three times, and repeatedly warned that numerous journalists and the media had submitted dozens of criminal reports with evidence of threats, calls to violence, hate speech and other forms of endangering the safety of media workers from the profile of Jasmin Mulahusić on social networks.
“Institutions must not wait for continuous online targeting and threats to turn into physical violence! The legal obligation of the prosecutor’s office and police agencies is to seriously assess, investigate and, when there is a legal basis for it, prosecute the responsible persons in every case of endangering the safety of journalists,” according to the Association of BH Journalists.
