The major operation by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), “Black Tie 2,” has shaken the public both in our country and in the region, and some individuals have implicated the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Elmedin Konakovic with criminals.
One of the journalists who linked his name to figures from a criminal group is Avdo Avdic from the portal Istraga.ba. After Konakovic denied allegations of his involvement in any way during a press conference held regarding the implementation of “Black Tie 2,” Avdo Avdic didn’t drop the matter and continued to investigate.
Now Elmedin Konakovic has released a short video portraying Avdic as a radical, a journalist without journalistic ethics, and a person who spreads lies. The short film lasts just over 5 minutes, and the author is unknown.
“Excellent short film! Avdo Avdic against Avdo Avdic. How did Croatian intelligence not know who the son of the famous Miralem from Boljakov was? At the end of the film, there is a part showing prosecutor Kulenovic arresting and accusing the commander of the Special Unit based on lies written by Avdo for years. There’s no stopping now, this story must go all the way,” wrote Konakovic.
In response to the release of this film, the Association of BiH Journalists reacted.
The Board of Directors of the Association of BiH Journalists publicly protests against Elmedin Konakovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, due to a repeated, security-threatening attack on Avdo Avdic, a journalist and editor of the portal Istraga.ba. Minister Konakovic posted video material on his Facebook profile using various posts and clips from Avdic’s interviews to professionally and personally discredit this journalist and expose him to security risks. Furthermore, the Board of Directors of the Association of BiH Journalists finds it shocking that Minister Konakovic shared a video via Facebook attempting to completely dehumanize Avdo Avdic, presenting him as a person unworthy of any respect and inciting hatred towards him. In the manner of Goebbels-style propaganda machinery, Minister Konakovic, alongside the video, writes “There’s no stopping now, this story must go all the way!”, which could imply even more drastic actions by him and/or people around him toward journalist Avdic.
BiH Journalists call on the Federal Police Administration and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton Sarajevo (CS) to urgently launch a legally prescribed and urgent investigation, as well as measures to ensure the removal of the disputed propagandistic video and the sanctioning of all persons behind its production and posting on Facebook, Radio Sarajevo writes.
E.Dz.
