Since 2021, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has recorded 71 cases related to the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance, and almost none based on the received report on the committed criminal offense, delivered by the police authority, with evidence, witness statements and everything that is necessary.
This was said to Fena in the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina in response to an inquiry about the number of reports of committing the criminal offense of denying genocide and glorifying war criminals, on the occasion of the second year since the former high representative of the international community in BiH, Valentin Inzko, imposed changes to the Criminal Code of BiH, which this behavior is attributed criminal responsibility.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that the most common complaints were filed by citizens against other citizens, due to posts on social networks and the Internet, citizens and non-governmental organizations and associations against the statements of certain politicians in the media and public space, etc.
In other words, the reports were not received by police agencies and law enforcement agencies, which have the necessary knowledge to recognize the elements of a criminal offense in the actions of those reported and to collect evidence to support these actions.
“At this point, we do not want to get the impression that the application cannot be worked on just because it was submitted by citizens or other organizations, we are only underlining the fact that the police and security agencies have more professional knowledge on this topic,” explained the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH.
They note that 40 applications were submitted via e-mail and that a significant number of applicants did not show their readiness for further cooperation, but also that 14 anonymous applications were recorded, and in those cases cooperation with the applicants cannot be expected.
“All cases are in progress and the public will be informed as prosecutorial decisions are made, but it is noticeable that after the introduction of changes to the law and the beginning of the work of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH on these cases, hate speech and denial of crimes in the media as well as in the Internet space has significantly decreased,” they claim in the state prosecutor’s office.
On the other hand, in the previous period the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed several indictments for the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance (among others Mandić-Elta, Fatmir Alispahić and the Ravnogorski pokret), where only one (members of Ravnogorski movement) passed a conviction, which became final at the end of last year, and the Prosecutor’s Office hopes that it will be useful for determining future court practice in that area.
Due to the great interest of the public, media, analysts, academic and professional public in cases related to these criminal acts, especially those related to the prohibition of public approval, denial, gross downplaying or attempts to justify crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the official website publishes indictments and negative prosecutorial decisions with explanations of acting prosecutors.
“In this way, the public has a better insight into the processing of those cases, as well as the reasons for making prosecutorial decisions,” is said to Fena in the BiH Prosecutor’s Office.
Also, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent letters to the Center for the Education of Judges and Prosecutors in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Center for the Education of Judges and Public Prosecutors in the Republika Srpska to organize education and specialist training in their professional development programs for prosecutors, judges and the police within the framework of their statutory competences. from this area, given that it is a relatively new area in which judicial officials throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina have little experience.
The chief prosecutor also asked the Office of the High Representative (OHR) for help in the eventual training of international experts, and a visit of prosecutors from Bavaria to the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH was agreed, which, in addition to meetings with the chief prosecutor, will also hold training for all prosecutors, associates and investigators working on those cases.
The Prosecutor’s Office believes that this training will also be an opportunity to discuss the application of international standards in this area with representatives of the German judicial system.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina will also use the publication “Denial, glorification and approval of war crimes in the light of the practice of courts and international mechanisms for the protection of human rights” prepared by TRIAL International and the ZFD forum, and all other available domestic and international legal practice, which acting prosecutors already they do.
“We emphasize once again that this is a criminal offense that is difficult to prove from the point of view of the courts, which is also confirmed by the fact that similar provisions have existed in the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH for many years, but the cantonal courts have not yet filed a single indictment from that area,” concluded from the Prosecutor’s Office in response to Fena’s inquiry.
