Planning a meeting in Brcko
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BIRN representatives apprised the Association members on the problem they faced when a text published by BIRN was discussed at a public status conference held before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The mentioned conference was called to discuss an interview with Deputy Chief Prosecutor David Schwendiman, which was published by BIRN in September, because, as the Deputy Prosecutor said himself, he quoted some wrong data in the interview.
Following the Conference, the Prosecutor sent a written apology to BIRN and an explanation to the Court, taking the full responsibility for the misinformation. BIRN sent a letter to the Court, Prosecution and OSCE, informing them on what had happened.
After that the Court President called an informal meeting at which BIRN asked for the Court to announce at a public conference that BIRN cannot be held responsible for the mistake made in the text.
Although the Court reacted promptly, the AIS expressed its stand concerning the issue, stressing that no media in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be exposed to similar situations in the future, because this can be considered as an attack on their independence.
It was further concluded that the attitude of the Court and Prosecution is not in the interest of the public, because dedicating a statistics conference to a media report constitutes “dilution” of the trial.
Other problems facing reporters, who follow the trials conducted before the State Court, were also mentioned. They include the untimely provision of trial photos, no possibility of getting audio recordings on time, unavailability of spokespersons, who do not answer official phone lines after the official working hours, and so on.
It was decided to present these problems at a special meeting between the AIS and the Court and its Prosecution. It was agreed to organise a meeting with the media and judicial institutions, which are active in the District of Brcko on November 5 this year.
Muamer Selimbegovic will attend the meeting on behalf of AIS, Aida Alic will be there on behalf of BIRN, while the Konrad Adenauer Foundation will be represented by Lea Tajic.
A possibility of expanding the network by inviting other journalists to join AIS was discussed at this meeting.
The meeting participants included: Lea Tajic – Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Alma Djozo – Nezavisne novine, Mirela Hukovic-Hodzic – BH Radio 1, Muamer Selimbegovic – Fena, and Anisa Suceska-Vekic, Nidzara Ahmetasevic, Aida Alic, Merima Husejnovic, Denis Dzidic and Erna Mackic – BIRN.
