Education and better mutual cooperation
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At this meeting, representatives of judicial institutions from the cantonal, district, federal and state level, together with journalists talked about how to improve cooperation when it comes to reporting on war crimes investigations and trials.
The common objective of the meeting was to increase journalists’ responsibility when it comes to reporting on the work of judicial institutions and law enforcement agencies, and greater transparency of these institutions, in order to prevent the publication of “illegally obtained documents” and “leaks”.
The representatives of judicial institutions have stated that there is a need for greater cooperation between these institutions and the media, because they have limited material and human resources.
This conference was attended by Medzida Kreso, president of the Court of BiH, who said that the cantonal and district prosecutors’ offices and courts in the future will have more war crimes cases, and spokespersons for these institutions need additional and ongoing training.
Kreso emphasized that the Court of BiH has gained significant progress when it comes to cooperation with the media and many experiences that are downloaded from the ICTY.
Duska Jurisic, moderator of the conference, stated that if judicial institutions are closed to the media, the greater is the likelihood that the media will publish incomplete information.
“There is a feeling of distrust between representatives of judicial institutions, law enforcement agencies, while journalists, have had the courage to say that mistakes happen,” said Jurisic.
Zeljka Kujundzija, a spokeswoman for the State Investigation and Protection Agency, has said that the agency is always open for cooperation, but that they receive unprofessional requests from the media, which sometimes impair investigations.
“Regardless if the spokesman wants to give information. The information will depend on the bosses,” said Kujundžija.
Jasmina Iftic, a spokeswoman for the Cantonal Prosecution in Sarajevo, said that she attempts to respond to media inquiries, but that she faces a lack of resources and capacities in particular with regard to the increasing number of war crimes.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Supreme Court of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton. This meeting is the latest BIRN BiH, in cooperation with AIS, and the Konrad Adenauer Stifftung organized this year.
