Censorship from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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“Under the accelerated procedure provided with this Article, the Court shall issue audio/video recordings of the trial to the duration of ten minutes that was previously anonymous and redacted in accordance with the decision of the judge or the chairman of the Trial Chamber”, it is stated in the Rulebook.
Testimonies of the victims, as well as of other witnesses, will not be able to be broadcast in the electronic media anymore.
Also, the creation of specialised radio and television programmes is also prevented. The only possibility, as it is stated in the Rulebook, is that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina “prepares the concept and the content of the programme” and realise it in cooperation with the Public Broadcasting Service, while other media are not even mentioned.
“The Information Section, in co-operation with the Commission for Information, participates in preparation of the concept and content of the programme, and also in co-operation with the relevant department of the Court, it works on the preparation of regular packages of information, video materials and relevant documents”, it is stated in the Rulebook, in connection with the preparation of specialised programmes.
Along with the Rulebook on Gaining Access to Information, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina brought into force the “Instructions regarding the Anonymity of the Court’s Decisions, Audio/Video Recordings of the Hearings and Other Informational Content”.
By this Instruction, the names and surnames will be written by initials, for example instead of Pero Peric, it will be P.P., as well as the names of the institutions, companies and agencies. For example, if the Ministry of Justice is mentioned, it will only be the Ministry, and if it is the matter of Sarajevo Insurance d. d., only S.I.d.d. will be mentioned.
Also, the names of municipalities will be protected, so if it is municipality Livno, M.L. will only be mentioned, and similar.
According to the instruction regarding anonymity, the numbers of the passports, drivers’ licenses, license plates, date of the birth and so on will be protected.
Although the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a Rulebook on Gaining Access to Information and Instructions on Anonymity, there is no explanation why it has been done.
In early February, and in accordance with the internal decision of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the issuance of confirmed indictments to the public has been prohibited.
As it is stated by this institution, the decision of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the “the parties in procedure”, which are, apart from them, the indictee and his Defence, have the possibility of obtaining the indictments.
