Justice TV Archives

At the end of July, exactly one year will have passed since former High Representative Valentin Inzko imposed amendments to the law, banning the denial of genocide and war crimes and the glorification of war criminals. The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina has analysed whether and to what extent denial of genocide and war crimes has decreased, why no indictments have been filed despite dozens of criminal complaints, and how difficult it is to prove the glorification of war criminals or genocide denial. We spoke to victims of genocide and other war crimes to see how the glorification of those responsible for persecution, murders and genocide affects their lives.

A year after the release of ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’, director Jasmila Zbanic is still trying to get her film about the Srebrenica genocide shown in Serbia and Republika Srpska, despite the efforts of nationalists to stop it.

While Ukrainian and international prosecutors suspect Russian soldiers of possible war crimes, the Russian foreign ministry and embassy in Sarajevo have made great efforts since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine to impose their version of events on the Bosnian public. But in their statements they have offered a series of allegations which independent investigative media and experts say are false. Russia has threatened to respond, just as it did in Ukraine, if Bosnia and Herzegovina tries to get closer to NATO. In this programme, experts analyse the Russian messages and their potential consequences for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As the 30-year anniversary of the siege of Sarajevo is commemorated, journalists who covered the outbreak of the war in April 1992 tell BIRN Bosnia’s ‘TV Justice’ programme how hate speech and militaristic propaganda fueled the conflict.

In early November 2021, two workers from Cengiz were killed and one was injured when a crane into the River Bosna at a construction site for a highway that is to run through Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their deaths raised the question of how both Turkish and domestic workers are treated, as well as the workplace safety standards of the Turkish construction company. Our analysis shows that despite dissatisfaction among the public and workers and verdicts highlighting poor workplace safety, Cengiz has hardly suffered any consequences and continues to be awarded valuable contracts. Cengiz rejects the allegations against it.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than 50 war crime trials are currently ongoing. A few hundred more are expected to be held in the future. These cases are in the political spotlight, and none of them would happen without the people whose task it is to tell the story from the angle of the defendants or the victims, but also to deliver a fair decision. In our latest programme, you’ll find out about the wartime experiences of lawyers, judges and prosecutors which have affected their work on war crime cases.

Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are the focus of one of the most important Chinese companies’ desire to expand into the Western Balkans. Through the telecommunications company Huawei, China is extending its influence around the world, which is why it has been sanctioned by some countries. In the Western Balkans, the company wants to be the first to establish 4G and 5G networks and so-called ‘smart’ and ‘secure’ cities, but this is also raising concerns about its lack of transparency and privacy protection for users and the general public. BIRN has researched the company’s goals, the way it is expanding and the consequences of this. We have found out that Huawei paid for trips abroad for ministers.

The Bosnian authorities are promising the European Union to switch to cleaner energy sources to reduce carbon emissions, but at the same time, foreign investors from countries like China, Turkey and Russia are being allowed to invest in plants that pollute the environment.

In the summer of 1992, the bodies of 114 Bosniak and Croat civilians were found in two mass graves at a municipal dump and a cemetery in the town of Mostar, but decades on, no one has been prosecuted for their murders.

Justice TV

Epizode 138: What did Bosnia and Herzegovina’s genocide ban achieve in a year?

Epizode 138: Award-Winning Srebrenica Film Barred from Serbs’ Screens

Epizode 137: How Russia Promotes Falsehoods in Bosnia about the Ukraine War

Episode 136: Bosnian Journalists Recall Escalating Ethnic Hatred as War Began

TV Justice Magazine | Episode 135: Workers’ deaths shed new light on Cengiz’s operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Episode 134: Wartime experiences cause dilemmas for war crime trial lawyers

TV Justice Magazine| Episode 133: Huawei’s expansion in the Western Balkans raises concerns

TV Justice Magazine| Episode 132: Marking unmarked sites of suffering

TV Justice Magazine| Episode 131: Bosnia Displays Lenient Attitude to Foreign Investment in ‘Dirty’ Energy

TV Justice Magazine | Episode 130: Mostar’s Mass Graves: Unpunished Atrocities of the Bosnian War

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