Journalists association urged the police and prosecution to finalise the investigation into the attempted murder of BN Television's reporter, Vladimir Kovacevic, to discover the motives and find those who ordered the attack.

Representatives of the Association of Journalists in the northwestern city of Banja Luka met with the journalists of media outlets based in this city on Monday, urging the institutions and officials to act and inform the public about possible new details in this case.

Kovacevic was physically assaulted on August 26 in front of his building by, as he said, two persons using expandable batons, which the prosecutor's office later assessed as the attempted murder.

Two weeks later, the police arrested Marko Colic whom Kovacevic recognised as one of the attackers.

Interior Minister of Bosnia's Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Dragan Lukac, denied that this case had a political background.

Bosnia's associations of journalists gathered in several cities across the country following the incident to express support to the injured Kovacevic, calling on authorities to find and punish the perpetrators and to improve the conditions in which the media representatives work.

Banja Luka Association of Journalists called on Monday for stopping the constant labelling of certain media outlets and journalists, which happens, as they said, in certain articles and reports as well as on social networks and in public gatherings.

“All media outlets and journalists must respect professional and ethical principles, while disagreement with editorial policy does not entitle politicians, NGOs, movements, media outlets or anyone else with the right to seek for opinion on journalists, to offend and expel the journalists from the events they follow,” the association said urging all candidates in the upcoming October election to enable the media to do their job without pressures, threats or attacks.