BH Journalists Association and the Helpline for Journalists expressed full support to the journalists and editors of N1 TV in their efforts to enable all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to follow their programme via various internet platforms and cable operator networks, including the platforms of BH Telecom, the association said on Wednesday.

The association stressed that N1 TV occupies a “significant part of the information space of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” mostly owing to its various programme contents as well as to meeting the needs of the citizens in terms of variety and pluralism of information it provides.

“ This position of N1 is especially important at the moment of the election campaign, which begins in Bosnia and Herzegovina on September 2, and any attempt to deny citizens the right to follow N1 should be interpreted as an illegal restriction of freedom of expression and information,” the statement said.

The Board of Directors of BH Journalists Association “particularly regrets the fact that the financial, political and other interests of the owners and management of BH Telecom, and United Media, within which N1 operates, may call into question the availability of programme content of this television to the citizens of BiH, especially in one of its entities – the Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“In this context, the Board of Directors of BH Journalists emphasises that it should not happen in any democratic society that the interests of capital and the race for profit overcome the public interest and the right of citizens to freedom of information,” it was stressed.

The association also noted that the negotiations and demands of both companies – BH Telecom and United Media are fully in accordance with the current laws, the rules of the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK) and the current EU Directive from 2010.

“However, the legality and legitimacy of the renewal of the mutual agreement on the distribution of television programs via the terrestrial broadcasting network should not damage the integrity and free operation of N1 TV, nor call into question the function of journalism as a public good,” it added.

BH Journalists Association said that this case emphasised the need for urgent adoption of the Law on the Publicity of Media Ownership and Pluralism, whose draft version has been stuck with the Ministry of Transport and Communications since December 2018.

“This draft law envisages not only the publication of data on media ownership but also the separation of editorial policy, programme functions and public responsibility of the media from the financial and all other interests of media owners,” the association concluded.