The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association strongly condemned statements the leader of the People and Justice party (NiP), Elmedin Konakovic, made on social media where he argued articles by journalist Avdo Avdic were linked to an attack on the premises of a company that took place a day earlier.

“After a bomb was thrown in Sarajevo in the early morning hours of June 23 on the ‘Foto Art’ company premises, owned by Gordan Memija, the president of the People and Justice Elmedin Konakovic and Memija himself in their social media posts linked the attack to the articles of journalist Avdo Avdic, who reported on the alleged connection between Memija and members of the drug cartel ‘Tito and Dino’,” BH Journalists said, adding that Konakovic even openly wrote on Facebook that he considers the director of Intelligence Security Agency of BiH Osman Mehmedagic, journalist Avdic and others responsible for the attack.

The incident is currently being investigated by police.

Konakovic’s allegations “represent direct pressure on journalist Avdic and a threat to his safety, as well as a brutal threat to media freedom and the work of investigative journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the association said in a press release.

“It is inadmissible for the president of a political party, which currently forms power in Sarajevo Canton, to publicly “call out” and target a journalist in this way, without any evidence or argument that would support his claims that Avdic had anything to do with the bombing,” it said.

It urged Konakovic to refrain from “such flat accusations that directly endanger the safety of journalists and seek to silence critical and investigative media coverage.”

“Instead of waging private battles on social media against journalists whose reporting he dislikes, the president of the People and Justice should also know that there is a Defamation Protection Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina that allows him, as well as any other citizen, to file lawsuits against journalists and the media for which he considers they publish false information, and in that way legally obtain the desired satisfaction. Also, if he has evidence that the journalist has anything to do with a crime, including the bombing of Gordan Memija’s property, it is Konakovic’s duty and obligation to submit that evidence to the competent authorities conducting the investigation,” it said.

BH Journalists stressed it will do “everything in its power” to protect Avdic, as well as all other journalists in BiH, “from verbal and online attacks by political officials who “target” them because of their work.”