BH Journalists Association and Free Media Help Line strongly condemned the verbal attack of a party leader in Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity on N1 journalist Snezana Mitrovic, after she asked a journalistic question.

The reporter asked DNS leader Nenad Nesic if he, like SDS leader Mirko Sarovic, owns property in Belgrade or, like some other citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Dubai. Nesic verbally attacked Mitrovic, responding with questions about her own family.

The politician mentioned Mitrovic's brother, saying that he works as a spokesperson for a political party whose members own property in Dubai. He did not specify which political party or the names of those he referred to.

After other media representatives spoke up and stood up for their colleague, Nesic apologised but he continued with attacks on Mitrovic, assaulting on her privacy and personal integrity.

This comes as another in a series of verbal attacks of Bosnian politicians on journalists over the past few months, in which media representatives are tried to be discredited and humiliated on a personal basis.

BH Journalists Association assessed as concerning that political leaders and representatives of the institutions respond to journalistic questions with verbal violence, insults and humiliation, and it makes it more alarming that women journalists are targeted more often.

The association's Steering Board reminded the politicians and other officials that they are entitled to the right not to respond to the questions of media representatives if they, for any reasons, do not want to. However, attempts to discredit and assault their personal and professional dignity cannot be a political argument or replace the answers to journalistic questions that are of public interest.