The Management Board of the BH Journalists Association and the Helpline for Journalists sent a public protest to the Mayor of Srebrenica, Mladen Grujicic, over his vulgar curses and threats sent to the retired journalist Marinko Sekulic.

“The Management Board of BH Journalists strongly condemns the threats and considers them a serious threat to Marinko Sekulic's safety and an attack on his professional and human integrity. It is particularly worrying that Grujicic is a public office holder in the Municipality of Srebrenica, paid with public money, and through unprovoked, verbal violence towards Sekulic, he can influence the behaviour of his followers towards this journalist who lives with his family in Srebrenica,” BH Journalists Management Board noted.

The Board called on the Srebrenica police to urgently investigate this case, call Mayor Grujicic for questioning and take legal measures to sanction his violent behaviour. At the same time, the Management Board pointed out that the legal team of the Journalist Helpline (FMHL) will provide colleague Sekulic with adequate legal assistance so that this case can be properly processed before judicial institutions and conducted in accordance with international standards for the protection of the rights and safety of journalists.

In the meantime, news arrived that journalist and N1 correspondent Marinko Sekulic was placed under police protection.

“Thanks to the letter to the chief of police in Zvornik sent on Monday by Duska Jurisic, the Deputy Minister for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are now under official police protection. A police patrol visits our house every three hours, and in the meantime, if I notice something suspicious, they told me to call the police. I was officially informed about this by the two police officers who came to the address,” Marinko Sekulic told N1.