Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his closest associate, Zeljka Cvijanovic, have accused Croatia of violating human rights and jeopardising media freedom by denying entry to pro-Russian journalist Danijel Simic.

Simic said on Wednesday that Croatian border police denied him entry at the Batrovci border crossing and that prior to that, he was kept at the border for hours and was then questioned by the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA).

He said SOA agents asked him what he had been doing in the parts of Ukraine under Russian occupation and how he had the opportunity to interview Vjekoslav Prebeg, a Croatian citizen taken prisoner by the Russians after fighting among the ranks of Ukrainian defenders as a volunteer.

Simic described his detention at the border as “harassment and illegal,” saying that the only reason for it was his reporting from the Donbas “and other political views.”

“This is pure pressure on me because of my work. That best illustrates how much human and journalistic rights as well as freedom of thought and speech are respected in the EU,” he said.

Simic was unknown in journalistic circles before he started reporting for the Bosnian Serb entity's public broadcaster from occupied parts of Ukraine, openly spreading pro-Russian propaganda. In June, the president of the Russian Journalists’ Association presented him with an award “for courage and professionalism.” Simic is the president of the entity's journalists’ association.

Dodik, the entity's president, said that in Croatia “they stopped and harassed a journalist just because he felt that he had a right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression.” He accused Croatia of attacking media freedom.

Cvijanovic, a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, said she condemned in the strongest terms Croatia's denial to Simic to enter the country as “disgraceful.”

“Evidently, for (Croatia) as well as for the EU, freedom of thought and speech apply only to some, not to all journalists,” she added.