The President of the BiH Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik, will be able to sue even if something is said in a show that he does not like, should the RS get a new Defamation Law, Duska Jurisic, the Deputy Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina and long-time journalist told N1 on Wednesday.

“Not just him. The situation is even worse if his son or daughter sues, the fine is up to 120,000 Bosnian marks (some €60,000). It was especially said if it was presented in a show like this one [N1’s Pressing with Amir Zukic], which is watched regionally,” she said.

She was asked if she was optimistic that this would not be a prelude to media darkness to which she said:

“We have long lived in the sphere of controlled media. We have to look in the mirror. We also need to reconsider a little, how many truly independent media are there, and how much we care about professional standards. What is very important is the economic independence of media. This is where the international community is really hypocritical. We need to strengthen institutions and media. And how will we work? If we give a journalist a salary above 1,500 marks [some €700] because it’s impossible to live with anything less than that.”

N1’s Zukic asked whether the judiciary would be allowed to punish Dodik for insulting Bosniaks or denying the Srebrenica genocide.

“They will, it's just a matter of mechanisms – who will leave office and who will arrest him? It’s a question of the strength of the state. It’s important that the case against Dodik be formed. Don't forget that 40 criminal charges for genocide denial were dropped. Every time Dodik was called to the Prosecutor's Office, he came in and was uncomfortable about it. Remember how he waved papers when he came for the case about his villa in Dedinje, Serbia? Things are not that simple,” Jurisic told N1.