In one year, 122 criminal reports for defamation

19.07.2024. / 15:34

BANJALUKA – A total of 122 applications for defamation and disclosure of personal and family circumstances have been submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office in the RS in the year since the adoption of the Criminal Code of the RS, which criminalizes defamation, the Slobodno portal has learned.

For the time being, it is unclear how many of these reports refer to the media, as individual prosecutor’s offices have not provided this information.

Most reports were filed in the area covered by the District Public Prosecutor’s Office of Banjaluka.

OJT Banjaluka said that since the entry into force of the last amendments to the Criminal Code of the RS, until July 1, they received 61 complaints for defamation and disclosure of personal and family circumstances.

“In three cases, an order was passed on non-implementation, and in three on the implementation of the investigation”stated in OJT Banjaluka.

They did not specify how many of these reports refer to media workers, explaining that their records show “subjects in the work only by the first and last name of the reported persons/submitters of criminal reports, i.e., injured persons”.

They added that the applicants/applicants are natural and legal persons.

The Doboj District Public Prosecutor’s Office registered 23 reports for the criminal offense of defamation.

Unlike them, in other prosecutor’s offices they defined without problems how much the report refers to the media.

“One was resolved by not initiating an investigation, while the other reports are being processed and checks are being carried out on them and the necessary notifications and evidence are being collected in order to make a prosecutor’s decision in those cases.”they said in this OJT, noting that none of the reports refer to journalists/media.

16 criminal charges for defamation were filed in the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bijeljina.

“Out of the number mentioned, in one case an order was passed to conduct an investigation, while the other cases are in the reporting phase”they said in OJT Bijeljina, noting that no indictments were filed for this criminal act.

They added that out of the total number of applications submitted, three applications refer to media workers.

In the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in East Sarajevo, 14 cases were opened for the criminal offense of defamation.

“Of that number, three are against journalists/bloggers, four against public figures and seven against citizens.”stated in OJT Istočno Sarajevo.

They added that all these cases are in the reporting phase and in the regular work procedure according to the work plan of the prosecution.

The District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Trebinje received six cases related to the criminal offense of defamation.

“Out of that number, four cases were filed on the basis of criminal reports by citizens and natural persons”they said in this OJT but did not give details.

For the remaining two, they provided more details.

“Out of the remaining cases, in one case the applicants are five members of the management of MH “Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska”, and the application was filed against Nebojsa Vukanović, MP in the NSRS and Milica Radovanović, president of the SDS City Committee of Trebinje”stated in OJT Trebinje.

They added that in the second case, the applicants are members of the management of “RiTE Gacko”, Maksim Skoko, acting general director and Marko Grahovac, executive director for organizational legal affairs, and the application was filed against a natural person, a citizen. They did not specify who it was.

“In one case, an order was made not to conduct an investigation for the reason that it is obvious from the report and the accompanying files that the reported offense is not a criminal offense, while the other cases are pending.”they concluded in OJT Trebinje.

The lowest number was recorded in the Prijedor District Public Prosecutor’s Office, two criminal reports for the criminal offense of defamation.

“One report was filed against a known person, and the other against an unknown person. In both cases, the allegations from the application are currently being checked”they stated in this OJT with a note that no indictments have been filed in connection with the mentioned criminal offense, and that they cannot disclose information about the reported persons at the moment.

We remind you that on July 20, 2023, the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska adopted amendments to the Criminal Code of the RS and after two decades returned the criminal offense of defamation to the public sphere.

The contentious changes were adopted despite strong opposition from the domestic public and international institutions and entered into force at the end of August 2023.slobodno.org