The Board of Directors of the Association of BH Journalists expresses deep concern over the recent decision of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, more precisely the Decision on execution according to which the company "Avaz-roto press" was seized more than 212,000 KM from the account to collect awarded court penalties and enforcement costs, following a defamation lawsuit dating back to 2009, the BH Journalists Association said in a statement.

- The Board of Directors of BH Journalists does not question the legality of the said court decision that followed after "Avaz-roto press" fully paid court costs, the prosecutor's claim and published the content of the verdict on half a page, instead of the whole page, as requested by the prosecutor. However, BH journalists emphasize that such high fines (penalties for untimely execution of part of the final verdict) can seriously jeopardize the work and business of the media, to which the editors of "Dnevni avaz" also drew attention, stating that due to the seizure of the mentioned funds, the existence of several hundred employees of this media house was called into question.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the collection of excessive damages claims for defamation lawsuits, as well as court costs and penalties calls into question the survival of the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The so-called SLAPP lawsuits, most often initiated by political and judicial officials against journalists and the media, with the clear goal of stopping any criticism of officials and researching issues and topics of public interest through financial destruction or endangering the media, are a growing problem in B&H and the region, as well as throughout the European Union.

The Board of Directors of the Association of BH Journalists emphasizes that when making court decisions regarding defamation lawsuits or (non) execution of court judgments, it is necessary to find a balance between the economic power of the media, the public interest and the right to compensation. The mentioned decision of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo against "Avaz roto-press" is an example of the judiciary's actions outside the EU standards and practice, in which compensation claims in such cases must be reasonable and must not in any way jeopardize the economic survival of the media.

We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that this is a case that dates back to 2009 and in which the first-instance verdict on the defamation lawsuit was passed in 2012. Thus, the entire trial related to this case lasts a full 12 years, which speaks volumes about the inefficiency of the judicial system in Bosnia and Herzegovina in which such cases are „dragged“ on courts for an unacceptably long time - and this, ultimately, leads to huge amounts of court fees in individual cases.

Nearly 300 defamation lawsuits against journalists and the media are currently active in the courts in B&H. It is astonishing that more than 80 percent of prosecutors in these cases are politicians, members of the judiciary and other public officials who do not accept criticism and questioning of their work through the media as a contribution to public political debate, but as an opportunity for political and institutional pressure on the media or a means of their economic destruction - it is written in the statement of the Association of BhH Journalists.