Bosnia-Herzegovina

[BA] Fines for Inflammatory Reporting

IRIS 2005-2:1/9

Dusan Babic

Media Analyst, Sarajevo

The Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA), responsible for the regulation of the telecommunications and electronic media sector in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has imposed fines on several broadcasters. Among them the Sarajevo-based RTV Alfa, which has meanwhile been sold to another local media company, has been fined BAM 50,000 (aprox. EUR 25,000), due to a violation of the Broadcasting Code of Practice, and of the general terms and conditions concerning the issuing of licenses. This is the highest fine that one broadcaster has had to pay since the establishment of the CRA in 1998. Representatives of the Agency argued, that the reasons for such a high fine were partly due to the several violations of the CRA's rules by this broadcaster, but particularly its inflammatory reporting with elements of overt antisemitism. The programme in question contained a religious sermon. According to the CRA this sermon had a clear inflammatory message and belittled the religious principles of other peoples that live in the country, in this particular case ­ Jewish people. The host in the studio, an Islamic preacher, was reading lines from Koran, calling Jewish people "our enemies which have to be annihilated". Therefore the programme had breached Art.1.3 of the Broadcasting Code of Practice, that states: "The belief and practice of religious groups must not be mispresented, and every effort must be made to ensure that programmes about religion are accurate and fair. Programmes must not denigrate the religious beliefs of others".