Sarajevo, 18 December 2025 – The BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) express serious concern over the second-instance ruling of the Cantonal Court in Široki Brijeg, which orders the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) to remove articles from its website, despite the fact that the journalists have already been financially sanctioned for defamation and ordered to publish the summary of the ruling.
BH Journalists consider the court’s order to delete published articles to be excessive, disproportionate, and highly problematic, going beyond the legitimate protection of the claimant’s reputation. Of particular concern is the fact that the journalists and CIN are subjected to a double sanction — a financial penalty for defamation and, simultaneously, the removal of journalistic content — thereby violating the principle of proportionality of sanctions and restrictions on media freedom in a democratic society.
We remind that this is not the first case in which courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have ordered media outlets to remove published content, which represents an unacceptable attack on media freedom and the public’s right to information of public interest. Instead of ordering the publication of the court ruling, corrections of false claims, public apologies, or compensation as professional and legal responses to alleged defamatory content, courts are increasingly resorting to the most rigid measure — the complete removal of journalistic content.
Court orders to remove articles have far-reaching consequences for the work of investigative journalists and media outlets, including the potential abuse of defamation laws and the establishment of judicial practices that systematically remove journalistic content of public interest whenever powerful individuals or institutions win court cases against the media. Granting claimants’ requests for the deletion of articles constitutes an institutional form of censorship and has a strong chilling effect on freedom of expression and investigative journalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We particularly emphasize that such judicial practice is entirely contrary to the anti-SLAPP Directive adopted by the European Parliament in 2024, which aims to protect journalists and media outlets from strategic lawsuits intended to suppress public debate, critical journalism, and investigations into matters of public interest. Ordering the removal of articles following a court ruling represents precisely what anti-SLAPP mechanisms seek to prevent — namely, the abuse of the judiciary for the purposes of censoring and intimidating the media and journalists, particularly those working in accordance with professional ethics and in good faith.
The BH Journalists Association calls on all judicial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina to apply the standards of the European Court of Human Rights in cases concerning freedom of expression, and to refrain from turning the protection of reputation into a tool for censorship or the complete removal of media content. Furthermore, bearing in mind that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a member of the Council of Europe, we urge the competent state and judicial authorities to urgently align domestic legislation and judicial practice with the anti-SLAPP Directive, as well as with other European legislation and principles protecting the right to freedom of expression and the free work of the media.
Steering Committee of BH Journalists / Free Media Help Line
