Sarajevo/Brčko 5.3.2024. The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) are sending a public protest to the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Brcko for the attempt to discredit journalist Suada Mujdanovic, a correspondent for the Federal Television (FTV) and the unauthorized interference in the editorial decisions of this media.
Journalist Suada Mujadanović has prepared, and FTV has published a thematic report on the dissatisfaction of believers – Muslims with the increase in the annual membership fee that every believer is obliged to pay. Through the statements of several interlocutors and the publication of the opinion of the Majlis of the Islamic Community, journalist Mujdanovic gave the public an insight into various aspects of this topic, and the citizens the opportunity to make their own conclusions about the said decision. Despite this, the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Brcko reacted with a public statement in which it questioned FTV’s intentions to problematize the topic and publish, as they state, statements that are not true. At the same time, the main imam Mustafa ef. On his Facebook profile, Gobeljić inappropriately labeled FTV journalists and a number of portals in Brčko.
The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association emphasizes that it is inadmissible that the Majlis of the Islamic Community of Brčko and the Chief Imam Mustafa ef. Gobeljić publicly exerted pressure on the journalist Mujdanović and FTV, without denying any fact published in the television report in their reactions. On the contrary, through belittling the competences and professional credibility of journalists and the media, this religious institution is trying to put in the background what caused the dissatisfaction of citizens and what FTV reported on!
The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association gives full support to journalist Suada Mujdanovic and the editorial board of FTV, and emphasizes that journalists and the media, in order to strengthen pluralistic democracy and the right of the public to be informed about all topics of public importance, have the right to critically report on the decisions and actions of religious communities and churches in BiH, including the problematization of the ways of their financing. This right obliges all journalists to an objective, honest and comprehensive approach, which journalist Mujdanovic demonstrated through the publication of the position of the Majlis in Brcko, as well as the opinions of all other interested parties.
The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association calls on the Majlis of the Islamic Community in this city to express its dissatisfaction with the work of journalists and publications in the media in the future in accordance with the existing legal regulations and within the framework of the journalist’s code of ethics, without using offensive language and/or denying the right of the media to criticize the work and decisions of religious institutions.
Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association
