“They have said so many lies and caused plenty of fear, threatening us with wars, some kind of retaliation, threatening with divisions that will cause bloody conflicts... and all of this as a part of their daily political interest. By implementing such a law, none of them would have their freedom.” – Todorović states categorically.
Maja Bjelajac
Who is supposed to evaluate, and by using what criteria, as to what constitutes fake news or “statements that cause panic and disorder”? The public of Republic of Srpska has been addressing this question for days now. Last Tuesday, this topic received its own legal frame in the form of Ban on Causing Panic and Disorder During State of Emergency Regulation (Uredba o zabrani izazivanja panike i
nereda za vrijeme vanrednog stanja). The prognosis for civil liberties isn’t optimistic, especially because since entity governments declared state of emergency, they have mostly reacted to their political opponents instead of reacting to actual fake news regarding the coronavirus.
Even before they legalized this regulation, according to the Ban on Causing Panic and Disorder During State of Emergency Regulation, doctor Maja Stojić-Dragojević received a misdemeanor warrant on March 23. In one of her interviews, she warned the public that the health system of Republic of Srpska is deficient, emphasizing that this entity does not have the proper medical equipment, educated staff or necessary therapies and that “we are waiting for what is coming unprepared”.
Even most laymen, who have had “close encounters” with health institutions in RS, would agree with such an evaluation of the state of our health system, even before the pandemic even began.
Coincidence or not though, the penalized doctor is also a member of the presidency of the Serbian Democratic Party (Srpska demokratska stranka – SDS).
Draško Stanivuković, an oppositionist from PDP disliked by the government, had a “slightly better” experience with authorities. He had been summoned by the police as “the accused”, but then was subsequently summoned as a witness to alleged causes of panic and falsehood, after publishing a video with people from a Banja Luka quarantine who were complaining about terrible conditions.
Fortunately for him and the quarantined citizens, the police gave up on misdemeanor prosecution.
Ongoing Violation of Rights
According to reports made by the Human Rights Watch, since 2006, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s respect towards human rights has dramatically fallen. More than 100 cases of hate crimes have been registered during last year alone and more than 70% of these hate crimes were committed based on religious or ethnic affiliations. Hate speech in public space is most often oriented towards LGBT
people whose rights are continuously being violated.
The method used by the government of Republic of Srpska for handling civil freedoms can be clearly seen when we take a look at last year. Activists of group Pravda za Davida (Justice for David) were being continuously served with misdemeanor prosecution documents.
Only just recently did the Basic Court of Banja Luka cancel misdemeanor prosecutions towards six women who had come to support members of the PzD group during their trial in November. The six women were carrying a sign that demanded a halt on police repression towards members of the group. The sign also depicted the murdered David Dragičević. This is just one example of an entire
series of actions that have been aimed to suffocate civil freedoms and thankfully, it did not pass in court.
Precisely because of such persecution and many other worse examples, PzD activist and president of the Justice Movement (Pokret pravde) party Ozren Perduv does not believe in legislature’s good intentions when it comes to the regulation in question.
“Based on what we have went through with this regime, such as repression, persecution and discrimination, I certainly think that declaring such a regulation opens up space for many abuses.” – Perduv says.
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is above the BiH Constitution, states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.” However, moves made by the Minister of Internal Affairs Dragan Lukač often tell a different tale.
Even before state of emergency was declared, which entity governments are using as an argument for demonstrating their power, Lukač commented the Ban on Causing Panic and Disorder During State of Emergency Regulation, which was established on March 19.
“We hope that everyone will understand this, especially those who act irresponsibly. They will be sanctioned, they won’t be able to hide through social media and we will find them and sanction them.” – said the minister, whose mandate has been marked by police persecutions of Pravda za Davida members and oppressions of civil freedoms.
Daily Political Purposes of the Regulation
While the RS police have “missed out” on a few murder cases, these days they took a special effort to show us that not even Viber discussions remain unnoticed by their attempts to regulate. Helsinki Committee for Human Rights executive director Branko Todorović pointed out that it’s hilarious to compare social media chats to the corruption that has been weighing down Bosnia and Herzegovina for
decades.
“Such regulations usually function as something that prevents freedom of speech and thought – to shut the mouth of anyone who might point out certain irregularities within the government’s functioning at a given moment.” – says Todorović. He pointed out that such legal acts are usually brought among a “tight group” of political bureaucrats and powerful people who then adjust them according to their own personal daily political needs.
Pointing out irregularities is exactly the common denominator in cases regarding official misdemeanor penalties in the RS. Ozren Perduv is asking whether or not he will be summoned upon if he publicly states that the health care system is indeed in danger. “This is because of everything before the pandemic, such as corruption, fake diplomas, departure of proficient staff and giving advantage to the suitable, instead of capable.”
However, some members of the public consider it ironic that current authorities are bringing regulations that sanction presenting lies and causing panic. Branko Todorović says that the first ones to feel consequences of such legal acts before anyone else should be BiH politicians.
“They have said so many lies and caused plenty of fear, threatening us with wars, some kind of retaliation, threatening with divisions that will cause bloody conflicts... and all of this as a part of their daily political interest. By implementing such a law, none of them would have their freedom.” – Todorović states categorically. The regulation is, as he claims, an indicator of the government’s insecurity, its unwillingness to accept open criticism, thus attempting to protect itself by violating human rights.
Nonetheless, our public has been training subjection and suffering for decades and will most likely take another hard blow to its own freedoms, rather than aiming to protect its own primary interests and finally publicly admitting that the emperor has no clothes.
Author: Impuls
Translate: Lidija Drakulić
