The National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS), one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina , re-adopted the legal regulation on the criminalization of slander.
While 47 of the 63 deputies who participated in the voting regarding the amendment made in the penal code of the entity supported the arrangement, 16 deputies voted against it.
The regulation in question was met with dissatisfaction by members of the press, local and international institutions.
Sinisa Vukelic, a member of Banja Luka Journalists’ Club and editor of the Capital portal, said: “Twenty years ago, Republika Srpska was ahead of the countries of the region, even the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in only one law. Today, more than twenty years later, the government wants to take away the only thing that stands before the others, it wants to make slander a crime. The government of Republika Srpska has turned its back on the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the Journalists’ Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina…”
Source : Balkan News
