In the work of the Agency so far, there has not been a case where the director announced "rigorous measures" through the media, prior to the established procedure followed by the CRA because, as Milinović said, "at first sight of what happened, it is very clear that the Code on the provision of audio-visual media services and radio media services was violated." A proceeding before the Regulatory Agency for Communications can be initiated in two ways, by complaint or ex officio, after which the Commission considers the case and makes a first-instance decision. If there is no appeal filed with the CRA Council, the decision becomes final.  

 

After the media announcement came the reaction of the Agency in an official release in which they state that the reason for the urgent reaction of the CRA is the fact that "a part of the public in Bosnia and Herzegovina was upset by the possible use of the word 'kill', which is inadmissible in the public media space, in the aforementioned program content, which could be interpreted as incitement to commit criminal acts".

 

They also refer to the provisions of the Code on the provision of audio-visual media services and radio media services, Article 3 (Basic Principles) paragraph 9, which states that "audiovisual media services and radio media services shall not convey a clear and immediate risk of causing negative consequences including, but not limited to death, injury, damage to property or other types of violence, or interference with police activities and medical services or activities of other services to maintain public order and security".

 

In its response to Mediacentar Sarajevo, the Communications Regulatory Agency stated that during the preliminary proceeding, which in this case has already started, the Agency does not comment on the elements and course of the procedure itself, when it comes to any licence holder.

 

"The framework of executive measures generally applied by the Agency is included in Article 46 of the Law on Communications - Executive Measures, while specific cases of violation of licence conditions in the broadcasting, telecommunications and radiocommunication sectors are detailed in the document Overview of violations and corresponding penalties imposed by the Communications Regulatory Agency. In this as in all other cases, the preliminary procedures are conducted based on the provisions of the Rulebook on the procedure for resolving the conditions of permits and regulations of the Communications Regulatory Agency, which is based on the principles of administrative procedure", it was stated in the answer from the CRA.

 

 

In the opinion of lawyer Plamenko Čustović, who was the chairman of the CRA Council two years ago, the initiation of proceedings against Senad Hadžifejzović and FACE Television is "completely inappropriate, hasty and unnecessarily nervous action".

 

"Taking a position and giving a qualification for something where the facts have not yet been established is in sharp opposition to the fundamental principles of any legal procedure. The director of the CRA should by no means allow himself to ‘slip’ like this", believes Čustović and asks: "Does it make any sense to initiate and conduct a proceeding if the director has already concluded what the bottom line is 'at first sight' and, in accordance with that, made a judgement?".

 

He adds that such an important institution as the BiH Communications Regulatory Agency should be headed by a highly professional person of strong integrity, independence and, above all, impartiality. "If that is not the case, and it is not, we get the result we have," says Čustović.

 

Mehmed Halilović also believes that this is an ill-advised move and adds that such a move was probably politically orchestrated by Banja Luka and very possibly made to satisfy the political wishes and desires of Milorad Dodik, SNSD and that political group in Republika Srpska.

 

"This is of course unacceptable and it is especially unexpected from the CRA, which has lost its credibility in recent years and is headed by a man who came from RTRS, who has made and is still making a large number of professional lapses, to say the least, and that is certainly hate speech," said Halilović.

 

As stated in the archive of the Agency's website in the section that explains how to file a complaint, the Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) is an independent institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina that performs its duties in accordance with the goals and regulatory principles detailed in Art. 3 and 4 of the Law on Communications ("Official Gazette of BiH", 31/03). It is added that in performing its duties, the CRA acts in accordance with the principles of objectivity, transparency and non-discrimination.

 

In April 2020, Plamenko Čustović submitted his resignation from his position in the CRA Council, when, as he told Mediacentar Sarajevo, Draško Milinović was elected as the director of the Agency. He did this because, as he states, Milinović was elected to the position of director for "purely political reasons". He adds that even then, a little more than two years ago, he said that he was convinced that politics had made a grand entrance into the CRA. 

 

"It was not very insightful to reach that conclusion, but unfortunately, it has now been clearly and openly proven. At that time, our public was not overly upset that the chairman of the CRA Council stated this and resigned, but unfortunately, now it turns out that such mistakes inevitably come back to haunt you," says Čustović. 

 

In the explanation of his resignation, Čustović pointed out that "it was a matter of choosing between a candidate who, according to the evaluation of the CRA Council itself which was given when adopting the work report, has four years of successful work at the head of the Agency (Mr Kovač), and a candidate who, until he applied for the position, was the director of the Radio Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS), a public broadcaster that was repeatedly fined by the CRA of BiH in the past". 

 

 

Mladen Bubonjić reminds us that the number of fines for RTRS decreased sharply after Draško Milinović was appointed as the head of the CRA. One of the analyses by Mediacentar Sarajevo shows that, until the arrival of the former director of RTRS Draško Milinović at the head of the CRA in July 2020, fines were imposed on RTRS on several grounds - from violations of the Code on audiovisual media services and radio media services, through violations of the Commercial communications code, to violations of the Law on Communications. The last fine imposed on RTRS, which was published in the annual report on violated rules and regulations, was in 2019. Already the following year, when Milinović was appointed as director of the CRA, no fines were imposed on RTRS. 

 

"Year after year, RTRS was a 'leader' among the media in BiH in terms of breaking all the rules of professional and responsible journalism, and suddenly, 'overnight', with the arrival of Milinović at the head of the CRA, it became an exemplary media outlet. The number of reports against RTRS has not decreased, only the number of fines has decreased. It is difficult to escape the impression that there is no political influence in all this", says Bubonjić.

 

Mehmed Halilović says that apart from the first years since it was formed, and especially during the mandate of the current director, the Communications Regulatory Agency has never taken adequate measures against RTRS "which constantly violates all professional norms and spreads hate speech and is a cancer in the media space in BiH".