Bosnia’s Journalists’ Association called for special protective measures for investigative reporter Avdo Avdic, following reports that an organised crime group had planned to kill him.
Avdo Avdic. Photo: N1.
The BH Journalists Association and Free Media Help Line on Friday demanded urgent security measures for a journalist and his family following reports that the leader of an organised crime group, Dino “Cezar” Muzaferovic , had plotted to kill him.
They urged Bosnia’s State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, the Intelligence and Security Agency, OSA, and the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton to provide Avdo Avdic and his family with constant police protection and special surveillance.
The journalists’ association recalled that Avdic “has been reporting for years on international criminal networks linked to drug cartels and their leaders, which has made him the target of serious threats and constant pressure”.
The press statement, issued a day after Muzaferovic was arrested in Slovenia, added: “Regrettably, the threats have not only come from individuals in criminal circles but also from politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including high-ranking state officials.
“These individuals have attempted to professionally discredit and dehumanize Avdic, portraying him as a ‘criminal’, to create an atmosphere of violence and security risks around him,” it added.
Over the past three years, Avdic has reported on Muzaferovic’s alleged connections to organised crime groups in Bosnia and abroad.
Muzaferovic, originally from Velika Kladusa, northwest Bosnia, was arrested in Slovenia on Thursday over the November 28 fatal shooting of another Bosnian citizen, Satko Zovko, earlier known as Satko Kekic.
Avdic claimed Muzaferovic and his group planned and carried out the murder, recalling that Zovko had been a witness to another murder carried out by the same group in May 2022 in Velika Kladusa.
Slovenia’s authorities, after the arrest, notified their counterparts in Bosnia about the alleged plan to kill Avdic.
Despite his arrest, journalists’ groups in Bosnia believe the threat to Avdic and his family remains real.
Nasa Stranka, a party that is part of the ruling coalition at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, backed the journalists’ appeals.
“Attacks on journalists threaten democracy and consequently the state itself. In this regard, protecting media freedom must be a priority for any democratic government,” it said in a press statement.
“We trust that the investigative and police authorities will thoroughly assess the danger faced by Avdo Avdic and provide him with adequate protection,” it added. “To that end, we also believe and will advocate for journalists to be granted the status of public officials.”
Avdic did not reply to BIRN’s request for comment by the time of publication.
The BH Journalists’ Association noted that previous attacks on Avdic had not been solved. It called on the police and prosecutorial bodies to disclose the measures they will take, now that credible information about a planned murder has surfaced.