Berlin, June 4, 2021 \u2014 Authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro should swiftly and thoroughly investigate threats made to journalists Dragan Bursa\u0107 and Darko \u0160ukovi\u0107 and ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On May 26, a Facebook user named \u201cMarko Aprcovic\u201d sent death threats to Bursa\u0107, a Bosnia-based columnist for Antena M<\/em>, a news website run by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio Antena M, and to \u0160ukovi\u0107, the Montenegro-based owner and editor-in-chief of the broadcaster, according to news<\/a> reports<\/a> as well as \u0160ukovi\u0107, who communicated with CPJ via email, and Bursa\u0107, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aprcovic\u2019s Facebook account<\/a>, which has no posts or photos, sent a message to \u0160ukovi\u0107 threatening to bomb Radio Antena M\u2019s office, and told Bursa\u0107 \u201cI\u2019ll kill you if you ever step foot into Montenegro. A bullet to the head and greetings!\u201d according to those sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0160ukovi\u0107 and Bursa\u0107 told CPJ that authorities in Montenegro and in Bosnia and Herzegovina have each opened investigations into the threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe death threats made to journalists Dragan Bursa\u0107 and Darko \u0160ukovi\u0107 are extremely chilling, and authorities must take them seriously,\u201d said Gulnoza Said, CPJ\u2019s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. \u201cMontenegrin and Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities must take every possible measure to ensure the safety of both journalists, and show that threatening members of the press for their work is completely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0160ukovi\u0107 told CPJ that he believed the threats were in response to Bursa\u0107\u2019s work for Antena M<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The day before receiving the threats, Bursa\u0107 wrote a column<\/a> for Antena M <\/em>criticizing Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapi\u0107\u2019s visit to Banja Luka, the Bosnia and Herzegovina city where Bursa\u0107 is based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bursa\u0107 told CPJ that he believed the threat was probably not related to that article specifically, however, saying that he receives threatening messages \u201ccontinuously\u201d due to his coverage and criticism of right-wing nationalism in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ emailed the Montenegrin Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Interior of the Republika Srpska, which oversees the region in Bosnia and Herzegovina where Bursa\u0107 lives, but did not receive any immediate replies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ also messaged the Marko Aprcovic Facebook account for comment, but did not immediately receive any response.<\/p>\n\n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists<\/a> and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
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