In mid-November 2025, the Cantonal Court in Široki Brijeg issued a final ruling ordering the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) to remove two articles concerning the business operations of the Posušje-based company “Lager” — “Stockpiling Concessions” and “Lager’s Faulty Goods”, both published in 2021. Under the ruling, CIN was also ordered to pay the private company 1,000 convertible marks (BAM) in damages for defamation.
Following an analysis of the ruling, legal expert Sevima Sali-Terzić concluded that the decision reflects a troubling judicial practice which, if it were to become widely accepted, could have long-term ramifications. Such an approach, she argues, would deter professionals from engaging in investigative journalism, increase self-censorship within the media, and ultimately weaken public oversight of those holding economic and political power.
In her analysis, Sali-Terzić notes that the journalists relied on inspection reports, concession contracts, court files, and statements from public officials in preparing their articles. However, both the Municipal and Cantonal Courts in Široki Brijeg deemed this evidence insufficient, on the grounds that it originated from proceedings that had not yet been concluded by final judgments.
“This amounts to assessing journalists’ professional diligence retrospectively, from the standpoint of subsequent judicial outcomes rather than based on the information and circumstances available to them at the time of publication,” the analysis states.
Acting contrary to the standards of the European Court of Human Rights, the courts, she concludes, failed entirely to recognise that the very purpose of investigative journalism is to raise questions and highlight potential problems before they are formally confirmed by final court decisions.
