The Cantonal Court in Bihać has issued a final ruling stating that the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) caused damage to the reputation of Ibrahim Hasanagić, a wartime disabled veteran from Bihać, by publishing the article “State Secret About Disabled Veterans” in late January
The court has ordered CIN to pay Ibrahim Hasanagić 1,500 BAM in non-material damages.
In a report published at the end of January 2022, CIN claimed that wartime disabled veterans, who receive benefits based on dubious diagnoses, are being concealed in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (FBiH) veterans register.
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The article stated that, according to medical records, Hasanagić has been officially blind since 1993 and requires assistance with daily activities, and that over 16 years, based on this diagnosis, he had received nearly 400,000 BAM from the FBiH budget. CIN’s cameras captured Hasanagić working at the Bihać market, offering goods, greeting customers who stopped by, answering questions about the clothing and small items he was selling, and sorting through coins to provide change. The report suggested that, based on his diagnosis, he should be living a very different life.
In its decision on March 20, 2025, the court ruled that CIN is liable for defamation and has caused damage to Ibrahim Hasanagić’s reputation by spreading and disseminating false information, as well as identifying the Plaintiff to third parties.
The panel of judges, consisting of Rusmira Kudić, Bahra Ćoralić, and Goran Majanović, stated in the ruling that the medical documentation, along with the findings and opinion of the medical commission conducted after the publication of the article, show that Hasanagić was diagnosed with “total loss of vision in both eyes as a result of injuries sustained on August 28, 1993”.
The ruling further clarifies that “despite his undeniable disability, Hasanagić is still capable of performing certain tasks that a completely blind person cannot. He himself states that he falls into the category of visually impaired individuals”.
The three-member panel also found that CIN failed to verify Ibrahim Hasanagić’s medical documentation due to negligence and a lack of reasonable effort. As a result, the “factual claims in the disputed article about the Plaintiff were not based on official information”.
The panel concluded that CIN did not demonstrate that it had made written inquiries to the relevant institutions to verify the medical documentation, even though the article stated that the journalists had contacted the chair of the medical commission, the Ministry of Veterans and Disabled Soldiers of the FBiH, and three clinics that had issued the report.
PRESUDA KANTONALNOG SUDA U BIHAĆU (izreka i kratak sadržaj obrazloženja)
Žalba se djelimično uvažava, prvostepena presuda preinačava:
- tako da se odbija zahtjev tužitelja da se obavežu tuženi da solidarno o svom trošku u jednim dnevnim novinama koje izlaze na području FBiH i u jednim dnevnim novinama koje izlaze na podrušju RS-a objave prvpstepenu presudu u roku od 30 dana od dana pravosnažnosti presude (stav III izreke)
- tako da se tuženi obavezuju da tužitelju solidarno na ime naknade nematerijalne štete zbog povrede časti i ugleda isplate iznos od 1.500 KM sa zakonskom zateznom kamatom počev od 21.03.2022. godine do isplate u roku od 30 dana od dana pravosnažnosti presude, umjesto dosuđenog iznosa od 6.000 KM, a preko sada dosuđenog iznosa, a za iznos od 4.500 KM, tužbeni zahtjev se odbija (stav IV izreke).
U ostalom dijelu žalba se odbija kao neosnovana, a prvostepena presuda se potvrđuje (stav I, stav II, stav V izreke).
(I) Djelimično se usvaja tužbeni zahtjev tužioca te se utvrđuje da su tuženi odgovorni za klevetu, odnosno prouzrokovanje štete ugledu tužioca iznošenjem i pronošenjem izražavanja neistinitih činjenica, te identifikovanjem tužioca trećim licima, učinjenu objavljivanjem teksta od 24.01.2022. godine na web-portalu CIN.ba pod naslovom „Državna tajna o vojnim invalidima“ te objavljivanjem teksta od 24.01.2022. godine u vidu Facebook – objave na zvaničnoj Facebook – stranici Centra za istraživačko novinarstvo pod naslovom „Državna tajna o vojnim invalidima“, zvaničnom YouTube kanalu Centra za istraživačko novinarstvo i linkom na prvopomenuti tekst na web-portalu (iz čega je vidljiva i slika članka i naslov teksta na web-portalu).
(II) Obavezuju se tuženi da na web-portalu CIN.ba, zvaničnoj Facebook – stranici Centra za istraživačko novinarstvo i zvaničnom Twitter nalogu Centra za istraživačko novinarstvo javno objave cjelokupnu izreku i kratak sadržaj obrazloženja ove presude u roku od 30 dana od dana pravosnažnosti presude.
(V) Obavezuju se tuženi da solidarno tužiocu nadokande troškove parničnog postupka u iznosu od 1.836 KM u roku od 30 dana od dana dostavljanja prepisa presude.
Odbacuje se zahtjev tuženih za naknadu troškova nastalih u prvostepenom postupku kao neblagovremen.
Svaka stranka snosi svoje troškove nastale u revizionom, odnosno žalbenom postupku.
