The Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office received a criminal complaint in October 2022 against the then Mayor of the Municipality of Ilijaš, Akif Fazlić.
The complaint was filed by Zoran Čegar, former head of the uniformed police of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), who alleged abuse of office or official authority, claiming that Fazlić had provided journalists from the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) with information concerning Čegar’s property in the Nišićka visoravan area.
Following verification, the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office closed the case, finding that no criminal offence had been established.
In addition to Fazlić, at least two other individuals have been exposed to legal proceedings for giving statements to CIN about their knowledge of the matter. Defamation proceedings have been brought against Jasmina Cero, a lawyer from Sarajevo, and Hajrija Čobo, a professor and activist from Kakanj. The case against Cero was dismissed at first instance and is currently pending on appeal, while the proceedings against Čobo were withdrawn after she submitted her statement of defence.
According to Borka Rudić, Secretary General of the Association “BH Journalists”, this represents a new phenomenon of meritless SLAPPs, in which media outlets are indirectly targeted via their sources in an attempt to prevent them from reporting on certain issues.
“In a rather insidious way, individuals are trying to punish or seek compensation from people who are merely sources of information,” Rudić said.
She said that this represents a multifaceted problem, as the intimidation of individuals discourages potential sources of information from coming forward for future investigations. It also sends a message to other potential interlocutors about what may happen to them in similar situations.
Čegar vs Fazlić
While working on a story about Zoran Čegar’s property, CIN journalists submitted a request for access to information to the Municipality of Ilijaš.
In the area of this municipality, there is a large estate registered in Čegar’s name. It covers approximately 20 000 square meters of land and includes two houses and a horse stud farm. The journalists requested land registry extracts and documentation from the municipal cadastre showing the legal basis for the registration of the property.
The requested documents, together with further verification, led the journalists to discover that Čegar had registered the property based on falsified documentation, which formed the subject of their investigative report.
Journalists discovered that the property in question had previously been owned by the Sarajevo-based company “Volving”, owned by Mehmedalija Žmirić. The buildings on the site had not been properly mapped, and the land in the cadastre of the Municipality of Ilijaš had not been transferred from the previous owner, Radoje Ćetković, to “Volving”.
Žmirić told journalists that he had sold the entire estate to Čegar for 250,000 BAM, but that he had only been paid around 50,000 BAM. After taking possession of the property, Čegar initiated proceedings to register it in his own name. He submitted to the Municipality a sales contract which he claimed had been signed with Ćetković in 2018 before a notary in Loznica, Serbia. The Municipal authorities accepted the contract and registered Čegar as the owner.
However, when journalists verified the contract, it was established that it had been falsified.
Following the discovery of the falsified sales contract, the Municipality of Ilijaš conducted administrative proceedings and issued a decision restoring the previous ownership status, whereby Čegar was removed from the land register.
In addition, the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office brought an indictment against Čegar for forgery of documents. The first-instance judgment is scheduled to be delivered in mid-May 2026.
Following the release of land registry extracts and the disputed contract to journalists, Čegar filed a criminal complaint against Fazlić, who was at the time the Mayor of the Municipality of Ilijaš. However, the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office concluded that no criminal offence had been committed. Čegar was duly informed of this decision but did not file an appeal, and the case was subsequently closed.
Fazlić is now retired. A copy of the criminal complaint was also delivered to him. He found it on his office desk, although he was unsure how it arrived. “It just showed up — I assume it came by post,” he told CIN.
He also learned from journalists that no investigation would be conducted. He said that, as a public office-holder, he had been aware of the legal obligation to provide the requested documents. “The spirit of the law is transparency, to ensure access to information that may be relevant to fully, clearly, and precisely clarifying a case, leaving no room for doubt in that regard.”
World Press Freedom Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993. It is observed on 3 May to raise awareness of the importance of media freedom and its underlying principles, and to promote freedom of opinion and expression as a fundamental human right. The day also serves as a reminder that in many parts of the world, independent journalism remains under threat, that news reporting is subject to censorship, and that journalists are often subjected to both physical assaults and verbal attacks.
Begić vs Cero
Lawyer Emina Begić from Bugojno went a step further. She initiated three sets of legal proceedings after the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) published a story in July 2022 entitled “Millions Through Power Of Attorney”, which presented information from criminal proceedings being conducted against her.
Begić filed a criminal complaint and a defamation lawsuit against the author of the report and the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN), in respect of which no final decisions have yet been rendered. She also separately brought a defamation claim against her colleague, Jasmina Cero, who featured as one of the interviewees in the report.
Borka Rudić of “BH Journalists” notes that filing defamation claims is a legal option available where a person believes they have been defamed. However, a single claim may cover the author, editor, or publisher, as well as individuals cited as sources within the text. The practice of separately targeting interviewees, she adds, represents a distinct phenomenon.
“Filing separate defamation lawsuits against sources of information in effect multiplies the institutional pressure on journalists, the media, and freedom of expression. It is used to discourage interviewees from participating in public debate or giving statements on matters of public interest,” Rudić said, describing it as intimidation and pressure on media freedom.
The CIN article reported that Begić is facing criminal proceedings before the Municipal Court in Travnik on charges of abusing clients’ trust, misappropriating approximately 1.4 million BAM, and forging documents.
During the reporting process, Jasmina Cero was contacted, and she had also initiated disciplinary proceedings against Begić within the Bar Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Cero told the journalist at the time that the disciplinary proceedings had been repeatedly postponed, including at Begić’s request, who had submitted a medical certificate stating that she was required to rest, although she was simultaneously working and not on sick leave.
Begić sued her over the statement quoted in the article — “And she is out and about, we all know that” — seeking 2,000 BAM in damages, plus statutory interest, as well as publication of the judgment in the media. Cero submitted evidence in support of her statement, which the Municipal Court in Sarajevo accepted, and in June 2023, dismissed the claim at first instance. A decision on appeal has not yet been rendered.
In an interview with journalists, Cero said that society could face problems if people, out of fear of lawsuits, stopped speaking publicly. She added that she was not afraid, as she knew she was telling the truth and had not defamed anyone: “If I had known that saying this or that would get me sued, I would still have said it, because I know it is not defamation and does not give rise to any lawsuits.”
Defamation is an act by which damage is caused to the reputation of a natural or legal person through the publication or communication of false information. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Brčko District, defamation is determined in civil proceedings, while in the Republika Srpska it constitutes a criminal offence.
Adriatic Metals vs Čobo
Defamation proceedings were also brought against Hajrija Čobo, an activist and professor of law and English from Kakanj, who spoke to CIN and other media outlets about the negative impact of lead, zinc, and barite mining between Vareš and Kakanj, in the area near the Trstionica primeval forest. In a CIN article entitled “The Zenica Government Treat For The World’s Ore Traders”, published in July 2023, Čobo stated that mining activities would affect drinking water supplies. Approximately 37,000 residents of Kakanj rely on that water source.
After the publication of the article, Čobo received a defamation lawsuit filed by the concessionaire, “Adriatic Metals BH”. The company sought 2,000 BAM in damages, a public apology, and publication of the judgment. She said the lawsuit did not come as a surprise, as she had already received warnings beforehand. She prepared her own defence in response.
“I sat down with a pot of coffee, a pack of cigarettes, and 22 hours later, I wrote my response and attached all the evidence. It turned out to be something like 473 pages, which I printed in two copies, complete with photos, CDs, and videos, and submitted as my defence to the lawsuit. And that was only the response to the claim. For the preliminary hearing, I had even more material,” Čobo told CIN journalists.
She said she was prepared for a multi-year legal battle, and structured her defence as a counter-argument to the corporation. However, the case never went to trial, as the lawsuit was withdrawn after her response.
“The aim is to keep you busy with yourself. To stop you from speaking out, to stop you from reacting, to intimidate you. Not just me, but others as well. It’s a demonstration of power. People are generally afraid of court proceedings, but they shouldn’t be. That’s where these things are supposed to be resolved,” Čobo said.
SLAPPs, she argues, are being used as a strategic tool with multiple aims: to intimidate and silence sources so they stop speaking out on matters of public interest; to financially drain them through lengthy and costly court proceedings; and to exert pressure on sources in order to send a warning to potential future interviewees that they too could face legal consequences if they speak to the media.
Borka Rudić says this is yet another reason why rules need to be introduced to prevent the abuse of the right to file meritless defamation claims, and to allow such cases to be dismissed at an early stage, immediately upon filing.
