Experts caution against complacency in recent cases of death threats against senior judges in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Death threats sent on Saturday to two senior judges in Bosnia and Herzegovina have triggered concern over the intimidation of judicial officials, with experts saying such threats risk undermining their work if left unpunished.
Ranko Debevec, president of the Court of Bosnia and Herzeoginva, which handles cases of war crimes, terrorism and organised crime, told BIRN he received a text message that began with the word ‘fatwa’, a ruling on Islamic law.
The message accused him of cooperating with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and said he had been sentenced to death.
Jadranka Lokmic-Misiraca, vice-president of Bosnia’s judicial overseer, received a similar death threat the same day.
“I hope the law enforcement agencies and the prosecution will find out who they are and will process it,” said Debevec. “It is a criminal offence of endangering security of the worst kind.”
Saturday’s case follows that of Milan Tegeltija, president of the High Judicial and Protectorial Council of Bosnia, who received death threats in May.
Such cases are not common in Bosnia, but experts warned they should not go unpunished.
“In a country like Bosnia, where we can say that the judicial system faces many obstacles, death threats against a court president or someone in a similar position is not something that should be taken for granted,” Zlatiborka Popov Momcinovic, a Sarajevo-based sociologist and political analyst, told BIRN.
Goran Kovacevic, a Sarajevo-based professor at the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, said it would be hard to prove whether any harm was seriously intended, but considering the role of judges in Bosnia, every threat against them should be taken seriously.
“It is positive that we do not often have this kind of news about threats, but at the same time, light must be shed on every single case so that those who decide to work on justice in Bosnia can focus on their work and not on threats,” Kovacevic told BIRN.
Debevec was appointed on December 14, 2016, having served as a judge on the court for four years. Lokmic-Misiraca was appointed vice-president of The High Judicial and Protectorial Council of Bosnia in 2013 and reappointed in October 2016.
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