The Commissioner warns that pointing out anyone’s national, religious, or ethnic affiliation when reporting on criminal acts, investigations, suspects, perpetrators, or victims does not enhance the understanding of the event in any way, but rather casts a negative light on all members of a particular social group.

We have witnessed that during the media coverage of the tragedy in Banjsko Polje, the nationality of the persons who are suspected of the execution and complicity in this act was unnecessarily mentioned several times. One of those inappropriate allegations was the statement of the Head of the Criminal Police Directorate Ninoslav Cmolić, given on a TV station with national frequency.

The Commissioner points out that criminal responsibility is individual and that a criminal offense has no nationality, race, religion, or other affiliation. Janković reminds us that in their reporting, the media are obliged to comply with the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination and the Rulebook on the Protection of Human Rights in the Field of Media Services, which states that when reporting on a criminal or other illegal act, it is not allowed to point out the national, ethnic or other affiliation, the orientation or commitment of a person who is suspected of having committed that act or has been convicted of that act unless that characteristic is important for the correct understanding of the information being published.