Republika Srpska President Signs Decree Criminalizing Defamation

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik on August 18 signed into law amendments that criminalize defamation in the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The amendments say that making malicious or untrue statements about a person amounts to defamation and they make the offense punishable with fines. The National Assembly of Republika Srpska passed the amendments on July 20. They were adopted despite criticism that they represent an attack on freedom of opinion and a step toward the introduction of censorship. The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo condemned the criminalization of defamation as "a direct attack on the freedom of the press and expression." To read the original stories by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here and here.