The Kakanj police station has issued a total of 11 misdemeanor warrants for insults, threats and hatred on social networks in the year since this municipality passed the Decision on Public Order and Peace, which gives the police these powers. Media experts and international organizations are concerned that this kind of behavior is intimidating and restricts freedom of expression.
In February of this year, the head of Kakanj, Mirnes Bajtarević, submitted a report to the Kakanj Police Station due to comments on his Facebook profile, stating that a person had violated the Decision on Public Order and Peace in Kakanj, which prohibits insults, threats and rude speech on social networks, which was adopted precisely on his initiative, reports Detector.
The comments reported by Bajtarević concern the person who commented on the chief’s announcement about the donation of the Turkish Military Mission to the Secondary Technical School in Kakanj. Bajtarević claims that the posts are of “offensive and threatening content”.
“I went to report directly to the police upstairs, signed everything that was needed, took the evidence I had printed from my personal profile, in the meantime, staying upstairs, I received information that there were others who reported the same person and that the same person was being searched for in other cantons,” Bajtarević told Detektor.
The decision on public order and peace was unanimously adopted at the session of the Kakanj Municipal Council at the end of March 2025. Despite criticism from the professional public and requests to delete the article of the Decision punishing speech on social networks, the Decision entered into force.
The Coalition for Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in BiH explains that the intention of the Decision was not to make the space of social networks safer and to make it easier to sanction those who make threats, but to impose a new level of censorship that is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.
“Given that the space of social networks, which is equal to the public space, has become a space where dissatisfaction is expressed to the greatest extent and criticisms are directed at the work of authorities and public officials, it becomes clear that the goal of this measure is to discourage people from doing so,” said Azra Berbić from the Coalition.
Police station Kakanj issued a total of 11 misdemeanor warrants for insults, threats and hatred on social networks, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Zenica-Doboj Canton (MUP ZDK) answered for Detektor.
“Also, due to the aforementioned misdemeanor, three requests for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings were submitted to the Municipal Court in Kakanj, where in two cases the proceedings were suspended by the Kakanj Police Station”, they stated in the answer.
In the conducted misdemeanor proceedings, there were no appeals against the imposed sanctions, nor did the defendants in the misdemeanor proceedings demand a court decision.
Legal foundation of the Decision on public order and peace
According to international standards, only the most severe forms of hate speech should be sanctioned, the OSCE Mission in BiH states, adding that this is mostly done through criminal legislation.
“Overbroadly set provisions and vague deadlines can cause an intimidating effect and discourage legitimate criticism, citizen participation and the work of journalists. The mission further reminds that in democratic societies, public officials are expected to tolerate a higher level of criticism and public scrutiny,” the OSCE stated.
Less serious or harmful forms of content should be solved through work on prevention and self-regulation, and not by punishment, the OSCE believes, adding that when regulating expression on the Internet, that is, social networks, it is necessary to apply the proportionality test.
“With regard to the proportionality test, restrictions on freedom of expression, whether on or off the Internet, should meet the criteria of legality, necessity in a democratic society, proportionality and non-discrimination,” they state.
The decision raises questions in Kakanj about compliance with relevant international standards and domestic regulatory frameworks, including those that protect freedom of expression.
“Since the existing criminal law frameworks in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina provide a sufficient basis for the prosecution of serious crimes, including threats that threaten security, regulation and sanctioning of expression on the Internet at the local level carries the risk of inconsistent application, legal uncertainty and potential abuse,” the OSCE told Detektor.
Acts such as threats, insults, slander and spreading hatred are regulated by entity laws in BiH.
With the last amendment of the Criminal Code in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina last year, Information and Communication Technologies were recognized by the date and place of the commission of the criminal act. With the introduction of this term, acts such as communicating with a person during a restraining order via technology, sexual harassment, exploitation and violation of a child’s privacy, and psychological violence are punishable.
At the end of last year, the Association “BH Journalists” sent an official request to the Municipal Council, the cabinet of Mayor Mirnes Bajtarević, the Chairman of the Kakanj Municipal Council, Slaven Katičić, and the Kakanj Police Station, in which they requested the complete deletion of the part of the Decision on Public Order and Peace that refers to the punishment of writing on social networks.
“The controversial provision treats social networks as a space where offenses such as insults, disparagement or insolent behavior can be committed, which ‘BH journalists’ assess as a direct encroachment on the freedom of expression of citizens, including journalists and the media”, stated the general secretary of “BH journalists” Borka Rudić.
The Association warned that this decision opens up the possibility of abuse and initiation of misdemeanor proceedings against persons who express opinions or critical views on the work of public officials through social networks, and that the amendment of the Decision is in contradiction with the European Convention on Human Rights and international standards.
Do the police have the capacity to punish online behavior?
The authorized authority to supervise the implementation of the Decision on Public Order and Peace of Kakanj Municipality is the Police Station, whose officers, based on a free evaluation of the evidence, initiate misdemeanor proceedings by issuing a misdemeanor order or by submitting a request to initiate misdemeanor proceedings with the competent court.
Chief Bajtarević does not see a problem in the police as an authority being responsible for sanctioning reported comments on social networks, explaining that judicial authorities can be notified if there is a criminal offense.
“I believe that everything that is done is bad, whether it is theft, whether it is insulting in this way or anything else, if we fight in a bar, I believe that the police should document it, and the competent investigative authorities should determine whether there are elements or not for certain punishment,” he said.
He considers it important to regulate the issue of behavior on social networks, explaining that he does not know the legal frameworks in BiH that already regulate information and communication technologies as a way of committing crimes.
“It’s not a problem when opposing opinions are argued and communicated that way, but if it’s an insult, if it has elements of calling for murder or something similar, then I think that the networks should be introduced as a public place,” said Bajtarević.
The dangers of the Decision on public order and peace are multiple, says Berbić, adding that, in addition to abuses that can occur through censorship, the ability of police officers to interpret such reports is also questionable.
“Police officers are not sufficiently trained to appreciate whether a comment on social networks is an insult or not, understanding the limits of freedom of expression is a complex issue and cannot be left to the merits of police officers,” explains Berbić.
She adds that such a decision introduces legal uncertainty, because it was made at the municipal level and completely ignores the hierarchy of legal acts.
“In this case, the Municipality of Kakanj took on the role of legislative authority to a scale and level that does not belong to it at all,” says Berbić.
He warns that the examples in which this decision has been used show that public officials have used the Decision to protect themselves from criticism.
“It is important to emphasize that all those who perform public functions are obliged to suffer a greater degree of criticism in the public, both the law and the judicial practice of domestic courts, but also the ECtHR confirms this,” said Berbić.
The Kakanj police station did not form a separate department to work on cases related to social networks, i.e. checking the identity, legal basis and foundation for the reported crime committed in the online space.
“Nor is there a legal obligation to monitor the documentation and analysis of violations in the online space, just as there is no such type of procedure regarding the monitoring of other violations,” the Ministry of Interior of the ZDK told Detektor.
The OSCE mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina warns that the effective monitoring and resolution of a wide range of offenses and criminal offenses requires the strengthening of the capacities of police and judicial bodies, including the clarification of procedures within the existing legal frameworks, which they describe as more efficient and sustainable than the creation of parallel norms whose implementation is questionable.
“Given the complexity and cross-border nature of the online sphere, these issues should be regulated and implemented in a way that ensures clear legal standards and proper use of institutional capacities,” the OSCE stated.
