30 November, 2017 - Dzenan Selimbegovic, a Deputy Secretary General in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, used several sexually offensive attributes to describe Sanele Prašović Gadžo, a journalist for the public broadcaster BHT, and Arijana Saračević-Helać, a journalist for the public broadcaster FTV, in a comment on his Facebook wall, the regional broadcaster N1 reported.
Selimbegovic described Gadžo and Helać using words including "polovnjaca" (old tart/old promiscuous lady) and commenting that they look as cheap, with bad hair colour and cheap collagen in their lips, daily Dnevni Avaz informed.
The comments followed a trailer aired on BHT for Gadžo’s interview with Helać in her show "Interview 20".
Gadžo, in an open letter to the Chairman of the Presidency Dragan Čović, asked for an institutional reaction and Selimbegovic’s sanctioning, given that he is a public official.
The BH journalists’ association, in an open letter, reacted on Selimbegovic’s comments, describing them as "sexist and misogynists" and "promoting hatred", daily Dnevni Avaz reported.
Soon after the series of reactions, Selimbegovic deleted the post from his Facebook profile.
Verbal attack
Discredit
Sexual harassment
Harassment, insult, bullying
Legal incident
Defamation
Legislation: government/public official(s)
Online/digital
no data collected
Media owner/broadcaster
Woman
no data collected
no data collected
Countries currently monitored
EU candidate countries → Bosnia and Herzegovina → Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina → Sarajevo Canton
The OBCT Resource Centre has more information about harassment and defamation and libel.