BHRT'S SELECTIVE APPROACH TO VICTIMS DEEPENS DIVISIONS

SARAJEVO, JULY 6 /SRNA/ - Sanja Vulić, Head of the SNSD Caucus in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, told SRNA that by ignoring the Day of Mourning for Serbs killed in the Middle Podrinje and Birač regions and failing to report on the memorial service in Bratunac, BHRT had shown that it had failed to live up to the role a public broadcaster should have.

According to Vulić, if public funds are used to finance an editorial policy that selectively approaches victims and deepens divisions, instead of overcoming them, then it is legitimate to ask whether bankruptcy would be a better solution than maintaining such a BHRT. "BiH does not need a broadcaster that fosters divisions, but a public broadcaster that respects all peoples, all victims, and the letter of the Dayton Peace Agreement," Vulić said. She added that BHRT had long since ceased to be a public broadcaster serving all citizens. On Saturday, July 4, the 34th anniversary of the deaths of Serbs in the Middle Podrinje and Birač regions was marked in Bratunac, while Republika Srpska observed a Day of Mourning. On that day, BHRT, the public broadcaster, aired its regular programming, and most Sarajevo-based media outlets did not report on the memorial service for the 3,267 Serbs from the Middle Podrinje and Birač regions who were killed by Muslim forces during the 1992–1995 war.