**For background information on Nezavisne Novine and Zeljko Kopanja, see IFEX alerts of 25 October, 22 October, 18 October and 23 September 1999** (Index on Censorship/IFEX) – The following is an Index on Censorship press release: The Index on Censorship Freedom of the Press award for 1999 was presented on Tuesday 30 November to the […]
**For background information on Nezavisne Novine and Zeljko Kopanja, see IFEX alerts of 25 October, 22 October, 18 October and 23 September 1999**
(Index on Censorship/IFEX) – The following is an Index on Censorship press release:
The Index on Censorship Freedom of the Press award for 1999 was presented on Tuesday 30 November to the editors and journalists of the independent Nezavisne Novine, of Banja Luka, Republika Srpska.
The prize was accepted on the paper’s behalf by Gordana Igric, associate editor of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting web-site, based in London. Ms Igric read the prestigious, black-tie audience a message sent from Banja Luka by their staff (see attachment) stressing the paper’s intentions to continue its policy of independent reportage, in spite of the 22 October assassination bid against founder-editor Zeljko Kopanja, which resulted in the amputation of both his legs.
“This prize,” said the message, “as well as the thousands of telegrams, messages and letters of support from those who unmistakably agree with us, has confirmed to us that we are, without doubt, on the right road. We chose our road long time ago: a bitter path, but an indispensable one for the sake of our nation’s catharsis.”
The prize carries a cash value of £1,500, provided by The Economist, which is being sent to Nezavisne Novine’s account.
[See annex for notes from the nominating letter]
ANNEX
Zeljko Kopanja, editor of Nezavisne Novine, Banja Luka
Zeljko Kopanja, owner and editor of the daily “Nezavisne Novine”, is now confined to a wheel chair having lost both legs in a car bomb attack on 22 October, 1999. Kopanja’s daily and weekly publications boast the highest circulation in the Republika Srpska (RS). The motive for the attack on Kopanja is linked to the publication of a series of articles on war crimes committed by Serbs during the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The attempted assassination was the culmination of a series of attacks on the independent media which began on 6 March with a bomb attack a new radio station Osvit in Zvornik. Discontented elements within the Serbian Radical party (SRS) are suspected of being behind the attacks. With the commencement of NATO’s bombing campaign against Serbia, attacks on independent journalists intensified. Dragan Gacic, a photojournalist on “Nezavisne Novine”, and Predrag Milasinovic, a cameraman for Alternative Television, were physically assaulted outside the United States embassy in Banja Luka.
The attempted assassination of Kopanja appears to have been linked to a breakthrough series of articles detailing the mass killing of 200 Bosnian Muslims in August 1992 at the Koricani cliffs on Mount Vlasic. The publication created a storm and the newspaper’s telephones were jammed with irate callers venting their anger at Kopanja for “working against the interests of the Serb people”.
In a statement after the bomb, “Nezavisne Novin” and Radio Nes, which Kopanja also owns, said they would continue working – and maintain the same editorial approach.
