Legendary Serbian actress Svetlana Ceca Bojković, writer and literary critic Gojko Božović, and University of Belgrade professors Miodrag Jovanović and Filip Ejdus sent a joint message to the citizens of Republic of Srpska on the occasion of the adoption of the Draft Law on the Special Register and Publicity of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations of the RS, which is on the agenda of the National Assembly of the RS.
They warned that in this way the government is trying to suppress basic civil liberties and threaten the media and associations of citizens that are not under the control of the government.
They believe that such a law should be rejected with a strong gesture in public.
“I think that the adoption of this law is very dangerous, because in this way the rights of citizens are abolished. The state as we know exists to serve the citizens. Associations provide great help to citizens in achieving their civic goals, if you want, everyday goals as well. Now politics is interfering with it. This is the path to autocracy, to belt-tightening and to government control in all segments,” actress Svetlana Ceca Bojković said in a video message.
“Society should not be afraid of freedom, but it should be afraid of a situation in which freedoms are suppressed. The law on the special register of NGOs in the Republic of Srpska is actually a law on agents of foreign influence and is a way to suppress freedoms in society, political and civil liberties, freedom of organization, freedom of speech. That is why we believe it is important to provide support to citizens and civil organizations in the Republic of Srpska, which in the past period have done many things for society, for citizens, for specific communities that the institutions themselves have not done,” said Gojko Božović, writer, literary critic and essayist.
He adds that the government’s claims that associations financed from abroad serve foreign interests are meaningless, because the government itself is financed from the same sources.
Miodrag Jovanović, a professor at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, also points out that the government’s thesis, which is allegedly why such a law is being adopted, is unsustainable because it is itself financed from the same sources.
Watch and listen to what the professor said in the video message:
Professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Filip Ejdus, believes that this law represents a serious attack to democracy and democratic achievements, to human rights and freedom of expression.
“If it is adopted, it will be the legalization of censorship and the open hunting of dissenters in the Republic of Srpska. This law is not only in contradiction with the Constitution of Republic of Srpska and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also with elementary documents of the international community such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Ejdus in a video message.
He also appealed to the delegates in the Republic of Srpska to reject such a law.
Listen to what else the professor said in the video message:
