The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), condemns the physical attack against the Bosnian and Herzegovinian journalist Stefica Galic, editor-in-chief of the web portal tacno.net.

Galic was beaten on 18 July 2012 in Ljubuski, a small town 170 kilometres south of Sarajevo by a group of men and women while taking an evening stroll. She required medical assistance but was not hospitalized. The incident occurred two days after the screening of a documentary film, Nedjo of Ljubuski, dedicated to her late husband Nedeljko Nedjo Galic, a man awarded for civil courage during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991-1995). Nedjo Galic helped Bosniak (Muslim) people to escape from Ljubuski and thus avoid deportation to a concentration camp and death.

Stefica Galic and her children have been threatened and insulted by nationalists both before and after the film’s screening. Although attempts to halt the screening failed, some people who participated in the film had left their homes due to threats, according to Amer Bahtijar, journalist from the web portal tacno.net.

Many human rights activists and politicians have condemned the attack. “I call on the Sarajevo authorities to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. I also urge them to protect the Galic family and guarantee security to all citizens in Ljubuski. The attack on Stefica Galic was an attack on freedom of expression and democracy,” said Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General.