No one can make a submissive journalist out of me, not even the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Dženeta Sarić-Kozić, Hayat TV journalist, has been a journalist since 2006. She graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo and has been working in the Hayat TV news program since 2011.

"Part of my job has always been to go on-site and make stories that must include all sides, as is demanded by journalistic postulates.

I should and had to ask many officials, businessmen, war criminals, and many other people from various industries certain questions. For some, perhaps, these were uncomfortable questions, some knew how to "nicely package" the answers, and some did not want to answer... That's how it is in journalism.

But what the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the president of a political party did on Friday, August 25th, 2023, lashed out at me because I asked another interlocutor a question, has never happened to me before.

He told me that I called them traitors because I asked a logical journalistic question,

This was a precedent in my career. My upbringing and profession do not allow me not to be kind and polite to my interlocutors. It's also true that I'm a temperamental person by nature, but in most situations, I suppress it because it's not nice to show that everywhere," says journalist Sarić-Kozić, who was attacked last Friday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, because of a question posed to another interlocutor.

She says she knows the current minister as a politician, but not personally, ever since he was part of the lower levels of the government and a member of the Democratic Action Party.

"Our cooperation has always been professional, at least as far as I'm concerned.

He never had a chance to treat me like this.

Being a politician, especially one who is part of the ruling structure, in a democratic society like the one in Bosnia and Herzegovina, does not mean that you can do and say whatever your heart desires.

To be a politician means to be a calm, measured, and above all - wise man. Because, as they say, a quiet word is better heard than most noise.

It is inadmissible, both to us journalists and to politicians, to address anyone with derogatory words. I was accused that day at the press conference of calling them traitors when I asked a question, which is absolutely not true.

It is devastating, inappropriate, unethical, and extremely prohibited that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina allows himself to utilize that kind of vocabulary and behavior. Everyone could hear and see it.

When you are a politician, you must have the wisdom that will not allow you to show every side of your character, especially the bad one," says journalist Dženeta Sarić-Kozić.

She points out that Hayat television has been present in the homes of many citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina for more than 30 years now. One can like it or not, she says, but "this television continues to survive all these years".

"Even in a market as small as the BiH market, where there are many other media, Hayat stands firmly because it stands on a well-laid foundation. If it hadn't been like that all these years, it wouldn't have lasted as long as it has."

When asked how she will treat the politician who tried to silence her in the middle of her question in the future, Dženeta Sarić-Kozić states that after the attack she experienced from Mr. Konaković on Friday, she "raised her head even higher" with only one motive - to continue doing her job as she has been doing thus far.

"When I enrolled at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, Professor Besim Spahić asked me what I would do as a journalist if someone threatened me and silenced me, and whether I would publish that information. Then I firmly said yes.

And here today, I remember that promise I made to my professor and I continue to do my job, and parts of it still are to ask, research, inform, and publish, no matter who it is about".

After the "conversation" with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sarić-Kozić says, she wondered whether she acted correctly in that situation.

“I concluded that I did. Otherwise, I would have approved everything he said, that others write my questions for me, among other things, and that I called them (those from the so-called “Trojka”) traitors and the like.

The attempts made by certain politicians to create minions and control the media, mean that you remain silent and that you do as they see fit. Neither as a professional nor as a person do I agree with that.

Personal and professional dignity have no price," she says, referring to the event of August 25th, 2023, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmedin Konaković, also the president of a political party, protested a question that was addressed to the Prime Minister of the Federation Government and then proceeded to lash out at journalist Dženeta Sarić-Kozić and Hayat TV, where she is employed.

Sarić-Kozić refused to comment on the fact that Konaković, apparently in the absence of arguments, also offered his participation in the defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I also have a war biography, but I never talk about it. My identity card is my character and my work," she says.

In an interview with Politicki.ba, Dženeta Sarić-Kozić thanked everyone who supported her during these few days. First and foremost, to the management of Hayat T as well as colleagues from the editorial office.

"I received enormous support from colleagues and from other newsrooms, from citizens from all parts of our Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among those who supported me were the associations of BiH journalists, and there were also those coming from the world of politics who knew my work. It is difficult now to list all those who have supported me, so I’m saying a big thank you to everyone," says journalist Dženeta Sarić-Kozić.

The article was realized as part of the Transition program of the Government of the Czech Republic and with the financial assistance of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina @CzechiainBiH. The content reflects the views of the interlocutors who are the choice of the editorial staff of Politicki.ba and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Czech government.