- country
- BiH (RS)
- date text
- 20/07/2023
- actor text
- RS National Assembly; Milorad Dodik
- campaign id
- BIH-CAMP-003
- confidence notes
- Part of coordinated RS legislative package March-August 2023 alongside foreign agent law (SIG-BIH-021). BiH Constitutional Court partial ruling Jan 2024 (BIH-032) struck prison terms but upheld criminal defamation — chilling effect remains. MFRR explicitly names this alongside foreign agent law as twin pillars of RS Siege Architecture in 2025 annual report.
- date confidence
- exact
- excerpt
- RS National Assembly adopts amendments to Criminal Code criminalizing defamation (July 20, 2023) — 47 votes in favour. Reverses RS own 2001 decriminalisation law. Fines up to 3,000 BAM basic defamation; up to 50,000 BAM if through media, TV, or public gathering. Published March 2023 alongside foreign agent law draft — coordinated legislative package. Venice Commission warns law threatens media freedom; EU Delegation calls it incompatible with EU accession. OSCE warns of SLAPP potential. Dodik signs August 2023.
- id
- SIG-BIH-042
- incident id
- BIH-008
- normalized date
- 2023-07-20
- observation
- country
- BiH (RS)
- actor function
- Legislative Actor
- actor primary
- RS National Assembly; Milorad Dodik
- actor type primary
- State
- campaign id
- BIH-CAMP-003
- campaign phase
- Phase 4: Institutional Operationalization
- campaigns served
- BIH-CAMP-003; BIH-CAMP-004
- case id
- BIH-008
- channel primary
- Parliament
- confidence notes
- Part of coordinated RS legislative package March-August 2023 alongside foreign agent law (SIG-BIH-021). BiH Constitutional Court partial ruling Jan 2024 (BIH-032) struck prison terms but upheld criminal defamation — chilling effect remains. MFRR explicitly names this alongside foreign agent law as twin pillars of RS Siege Architecture in 2025 annual report.
- consequence category
- Legal/Legislative
- date confidence
- exact
- enabler status
- Active
- enabler type
- Legislative Infrastructure
- escalation stage
- 4
- event date normalized
- 2023-07-20
- event date raw
- 20/07/2023
- harm track
- Track 1 — Legal/Administrative
- institutional consequence
- Criminal defamation law in force; chilling effect on media and CSOs; criminal record risk for accused
- narrative density
- High
- narrative origin
- Domestic
- primary narrative code
- NF-03
- primary narrative label
- AML / Financial Integrity
- secondary narrative code
- NF-01
- secondary narrative label
- Foreign Agent / Foreign Influence
- secondary source url
- https://www.ecpmf.eu/monitoring-report-2025/
- signal id
- SIG-BIH-042
- source text excerpt
- RS National Assembly adopts amendments to Criminal Code criminalizing defamation (July 20, 2023) — 47 votes in favour. Reverses RS own 2001 decriminalisation law. Fines up to 3,000 BAM basic defamation; up to 50,000 BAM if through media, TV, or public gathering. Published March 2023 alongside foreign agent law draft — coordinated legislative package. Venice Commission warns law threatens media freedom; EU Delegation calls it incompatible with EU accession. OSCE warns of SLAPP potential. Dodik signs August 2023.
- source type
- Parliament
- source url
- https://www.mfrr.eu/bih-mfrr-urges-republika-srpska-deputies-to-not-re-criminalise-defamation/
- tactic code
- TC-04
- target
- All independent media and journalists in RS; civil society
- target type
- Sector
- trigger type
- TR-06: Legislative Milestone
- secondary source url
- https://www.ecpmf.eu/monitoring-report-2025/
- source type
- Parliament
- source url
- https://www.mfrr.eu/bih-mfrr-urges-republika-srpska-deputies-to-not-re-criminalise-defamation/
- target text
- All independent media and journalists in RS; civil society
The public research collection