Website editor attacked and beaten over documentary

Reporters Without Borders condemns last week’s violent attack by a group of men and woman on Stefica Galic, a filmmaker and editor of the Tacno.net web portal, in Ljubuski, a town 170 km south of Sarajevo. “The group nature of this attack and the accompanying hate messages against Galic and her family are indicative of the dangers to which they are exposed,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We call on the authorities to do everything possible to ensure that they are protected and to bring those responsible to justice.” The attack took place as Galic was taking a walk with a friend near the Franciscan monastery in Humac (just outside Ljubuski) on the evening of 18 July, two days after the first screening of her documentary “Nedjo of Ljubuski.” The film pays tribute to her late husband, Nedeljko Nedjo Galic, who helped Bosnian Muslims to flee the town and avoid deportation during the 1991-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of her assailants has been identified. It is Vera Dedic, a young woman who tried to prevent the documentary from being screened at its launch. During the attack, Dedic shouted insults and threats against Galic. Galic sought medical assistance after the attack but was not hospitalized. She and her children were already the targets of threats and insults by nationalists before the screening and they continue to receive threats. Galic was awarded this year’s Dusko Kondor prize for civilian courage.