The Islamic Community (IC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) yesterday called on the competent authorities of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity of BiH to take the issue of endangered security of Bosniak returnees in that entity seriously and to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the latest threats and insults.
“Bosniak returnees in eastern Bosnia are exposed to permanent provocations and harassment, which usually intensifies during Ramadan. Unfortunately, we are witnessing that this year as well. Before the arrival of the month of fasting, which is especially respected by Muslims, the minaret of Aladza mosque was shot, these days Foca is ‘decorated’ with a huge mural of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, and yesterday in placeGrbavci near Zvornik pro-fascist characters harassed their neighbors by playing the song ‘Srebrenica you are dear to us, may it happen three more times.’ Since they have never been sanctioned before, nor were they condemned by the competent entity authorities, these dark elements were emboldened by the story of secession, which is told to them by some politicians, and they immediately appeared on the scene – without shame, but also without fear that someone would call them to account, ” as was noted yesterday in a statement from the Public Relations Office of the Riyaset of the IC.
The statement called on the RS authorities to take this issue seriously and to prosecute and punish the perpetrators appropriately.
“We call on the President of the RS, Ms. Cvijanovic, to visit returnee places in eastern Bosnia, to see the conditions in which these people live, whether they have any issues, and to condemn the rioters, to publicly state that she is the president of all citizens in that entity and that she will not tolerate harassment and attacks from whichever side they came from. We also call on politicians from Sarajevo to address this issue, but also on the competent prosecutor’s office to launch investigations. The evil must be stopped,” the Public Relations Office told in a statement.
