The Inter-Religious Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina (MRV BiH) condemns the attacks on the Carsijska mosque in Kozarska Dubica and the Saint Sava temple in the Blazuj settlement in Ilidza in capital Sarajevo.
The MRV BiH welcomes the reactions of condemning the attacks in the local communities and urges the competent authorities to identify and punish the perpetrators of these vandal acts.
The Inter-Religious Council in BiH remains committed to building peace and coexistence in BiH, which means respecting and safeguarding religious sites, a common cultural heritage.
On the day of the Orthodox New Year celebration, vandals damaged Saint Sava Temple in the Blazuj settlement near Sarajevo. They also robbed a cash register from which they took 450 BAM.
Minor material damage was done to the church, but this act upset the believers and priests. The side door of the temple was torn down, part of the inventory was overthrown and the cash register was damaged as well.
Members of the Canton Sarajevo Ministry of Internal affairs conducted an investigation and qualified this crime as serious theft.
“Police officers of the Sarajevo Canton MIA Directorate are continuing their work to clarify this crime, identify and locate the perpetrators,” said Sarajevo Cantonal Police MIA spokesman Mirza Hadziabdic.
This is not the first time this Orthodox church has been targeted by vandals
Also, Carsijska mosque in Bosanska Dubica was damaged again today.
“During the day, we learned that a window was broken and the facade damaged at several places on the Carsija mosque, which we plan to open in the summer. We reported the case to the competent authorities, who carried out the investigation and as we learned from them, the benches in the main street were damaged during the night,” said Chief Imam Safet Beganovic.
This is not the first attack on the Carsijska mosque in this city. Attacks and verbal abuse in the area around this mosque are common. The last attack occurred in October last year.
Mayor Radenko Reljic condemned the attack and offered to repair the damage caused by the municipality.
The mosque was built in the early 17th century. The yard of the mosque was declared a national monument of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was demolished at the beginning of the aggression in BiH in 1992 and rebuilt and opened on 10 August 2003
