The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton rejected the request to hold a protest by the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Serbs in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, September 1, in front of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina due to non-fulfillment of formal conditions and for security reasons, the Cantonal Ministry of Interior announced.
The competent police body also estimates that, as a result of holding the public meeting in question, “there would be a real danger of disrupting public order and peace on a larger scale”, according to the statement.
The decision on the ban was made by the Novi Grad Police Department, responding to the request of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Serbs in FBiH to hold a public meeting in front of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Cantonal Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the applicant did not fulfill the obligations prescribed by the Law on Public Gathering, which, among other things, are reflected in the failure to take the additional measures ordered at the request of the competent police authority.
In accordance with Article 16 of the Law on Public Assembly, the competent police department issued a decision prohibiting the holding of a public assembly, it was stated in the announcement.
The President of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Serbs in the Federation of BiH, Đorđe Radanović, submitted on Thursday, August 24, a request to hold a peaceful rally on September 1 in front of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH due to, as they stated, “the political indictment against the President of the RS Milorad Dodik and the perpetrator the duties of the director of the “Official Herald of Srpska” Miloš Lukić”.
On August 11, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an indictment against Dodik and Lukić for disobeying the decisions of Christian Schmidt.
