Cajnice Gospel, the medieval manuscript which has the status of a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), is being restored in Belgrade without the consent of the State Commission for National Monuments.
This Gospel was sent for restoration by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural-Historical and Natural Heritage of the entity Republika Srpska (RS), and it is financed by the Government of RS.
It is important to mention that the Gospel was declared a national monument of BiH in 2013 by the decision of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH.
It was thus included in the list of more than 900 monuments that should enjoy special protection in BiH.
This decision prohibits its removal from BiH. Temporary relocation is allowed only for the purpose of presentation or conservation, for which the approval of the Commission for National Monuments of BiH is necessary.
The Institute for Cultural and Historical Heritage of the RS told that there is nothing wrong in all of this and that they have given permission for the removal of this national monument from BiH.
“The institute has issued a permit for relocation and the legal obligation has been complied with,” they said.
The Ministry of Culture of the RS also confirmed that the Gospel was moved to Belgrade, with the explanation that in BiH “it is not possible to do high-quality conservation of manuscripts on parchment, because there are no experts and specialized studios for that”.
Namely, the case was reported to the BiH Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), where they explained that due to lack of jurisdiction, they forwarded the report to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of the RS.
It was confirmed from the MUP of that BiH entity that the Criminal Police Directorate received the information from the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH, which was delivered to them by SIPA.
“The District Public Prosecutor’s Office of Trebinje was informed about everything, after which the prosecutor declared that actions under our jurisdiction should be taken to document the mentioned event,” the entity MUP announced.
The state commission responsible for national monuments has so far not made an official statement about the location of the national monument and whether it has given approval for restoration outside BiH, Detektor writes.
E.Dz.
