Beriz Merdzic is a returnee and the owner of the restaurant “Korzo” in Bratunac. Much could be written about his specialties, as well as the family business that he tirelessly develops, but, unfortunately, he is often in the spotlight because of the attacks that he and his family suffer. The last one happened on Saturday, June 29th. It was, Merdzic claims in an interview, another one of about twenty attacks in a row, committed by the same people – without punishment.
On previous occasions, Merdzic‘s car was destroyed, property damage was caused, gas bottles were once left in front of his house.
This time, it ended in horrifying threats.
“At the beginning of work, around 8 a.m., the person Milisav Lukic threw insulting words at me, loud music with offensive lyrics was also coming from his facility. Around 10 a.m., he took off his shirt to the waist and started throwing insults and cursing at passers-by on the promenade, who were my guests. There was one person sitting with him in his garden who cursed Muslim mother and was shouting ‘We will slaughter you all, this is Republika Srpska (RS), what are you doing here, go to Sarajevo and the Federation’. He also cursed mother to journalists from Sarajevo,” said Merdzic.
At that moment, about thirty guests were sitting in the garden of his facility, in other words – about thirty witnesses of the unfortunate event.
“I had about 20 attacks in a row, I had to repair all the damage myself, the perpetrators were never convicted of crimes,” added Merdzic, noting that all the employees in the restaurant are members of his immediate family.
The last attack was also reported to the police.
“As a Bosniak, I call on all the institutions of our country to take measures to protect returnees to RS. These incidents refer only to persons who are known to the police for all their acts of various nature. Also, I want to express that all peoples of different confessions are welcome, and we will remain an indispensable brand of Bosnian cuisine and Bosnian specialties”, concluded Merdzic.
Federal Minister of Displaced Persons and Refugees, Nerin Dizdar, spoke on this issue, stressing that he will not calmly observe attacks on any of the returnees, promising this population every form of protection, as well as insisting on punishing the perpetrators, N1 reports.
E.Dz.
