The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) could not decide on Thursday whether the calling Bosniaks in BiH Muslims by SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, as a guest on Happy TV, is hate speech.
The CEC received a complaint from the SDA, and the Department for Legal Affairs in the Administrative Decisions of the CEC believes that there was no hate speech, and it was proposed that the complaint against Dodik and SNSD be rejected.
However, there were not enough votes in favor (three for, four against), so this topic was discussed again at the next session of the CEC, which was held immediately after the first.
However, due to inconsistent interpretation and confusion regarding the issue of rejection of objections or introduction of sanctions, CEC President Suad Arnautovic decided to remove this topic from the agenda. This means that an attempt will be made to make a decision on it at one of the future sessions.
The SDA complained about several segments of Dodik’s statement in the show “Cirilica” on Happy TV: that he is not a Bosnian Serb, but a Serb; about the statement related to Srebrenica and the number of Bosniak victims in the war in BiH, and about the part of the speech in which he calls Bosniaks Muslims.
Vanja Bjelica Prutina, the only member of the CEC who expressed her desire for a discussion, pointed out that these issues must be separated. She suggested that the aspect related to a possible violation of the Criminal Code of BiH be forwarded to the competent prosecution for further analysis, while at the same time she supported Dodik in the claim that Serbs in BiHare not only “Bosnian Serbs”.
“In the part of the speech that talks about the opposition to qualifying someone as a Bosnian Serb, I don’t think it’s hate speech. I’m personally a Serb, I’m not a Bosnian Serb. That nationality doesn’t exist. My grandfather and great-grandfather were Serbs. I don’t consider that it should cause hatred in anyone,” said Bjelica Prutina.
In addition, she pointed out that it is unacceptable to incite hostility towards an entire people, the Bosniaks, who are called Muslims in that statement.
“This type of discussion is not a way to communicate in any orderly, civilized society. We live in a society based on hatred. The question is what kind of society will we raise our children in. I mean this for all cases. I consider it to be hate speech, I propose imposing a monetary sanction 7,000 BAM for the party, and 10,000 BAM for the candidate. And for the part that refers to the violation of the provisions of the Criminal Code of BiH, I suggest that the case be sent to the competent prosecutor’s office,” said Vanja Bjelica Prutina, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
