The Sarajevo process is the last major political persecution in Yugoslavia on an ideological basis, and analysts say that this topic is not purely historical, but that as such it carries with it very current implications for today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and its position, as well as the position of Bosniaks who are exposed to discrimination.
Exactly 40 years ago, the Sarajevo process was realized, which represents the last major political persecution in Yugoslavia on an ideological basis. On the August 21st 1983, the verdicts were handed down to those accused of criminal conspiracy, hostile action and counter-revolution.
Alija Izetbegovic, the future first president of the Presidency of independent BiH, was among the accused and then convicted. Apart from him, Omer Behmen, Hasan Cengic, Ismet Kasumagic, Salih Behmen, Dervis Djurdjevic, Dzemaludin Latic, Edhem Bicakcic, Melika Salihbegovic, Mustafa Spahic, Djula Bicakcic and Resid Prguda were accused and convicted of criminal offenses under the law of that time.
Islamic declaration as the basis of the indictment
The basis of the indictment was the Islamic Declaration written by Izetbegovic in the 1970s, which was judged to have an anti-revolutionary character, even though it did not refer to Yugoslavia at all, but to Islam.
Four decades later, a scientific symposium was held in Tuzla during which historical, legal, political and media aspects of the Sarajevo process were discussed.
The event was organized by the “Alija Izetbegovic” Foundation, and the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Tuzla, Amir Karic, states that it is very important to discuss this topic in terms of reflections and certain consequences on later events in BiH.
“To this day, this event has repercussions in the sense of accusing Bosniaks of the same incriminations for which the entire trial was staged. Namely, the entire trial was staged with the incrimination that Muslims, that is, the group that was tried in 1983, planned some kind of Islamic state in these areas. Considering the socio-political system of that time and the entire one-party and authoritarian regime, that process cannot be treated differently than staged, and later analyzes have shown that,” says Karic.
He thinks that it is extremely important to look at the whole event with a kind of historical distance, discussing everything that happened, along with the historical, political, legal and media circumstances.
“In some way, it is necessary to try to find answers to all the stigmatizations that are still being inflicted on Bosniaks from the point of view of Islamophobia as a type of racism. Even today, every now and then, from the same center from which that large-state Serbian project comes, we can hear that the Islamic Declaration is the foundation of certain politics and so on,” points out Karic.
In the past period, a bibliography of the Sarajevo Process was prepared, which was also presented during the scientific symposium in Tuzla, and the 20th anniversary of Alija Izetbegovic‘s death was also marked as part of the event, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
