SAMIR BAĆEVAC RECALLED OVER OFFENSIVE POST ABOUT GENERAL MLADIĆ

BIJELJINA, SEPTEMBER 10 /SRNA/ – Members of the Bijeljina City Assembly unanimously recalled Deputy Speaker Samir Baćevac of the SDA today over immoral and inappropriate conduct, referring to his social media post concerning the death of General Ratko Mladić.

The motion to recall Baćevac was submitted by 28 members of the Bijeljina City Assembly on September 1 and was unanimously supported at today’s Assembly session by all 30 members present, while one ballot was unused. Addressing the Assembly, Baćevac acknowledged that the controversial word "krepao" /"croaked"/ was indeed inappropriate, explaining that he had made an "unintentional mistake" as a result of using artificial intelligence to create the post in question. He said that he changed the post very shortly afterward and subsequently apologized to citizens. The SNSD and SDS caucuses called on Baćevac to give his term as an Assembly member and withdraw from political life. As he is also an Islamic religious education teacher, they called for the Republika Srpska Ministry of Education and the Principals’ Association to respond, as well as for the prosecution to address over hate speech. RSS Assembly member Vladimir Sarić, the son of General Goran Sarić, said at the session that his father was a highly educated and respected officer who became seriously ill as a result of persecution by Bosniaks, their lobbying groups and courts in Sarajevo, but that he had never heard him utter an offensive word about any officer from any army. SNSD Assembly member Aleksandar Ostojić recalled that Baćevac wears the so-called Srebrenica flower on his lapel, which was respected in the City Assembly, but that in return he insulted a deceased member of the Serb people.