INSTEAD OF PUNISHING, JUDICIARY ENCOURAGES THOSE WHO THREATEN SERBS

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 8 /SRNA/ – There is no serious will to protect the rights of Serbs in the Federation of BiH, as demonstrated by the actions of the judiciary in this entity, which act as an incentive to perpetrators of criminal offenses such as inciting national, racial, and religious intolerance and hatred, Slobodan Župljanin, dean of the Faculty of Security and Protection in Banja Luka, told SRNA.

"This is a message with a long-standing background that Serbs are not welcome in FBiH and that their lives should be made difficult in every possible way," said Župljanin, commenting on yesterday's decision by the Prosecutor's Office of the Una-Sana Canton to release from custody three Islamists arrested in Bihać, suspected of inciting national, racial, and religious hatred, discord, or intolerance. He noted that in such cases, the judiciary behaves flexibly and shows privileged treatment toward individuals who should be prosecuted, on order to thwart future perpetrators of such crimes. "With such actions, the message is clear: someone arrested yesterday morning can already be released and by evening commit the same criminal offense again. This is a very bad signal for Serbs," said Župljanin. In his opinion, if there is genuine intent for BiH to survive as a multiethnic state and function as defined by the Dayton Peace Agreement, a complete shift in approach is necessary, along with the provision of equal rights for all. "In any other scenario, coexistence in FBiH will be unsustainable," Župljanin warned. He believes that it is essential to ensure the implementation in practice of universally accepted human rights standards, especially for minority communities, in this case, Serbs in FBiH, who are a constituent people throughout the entire territory of BiH. According to the State Investigation and Protection Agency /SIPA/, three individuals who were arrested yesterday morning in the Bihać area on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of inciting national, racial, and religious hatred, discord, or intolerance, were released the same day on the orders of the Prosecutor's Office of Una-Sana Canton. Media reports that among those arrested was Adil Ćenanović, an Islamist who, at the end of September, harassed a Serbian family in Bihać for playing the song "Veseli se srpski rode/Rejoice, Serbian People," shouting "Takbir – Allahu Akbar" outside their house.