SEIZURE OF ORTHODOX CHURCH IN ZENICA - CONFIRMATION OF SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SERBS

BELGRADE, JANUARY 28 /SRNA/ - The Director of the Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Arnaud Gouillon stated that the seizure of the Orthodox Church in Zenica and its registration as "state property" reflects systemic discrimination against Serbs in BiH.

"This is not a mistake. This is systematic discrimination against Serbs in BiH, and there is increasing evidence of it," Gouillon wrote on X, alongside photos of the registration of the Orthodox church in Zenica as “state property” by the decision of the Zenica Municipal Court of May 16, 2019. Gouillon, who recently drew attention to the case of the seized Orthodox cemetery and chapel in Mostar, emphasized that the church in Zenica is over 140 years old and is a national monument of BiH. "In practice, this means that the property rights of Serbs, whether private or religious, are subjected to a questionable process of `land registry harmonization,` after which property that was previously Serb-owned is transferred to the `state of BiH`. This is no `coincidence,` this is a pattern - same law, same practice, same outcome against the Serb community," Gouillon stated in his post. The Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Serbs in the FBiH announced yesterday that the Cathedral Church of the Holy Mother of God in Zenica and the land surrounding the church have been registered as "state property". The Committee stated that, during the harmonization of land registry and cadastre data, by the decision of the Zenica Municipal Court of May 16, 2019, the church and the surrounding land were registered as entirely state-owned.