ĐOKIĆ WARNS AGAINST DEMONIZING A NATION VIA POLITICALLY DRIVEN COURT DECISIONS

BANJA LUKA, JANUARY 29 /SRNA/ – The President of the Socialist Party /SP/ Petar Đokić has stressed, commenting on the verdict sentencing Miodrag Malić to three years in prison for raising three fingers, that it must not be allowed for an entire nation to be demonized through politically motivated verdicts, something that political Sarajevo is obviously attempting to do.

Đokić pointed out that the verdict handed down by the Court of BiH is not merely a legal act, but a political message directed against an entire nation. "If we do not challenge this today, tomorrow they will feel entitled to attack our symbols, our unity, our faith, and our history. I can only wonder what comes next? A ban on Cyrillic, a ban on Serbian names, a ban of our tradition?, " Đokić asked. He pointed to increasingly aggressive attempts to undermine Serbian identity, carried out under the guise of institutions lacking moral and historical legitimacy. Calling for unity and dignity, Đokić emphasized that the demonization of a nation through politically motivated rulings must not be allowed, an approach that political Sarajevo, he said, is clearly pursuing, according to a statement from the SP. "Our response must be firm, showing that we will protect our script, our name, and our symbols. Because if today they ban the three fingers, tomorrow they will try to ban Cyrillic, and the day after that to deny us the right to call ourselves by our own name," Đokić concluded. The Court of BiH sentenced Miodrag Malić to three years in prison for raising photographs of the first President of Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžić, and former commander of the Republika Srpska Army, General Ratko Mladić, along with the three-finger gesture, at an opposition rally in Banja Luka.