ATTACKERS OF SERB RETURNEES MUST BE PUNISHED

BELGRADE, JULY 21 /SRNA/ - President of the Alliance of Serbs from the Region Miodrag Linta said he expects the relevant institutions of the Una-Sana Canton to strongly condemn the chauvinistic attack on Serb returnees in Sanski Most and punish the perpetrators.

Otherwise, Linta stressed, it would be yet another ominous message that physical and verbal violence against Serbs in the FBiH has become a normal occurrence. He warned that the attack by three Bosniaks from Fajtovci on Serb returnees Mika Davidović and her husband Željko Matić in Lušci Palanka near Sanski Most represents a continuation of the spread of hatred and the use of violence against the small number of Serbs living in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/. Linta added that this was one of numerous attacks on Serbs in the FBiH based on national and religious grounds, to force them to leave their ancestral homes. He pointed out that institutions in the FBiH have a constitutional and legal obligation to guarantee peace and security for all citizens, regardless of their national or religious affiliation, according to a statement from the Alliance of Serbs from the Region. According to the 1991 population census, 1,050 Serbs and no Muslims lived in the village of Lušci Palanka. According to the 2013 census, 216 Serbs and only three Bosniaks lived in Lušci Palanka.