PRIEST ĐURIĆ: ATTEMPT TO SEIZE CHURCH LAND IN CITY CENTER IS UNDERWAY

BELGRADE, JULY 21 /SRNA/ - In Bugojno, an attempt is underway to seize the last property of the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/, with the support of local powerful people and politicians who are coupling with prosecutors and lawyers, parish priest Slaviša Đurić told SRNA.

Đurić stated that the lawsuit for the recognition of ownership rights against the Serbian Orthodox Church Municipality of Bugojno was filed my M.I. whose family has a large residential and business building in the city center, in the immediate vicinity of the SOC plot. He pointed out that M.I.'s daughter-in-law is a councilor in the Municipal Council and the president of SDA women in Bugojno, and that it is clear that they planned that the last plot and extremely valuable building land of 300 square meters must be taken from the Church at any cost. "The Idrizović family uses institutional supremacy. Through their influence on the municipal cadastre and urban planning, they create an administrative wall that prevents the church from using or protecting its property," said Đurić. He pointed out that they have a luxurious building and premises that they rent out and that now they probably lack a little parking space and a little yard, so they should take church property. Đurić stated that he received a decision on the blocking of property and emphasized that the SOC must find the means to hire a lawyer and defend what is its own. "We have to hand over that land to them without a fight or withdraw funds from other projects that are also extremely important to us in order to preserve it. We have to pay a lawyer. I think the procedure itself will cost BAM 10,000," said Đurić. He specified that the funds, which should be invested in the completion of the construction of the Church of the Holy Children of the Martyrs of the Skopje Valley and the Kupres Plateau, as well as in the maintenance of the renovated Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Čipuljić, are now being forcibly pumped out of the church coffers to pay taxes and hearings. "It is a conscious political strategy to stop the spiritual and physical renewal of our people by seizing the only remaining building plot," Đurić emphasized. He pointed out that those who sued the SOC in Bugojno have power, while the SOC has only 44 worshippers in the parish, mostly old people. He reminded that this plot of land was already the subject of a dispute, but that in 2019 it was legally returned to the possession of the SOC. Đurić also mentioned that in 2013, the Islamic religious community seized a significant part of the property of the SOC, explaining that the municipality of Bugojno had allocated our land to it without any basis, and that now it has been transferred to individuals. "They took our land then. We couldn't beat them. We didn't even go to court because we need a lot of money, and we didn't have it," said Đurić. Đurić said that the Islamic community had already created a building on that hijacked construction site, which permanently materialized the usurpation. "While the SOC property is being demolished and others are being built on it, nothing is being returned to our community, but the remaining crumb of 300 square meters is being systematically attacked," said Đurić. The Serbian Orthodox Church Municipality of Bugojno called on international representatives in BiH, organizations for the protection of human rights and the highest authorities of BiH to urgently examine the political pressures on the Serbian Orthodox Church Municipality of Bugojno. The priest reminded that the Serbian Church Municipality of Bugojno used to have a large property in the very center of the city, and that, through nationalization and embezzlement, about 13 dunums of the city center were stolen from it. "We were robbed of 1,100 square meters of commercial space and 1,100 square meters of residential space after World War II, and now they definitely want to take everything from us," said Đurić.