JOVIĆ: ATTEMPTS TO SEIZE CHURCH LAND MUST BE PREVENTED

BANJA LUKA, JULY 21 /SRNA/ - Acting Director of the Republic Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Migration Slađan Jović called on all relevant institutions to urgently prevent an attempt to seize Church land in Bugojno.

Jović told SRNA that this was a continuation of the long-standing systematic unlawful seizure of Serb property, aimed at erasing any trace of the existence of Serbs in the territory of the Federation of BiH. He stated that fewer than 50 Serbs currently live in Bugojno and that they are mostly elderly people for whom this parish is a very important place for gathering and preserving their tradition and faith. Jović noted that, through public calls for sustainable return, the Secretariat had assisted and subsidised the renovation and construction of religious buildings in the territory of the FBiH, aware that these are places important for the survival of the Serb returnee population, and that the protection and preservation of religious sites is an excellent indicator of inter-personal relations. He appealed to the relevant institutions in the FBiH to act in accordance with the provisions of the Dayton Peace Agreement and prevent the decades-long seizure of Serb property, so that trust can finally be restored and tensions eased. Jović stressed that it was concerning that attacks on everything Serbian continue to occur, and reminded that just two days earlier Serb returnees had also been attacked in Sanski Most. An attempt is currently underway in Bugojno to seize the last remaining property of the Serbian Orthodox Church, behind which stand local power brokers and politicians who are working in collusion with prosecutors and lawyers, Bugojno parish priest Slaviša Đurić told SRNA. Đurić stated that a lawsuit seeking recognition of ownership rights against the Serbian Orthodox Church Parish of Bugojno was filed by M. I., whose family owns a large residential and commercial building in the town centre, in the immediate vicinity of the plot belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church.