STEVANDIĆ: THREATS WILL NOT CHANGE MY POLITICAL COURSE

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 29 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandić and members of his family have received several death threats, while Stevandić said that hatred coming from Sarajevo's political establishment had apparently led to the creation of a "Bosnian Hamas," but that he would not change his political course.

Stevandić spoke out over what he said were increasingly frequent threats recently sent to him through social media, which he said endangered not only him but also members of his family, stressing that no threat would force him to change his politics. He said the Republika Srpska Ministry of the Interior /MoI/ had been regularly informed about the threats and that several related cases were being processed. Some of the threats sent to Stevandić included: "I will peel your skin off piece by piece", "I could tear you apart with my bare hands," and "Soon you and your republic will disappear," the National Assembly said. The statement noted that these were only some of the latest threats, accompanied by what it described as vile insults, and that they had been posted from social media profiles that even featured photographs of children. Stevandić said hatred coming from Sarajevo's political establishment had apparently led to the creation of a "Bosnian Hamas," which he described as a radical group that would probably seek to resolve problems in BiH according to what he called a Middle Eastern model. "The Republika Srpska MoI has excellent cooperation with police agencies around the world, and individuals should not think they will be protected simply because they live outside BiH. Quite the opposite. Some have already been located, detained and prosecuted," Stevandić said.