JOVIĆ: FBiH INSTITUTIONS MUST REVEAL WHO IS BEHIND REPEATED ATTACKS ON SERB-OWNED PROPERTY

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 5 /SRNA/ – The Serbs keep facing intimidation and the seizure of Serb-owned property in the FBiH is alarming, thus it is time for the federal institutions to start doing their jobs, adequately punish the perpetrators and publicly disclose who is behind these repeated attacks, said Slađan Jović, Acting Director of the Republika Srpska Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Migration.

Jović recalled that several attacks targeting Serb returnees and their property had occurred since the beginning of the year, and condemned the latest incident – an attack on the Gradina Orthodox cemetery in the village of Lozna, near Banovići. He called on all relevant FBiH institutions to get involved in the case and punish those responsible, who several days ago cut down a shelter built by Serbs who had been displaced from the village so that they could gather there during memorial services for the deceased and the village patron saint's celebration. "Only in this way can trust and a sense of security be restored among the small number of Serbs who have decided to visit the places where they lived before the war," Jović said, noting that 1,018 Serbs lived in the village in 1991, whereas, according to the 2013 census, not a single Serb was recorded as living there. Jović stressed that the Republika Srpska institutions are the only ones looking after Serb returnees, adding that the failure of FBiH institutions to fulfill their obligations constitutes a disregard for the Dayton Peace Agreement. He emphasized that the Republika Srpska Government, together with the Republika Srpska Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Migration, continuously supports and subsidizes the reconstruction and construction of religious buildings throughout the FBiH through annual public calls for funding, announced the Secretariat. The Committee protecting Serbs' rights in the FBiH announced yesterday that the shelter in Lozna had been demolished and described the incident as another attack on the Serbian Orthodox cemetery.