prijava
SARAJEVO, March 20 (FENA) - Members of the Organizing Committee of the BiH pride parades said today in Sarajevo that they will not allow the attack on activists and friends of the LGBTIQ community in Banja Luka on March 18 to pass.
At the press conference of this committee, it was said that they will file criminal charges against the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, for "inciting and giving the go-ahead to thugs".
As it was explained, the Pride Parade should not have been held in Banja Luka, but instead the screening of the film "Pride" was supposed to be held. Due to the impossibility of securing the event, the event was canceled, and as most of the participants had already arrived in Banja Luka, an informal meeting was supposed to be held at the premises of Transparency International.
- We were supposed to meet at the premises of Transparency International (TI). It was a secret location, not a public gathering. It was literally supposed to be an informal meeting of our board members. The police knew the address and they took the committee members out of the private area to a small plateau in front of the building and told them that they were not safe there or in their accommodations and to go back where they came from. They told us to return to Sarajevo - said a member of the Organizing Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina Pride parades Mirza Halilčević.
It was pointed out that the members of Bh. pride parades are not only from Sarajevo, nor from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, members come from all parts of BiH, which includes citizens of Banja Luka and other cities of the Republika Srpska entity.
As it was pointed out on this occasion, the police said that they cannot guarantee the safety of anyone, not even the members of the Organizing Committee who are from Banja Luka.
Criminal proceedings have been initiated and currently have the qualification of a 'violent act', but the board members will insist on the qualification of a hate crime.
A member of the Organizing Committee, Dina Bajraktarević from Tuzla, pointed out that the police and politicians sent a message that hooligans have the right to attack and scare certain groups.
Lejla Huremović, member of the Organizing Committee of the Bh pride parade reminded that the organized attack on this group began on March 8, when the rainbow flag was taken away from them on the march. Since then, she says, they have received hundreds of threats through social networks, which have been documented and reported to the police.
She pointed out that the Prosecutor's Office and the police in Banja Luka have the names and surnames of the people who threatened to set them on fire and kill them.
- We will file a second-instance appeal against the Decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Srpska banning the event. We will initiate and demand an internal procedure within the police, so that the responsible police officers are sanctioned, because there are more than 15 witnesses in front of Transparency International who can testify that the police officer stated that he could not protect us and who drove us out of the secure facility and delivered bullies. We will also include the institutions of the Ombudsman for Human Rights. We will also initiate criminal charges against the President of the RS Milorad Dodik and the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, for inciting and giving the go-ahead to thugs - announced Huremović.
She pointed out that it was a hate crime and that it should be qualified as such, and she also thanked the legal team that provided selfless help to the activists.
One of the members of the legal team, Aleksandar Jokić, believes that the law was violated on several levels.
He said on behalf of the legal team that they will do their best to qualify these acts as acts of hate because they are, and not "just" violent behavior.
- I emphasize once again that these acts were committed out of hatred and we must not allow it to fall into the background. Several acts were committed: violent behavior, damage to other people's property because the premises of Transparency International and DKC Incel were damaged, causing disorder and publicly causing and inciting violence - said Jokić.
(FENA) L. N.
