CONDEMNATION OF THREATS TO SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN TUZLA, AUTHORITIES URGED TO ACT IMMEDIATELY

SARAJEVO, OCTOBER 2 /SRNA/ – The Interreligious Council in BiH has strongly condemned threats made against the clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ in Tuzla, calling on competent authorities to act immediately and impose the harshest possible penalties for this and any behavior that incites hatred, violence, or intolerance.

The Council noted particular concern that the threats to the SOC in Tuzla come from an individual already convicted for desecrating an Orthodox church in the city.

"Such repeated acts and public threats have a broader effect, endangering the security and dignity of all religious communities in BiH, undermining interreligious trust and communal peace," the Interreligious Council said in a statement to SRNA.

The Council once again appealed to competent authorities to respond decisively, prevent the recurrence of such acts, and impose the strictest sanctions for any conduct that promotes hatred, violence, or intolerance.

"We express our solidarity with the SOC and all believers affected by these threats, and we call on everyone in BiH to remain committed to peace, dialogue, and mutual respect," the Council added.

Dževad Hasić, already known for threats and vandalistic incursions into Orthodox churches, sent the threatening letter from Tuzla prison, in which he announced that he would "switch the church bell to vibration."

He threatened that he would "convert the priest with the church lamp to Islam so that he could recite the ezan five times a day with the greatest pleasure," and that he would "replace the cross with the crescent and star like in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the greeting `Allahu Akbar.`"