ŽUPLJANIN: VOGOŠĆA ATTACK ON SERBS RAISES CONCERNS OVER ETHNIC CLEANSING IN FBiH

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 3 /SRNA/ – The attack on Serb returnees in Vogošća is just a continuation of the longstanding ethnic cleansing of Serbs in the FBiH, allegedly being carried out in a covert manner by the entity's authorities, Slobodan Župljanin, president of the Association of Patriots of Republika Srpska, said in a statement to SRNA.

"Amid unprecedented hysteria and outpourings of hatred toward the Serb people in the public sphere, attacks on the lives and property of the small number of remaining Serbs in Sarajevo Canton are continuing. What threat could a 92-year-old man and his 68-year-old son possibly have posed? It is clear that the attack on them is aimed at driving even the last Serb from that area," Župljanin said.

He argued that this undoubtedly demonstrated the hypocrisy of policies coming from the FBiH, which call for a united BiH while, in practice, doing everything possible to make the remaining lives of the last Serbs there more difficult and drive them from their ancestral homes.

"That is the kind of democracy that supposedly intends to take BiH into the EU. That is just as realistic as the possibility that Serbs can remain and survive in the territory of the FBiH," Župljanin spointed out.

He assessed as regrettable that, in the 21st century, people are still fighting for basic human rights, such as the right to live on their own property, while all relevant actors in BiH remain silent and take no action to change the situation.

Župljanin said the incident had further alarmed the small number of Serbs who wanted to spend the remainder of their lives in their ancestral homes, while the line authorities were keeping the entire case in the shadows, providing scarce information and taking only minimal measures to protect the victims and prosecute those responsible.

"It is obvious that an attempt is being made to minimize the entire case by applying an excessively lenient legal classification of the offence. This is creating additional fear and mistrust and indicates that this is part of a previously conceived and prepared project to forcibly remove Serbs and seize their property," Župljanin stated.

According to him, the incident has significantly worsened the already fragile security situation of the returnee population, while the authorities of the FBiH continue to bury their heads in the sand.

"It is not possible to preserve even a BiH that would be acceptable to all those who live in it in this way. Even more troubling is the fact that the so-called international community in BiH remains silent about all of this, indirectly showing that it is complicit in everything bad that is happening to the Serb people in BiH," Župljanin said.

He stressed that criminal proceedings in cases such as this must be quick and effective and that perpetrators must be appropriately punished.

"Unfortunately, we have not seen this either in this case or in previous similar cases," Župljanin pointed out.

The Sarajevo Canton Interior Ministry told SRNA that police had arrested two Sarajevo residents in connection with the attack, which took place during the night of August 25-26, but that they were suspected of "attempted robbery."