CONTINUOUS ATTACKS ON ORTHODOX CHURCHES AND SERB RETURNEES

SARAJEVO, OCTOBER 2 /SRNA/ - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac told SRNA that threats against the clergy of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God in Tuzla are not an isolated incident, but part of ongoing attacks on Orthodox churches in the FBiH, Serbian returnees, and their property.

Košarac condemned the morbid and chilling threats and called on the relevant authorities to impose the harshest possible sanctions for these acts.

"Threats against clergy and brazen attacks on Orthodox holy sites further undermine the already fragile trust and instill additional fear, bitterness, and anxiety among the remaining Serbs in the FBiH," Košarac said.

"It is incredible that Sarajevo continues to remain silent in the face of hatred and the increasingly intense anti-Serb hysteria in the FBiH, the consequences of which we witness almost daily through attacks and threats to the lives, security, spiritual, and cultural identity of the Serbian people in the FBiH," Košarac emphasized.

From prison in Tuzla, Dževad Hasić sent a threatening letter to Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/, stating that they are not welcome in the city and that the Orthodox priest will be forcibly converted to Islam, with the cross replaced by a crescent and star.

The Islamic Religious Community has not yet condemned these threats.