RADANOVIĆ: 60 TO 70 ANNUAL ATTACKS ON SERBS OR THEIR PROPERTY IN FBiH

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 12 /SRNA/ – Between 60 and 70 attacks on Serbs or their property are reported every year in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, but the main problem is that such cases are rarely prosecuted, President of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Serbs in FBiH Đorđe Radanović stressed.

"Everything is properly reported, but the problem is that we receive no feedback from the police or prosecutors in FBiH. We have no information on whether the police have filed criminal or misdemeanor charges, or whether prosecutors have brought indictments," Radanović said on a podcast produced by the Republika Srpska Media System - SRNA.

He said that when Serbs report a cemetery being damaged or desecrated and explain the circumstances to police, an atmosphere is sometimes created in which it appears that Serbs themselves were responsible for destroying their own cemeteries.

Referring to the recent attack on Serbs in the Sarajevo suburb of Vogošća, Radanović said the suspects had been released and were walking freely around Sarajevo, while the elderly people who were attacked feared for their lives.

Addressing the declining number of Serbs living in FBiH, Radanović said the Committee's information indicated that between 25,000 and 30,000 Serbs currently lived in the entity.

"Bosniaks say they have been 'systematically destroyed' in Republika Srpska, yet according to the 2013 census there were 170,000 of them, while there were 55,000 Serbs in FBiH. According to the 1991 census, 541,000 Serbs lived in what is now FBiH, while 440,000 Bosniaks lived in Republika Srpska. According to the information we are gathering, between 25,000 and 30,000 Serbs currently live in FBiH," Radanović stressed.

He said that Bosniaks in Republika Srpska had had their property restored and lived in good conditions, unlike Serbs in FBiH.

"In FBiH, they will not connect electricity to Serb homes, while churches, chapels and cemeteries are being registered as the property of the 'state'," Radanović pointed out.