SELAK: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA FLAG BURNING IS ASSAULT ON NATIONAL IDENTITY, CALL FOR SWIFT ACTION

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 26 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Justice Minister Goran Selak strongly condemned burning of the Republika Srpska flag, assessing the act as disgraceful vandalism and an attack on the dignity of Republika Srpska and its people.

"Burning of the Republika Srpska flag is an act of vandalism inspired by the intolerance that part of Sarajevo's political scene has been promoting for years. For every nation, its symbols are a matter of identity, and when you desecrate those symbols, you insult and humiliate an entire people", Selak said.

He stressed that he expected an immediate, effective and unequivocal response from the competent institutions, including the identification and prosecution of those responsible.

"Any attempt to downplay this criminal offense would amount to complicity and send the message that such attacks are acceptable. That must not be allowed," emphasized Selak, who also serves as leader of the SPS.

Selak added that the Republika Srpska flag is sacred and one of the most important symbols of its identity.

"Anyone who treats the Republika Srpska flag with disrespect demonstrates that they have no respect for either Republika Srpska or its people and cannot be welcome in Republika Srpska," Selak concluded.

A video circulating on social media appears to show a group of individuals removing the Republika Srpska flag from a flagpole and then setting it on fire while shouting "Allahu Akbar" and using profanity.

According to media reports from the Federation of BiH, the flag had been flying on a flagpole erected along the Inter-Entity Boundary Line between Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH.