'The Republic of Srpska must provide a clear response to increasingly frequent criminal prosecution of individuals from Republic of Srpska
who are subject to persecution and harsh prison sentences for expressing
their opinions about the character and events of the past war', stated Prime
Minister of Republic of Srpska, Savo Minic.
'While our people are being prosecuted for expressing
their opinions, Bosniak commanders remain untried despite
unequivocal evidence that they personally ordered murders and arsons', Prime
Minister Minic emphasized on the occasion of today's conference entitled
"Criminal Prosecution as an Instrument of Historical Revision -
Threatening Freedom of Thought and Speech by Judgments of the Court of
BiH".
As an example of such a practice, the Prime Minister cited the case of
Atif Dudaković, who, as he said, remained unconvicted, despite numerous pieces of
evidence of his actions during the past war, including videos of him personally
ordering arson and murder.
According to him, there are currently more than 800
criminal charges pending against individuals from Republic of Srpska, requiring
their criminal prosecution, based on legal amendments introduced by former High
Representative Valentin Inzko.
'The Republic of Srpska must provide clear institutional
response, including the position of the National Assembly, and send a clear
message that no one can be subjected to criminal prosecution for expressing an
opinion. We will not allow people to be persecuted and history to be revised
through such criminal proceedings', the Prime Minister stressed.
He added that there is a massive, orchestrated filing
of criminal charges against individuals from Republic of Srpska, in which even
the traditional Serbian way of greeting by raising three fingers is being portrayed as
an insult to someone's national feelings.
Minić indicated that one of the conclusions of today's
conference could be to schedule a special session of the National Assembly of
Republic of Srpska at which the parliament would take a position on this issue.
Today's conference was organized by the Center for
Socio-Political Research of Republic of Srpska.