Bosnian Serb Protesters Denounce Ban on City-Centre Rallies

Several hundreds protesters, led by opposition MPs in the assembly of Republika Srpska, the mainly Serbian entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathered for a second time in the Mladen Stojanovic park in Banja Luka, close to the RS government building after the authorities refused to allow them to gather in the central Krajina Square.

The first protest, held last Thursday, came after a Swedish citizen of Bosnian origin, Bruno Batinic, was arrested in Banja Luka for refusing to show his identity documents to the police before being told why he needed to show them.

Six police officers reportedly threw him to the ground and took him to the police station where he was held for two hours. On his release, he got medical help and has since returned to Sweden. His wife said they would file charges against the RS police after they returned to Sweden.

Police approached Batinic after he greeted a member of the campaigning group Justice for David, which for over a year has put strong pressure on the RS police to find out who killed a young man, David Dragicevic.

The RS police have since banned all gatherings of the Justice for David group, despite which some members have gathered every evening at 6 pm in the courtyard of a church in the city centre - the same place where Batinic was arrested.

The protesters called on the authorities in the RS to allow Banja Luka citizens to gather again freely in Krajina Square and to stop what they called the torture of citizens of the city.

Photo: BIRN

Photo: BIRN