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Bosnian Serbs celebrate patriotism despite bans, sanctions | Stories

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The Bosnian Supreme Court has ruled that the holiday is illegal because it discriminates against Bosniak and Croatian Muslims.

Bosnian Serbs have held public celebrations to celebrate their independence vacation in the Serb Republic, mocking the high court ban on the commemoration and the US sanctions imposed by their leader Milorad Dodik this week.

The January 9 holiday commemorates the day in 1992 when Bosnian Serbs announced the establishment of their country in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It launched a bloody war, almost four years later that left 100,000 people dead.

The day coincides with the Serbian Orthodox Christian holiday, and is the religious component that prompted the Bosnian Constitutional Court to declare the holiday illegal because it discriminated against Bosniak Muslims and Croat Catholics.

Participants in the parade on Sunday were more than 800 armed police officers, including members of anti-terrorist groups, the army and cavalry, who marched with students, fighters and runners on the streets of the capital Banja Luka.

Crowds of spectators and procession waved Serbian red, blue, and white flags. Members of the special police force sang songs about the Serb Republic as a Christian heritage land.

Liljana Smiljanic of Al Jazeera, narrating from the Family Luka, Bosnia, said that even for the Serbs the day was “sacred”, meaning something very different from Bosniaks.

“They [Bosnian Serbs] say it [January 9 holiday] guarantees freedom for them, as well as the best conditions to live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the other hand, Bosniaks … is the beginning of the horrors of war that he endured in the ’90s, and later the violence and killings in Srebrenica, “he added.

Bosnian third president Milorad Dodik is raising people on a trip to celebrate their independence national holiday in the Serb Republic. [Antonio Bronic/Reuters]

The celebrations and other ceremonies were attended by senior officials of neighboring Serbia, including Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Speaker of Parliament Ivica Dacic. The Russian and Chinese ambassadors to Bosnia and several officials from France’s National Rally were also present.

There was no sign of the Serb army of the united Bosnian army, which had been sent to the parade years earlier. Instead, it was aimed at military police, who led the group with specially designed fighter vehicles as helicopters flew overhead.

Isolation desires

Dodik, who currently serves as a member of the Serb in the Bosnian Tripartite leadership, said “there is no right for the Serb people without a government”, speaking to a crowd watching the protests.

The Russian ambassador has repeated threats deporting Serb delegates from the Bosnian army, taxes and courts and forming special Serb agencies.

Last Wednesday, he received a new sentence from the United States for corruption and threats to peace and stability in Bosnia.

The US-led Dayton Peace Treaty in 1995 ended three-and-a-half years of civil war in Bosnia, dividing the Balkans into two independent states – the Serb Republic and the Federation ruled by Bosniaks and Croats.

“Everything he does and declares he does is against the laws of Bosnia Herzegovina and the Dayton Peace Accord,” said Smijanic of Al Jazeera.

“This is the foundation of everything in this country,” he added.

Dodik pa isolation speech In recent months it has encouraged Serb lovers, who in recent days have sparked protests in the Serb Republic, to shoot in the air near mosques during prayers, publicly praise attendees of war criminals and intimidate their Muslim neighbors.

He described the Bosniaks as “second-timers” and “hypocritical converts” who sold their “originals”. [Orthodox Christian] dinner dinner ”.



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