Minister Katica, the Horde zla are also citizens: We know what you are aiming for with repression, just know it's a dangerous boomerang after the balloon bursts!

Written by: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

“Any attempt to endanger the lives and property of the citizens of Sarajevo Canton, as well as to prevent officials from carrying out lawful duties, will be punished in accordance with the law”.

This is how the reaction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton ends to the unpleasant and quite shameful scenes at the stadium “Asim Ferhatović Hase” last night.

And the first thing I would ask the Minister of Internal Affairs, Admir Katica, is to define who these “citizens” are. That is, are the fans that this minister and his police treat like savages from the Stone Age, citizens just like those who are not fans or do not go to sports venues?

Whose children are in the North Stand, Minister Katica, that you treat them like scum and strip them naked? Why, Minister Katica, do you not define what in fan activity constitutes an act that endangers the lives and property of citizens?

It is true, minister, that fan groups fight, but this is not specific to Sarajevo Canton, but to the whole world. If you had ever read anything more than the NiP code of conduct script, you would know how the police fight fanatical fans in Buenos Aires, Athens, Istanbul, Glasgow, and around the world. There, Minister Katica, there are also fan patrols that do not allow one group to cross into the part of the city that belongs to another.

You will admit, minister, that this is not the case in Sarajevo Canton. Here, teenagers and adolescents fight, and it is ugly, but prevent them, do your job, instead of lumping all of us, minister, into the category of hooliganism. Do you know, Minister Katica, how many of us fans are there who, according to your NiP standards, do not belong to the category of citizens?

You remind the public of “clashes between fan groups”, which have occurred, but not to the extent you present them in an attempt to justify repression. And let us remind you, minister, that the citizens you are protecting from fans cannot walk around the city in the evening, because you and your police are not doing enough to improve the security situation.

Who is setting cars on fire in Sarajevo, Minister Katica? Who is throwing bombs and shooting in this city? Who is rampaging through the city streets in vehicles and in various ways, and not doing it in a “fan-like manner”? Who is attacking citizens and robbing them on public transport?

I know, minister, that they are all well known to you, but due to sloppy police work, political connections, and a poor judiciary, they are at large. You do not control them when they walk around the city armed, do you?

And at the stadium, you would strip fathers and sons naked so that a flare or firecracker doesn't leak? Or go a step further and ban fathers from bringing Fructal's “dvojni c” to their children to have during the match. And I have seen that, minister, not in the North Stand, but in the East Stand when a father begs to be allowed to bring juice for a child no older than 10 years old. And you call that fighting fan riots?

And, Minister Katica, I know you are the wrong person for the position you hold, but I am very curious if those terrible “hooligans from prehistory” are more dangerous than police officers who are arrested for serious criminal offenses?

After all, the Minister of Internal Affairs of KS without sufficient capacity and competence is more dangerous at the head of the police than all those mentioned. Because the repression you are carrying out increasingly smells of pressure that is meant to inflate a balloon. And yes, when the balloon bursts, you will use force to introduce order in Sarajevo Canton.

Because, before the last city derby at Grbavica, you banned the arrival of Sarajevo fans, directly confirming that you cannot secure a sports event that has been happening in Sarajevo for six decades. And this with the cabins and searches at Košev as if it were the entrance to the White House only confirms that you are well aware of your own and the incompetence of the police you lead!

There are, minister, many ways to solve the issue of a small number of bad fans, you just need to broaden your horizons beyond the NiP script. Otherwise, the repression you are carrying out against others will come back to you as a serious boomerang!